Jack Campbell has totally appropriate response to apparent call-out by the NFL

It was a weird week in Detroit Lions' land. It all started with safety Brian Branch hitting Kansas City Chiefs wide receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster in the face after the Week 6 loss to the defending AFC champions.

Then came the controversy over an overturned touchdown pass from David Montgomery to Jared Goff. Head referee Craig Wrolstad told reporters after the game the crew did not receive assistance, while Lions head coach Dan Campbell said he was told the league office in New York did intervene to have to touchdown overturned.

Then came the weird video from NFL Films, making Branch look bad before his bad postgame moment against the Chiefs. The video was quickly deleted, but the damage was done and Branch's teammates took notice.

During his weekly session with the media heading into Week 7, Lions defensive coordinator Kelvin Sheppard was asked about Aidan Hutchinson's knack for sack-fumbles so far this season. After lauding how Hutchinson is "violently attacking the ball", Sheppard revealed something that otherwise probably wouldn't have come to light.

"Look at Jack. I mean they just sent out a memo and the tape of the way that Jack is doing it," Sheppard said. "And I mean it’s violent, it’s aggressive and it’s the way we play. We won’t make excuses and I hope it continues to show up and I hope it upticks as we progress in the season. They want to make sure you're punching the ball and not the player, whatever that means."

Apparently, the league sent a memo to the Lions about linebacker Jack Campbell's attempts to punch the ball out. He has forced two fumbles this season, surely amid multiple attempts to knock the ball loose in similar fashion. But let's look at the two successful forced fumbles for signs that may have drawn ire from the league office.

The contact Campbell made with Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson and Bengals running back Chase Brown was a simple residual of playing defense. He had to navigate a stiff-arm from Jackson, while Brown was unable to realistically see Campbell coming as he was being tackled.

The memo from the NFL has not been made public, and it's possible plays from Campbell where he did "punch the player more than the ball" were highlighted. It's also worth wondering if Campbell was singled out.

Jack Campbell has totally appropriate response to memo from the league

In light of Sheppard's reveal, Campbell was asked about the league's memo.

“I don’t know how many people have played in an NFL game, but when you’re going full speed and you’re trying to get the ball out, punch-outs are hard to come by. So, I don't really care,” Campbell said, via Will Burchfield of 97.1 The Ticket. “I’m going to keep punching, and if I miss it, ‘f’ it. Screw it.”

Campbell said, as far as he understands it, it is now a personal foul if a defender accidentally punches the player while trying to punch out the ball. So...

"I’ll probably have 150 personal fouls by the end of the year, so that’ll be fun."

Campbell also said the NFL's report didn't highlight any specific play or technique of his, but...

"They just got mad at me for punching somebody. But, I mean, they got pads on. If anything, it hurt my hand more than the other guy."

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According to Dave Birkett of the Detroit Free Press, the NFL's memo included video of several plays, league-wide. Birkett mentioned a play from the game against the Chiefs where wide receiver Marquise "Hollywood" Brown popped to his feet after catching the ball, but it's hard to tell if Campbell hit Brown or the ball.

Kory Woods of MLive reported the NFL's memo showed video of Campbell, but not of 49ers defensive tackle Alfred Collins, who punched Rams running back Kyren Williams in the helmet before punching the ball out late in a Week 5 game.

If plays where defenders missed the ball and hit a player in an attempt to punch the ball out were highlighted in the league's memo, it's hard to believe this was not included.

Collins' hit to Williams' helmet, while it looked bad, can be chalked up as accidental and incidental with zero intent. The league is apparently going to try to legislate similar types of incidental contact by defenders now, as if officials don't already have a hard enough job.

Per Dannie Rogers of Lions.com, the video memo was basically a warning, confirming Campbell has been punching the ball out correctly. But if he accidentally punches a player and not the ball, it'd be a penalty. Head coach Dan Campbell said he and the team already knew that'd be a penalty.

The league office consistently makes it hard to be a defensive player, in deference to more scoring equals more viewership and more money. Credit to Campbell for making it clear he won't be changing his approach to trying to force fumbles, even if it now toes the line of violating a retroactively made-up "rule".