Dan Campbell issues a clear warning to Lions' wide receiver depth

Good, bad or even ugly, Lions head coach Dan Campbell will not engage in "coach speak" very often. It's why players love him, because he'll tell them the truth about their situation. It's also makes him easy to cover; he'll be clear and honest, and if you have to read between the lines of his words sometimes it's not very hard to do.

Before Monday night's practice, Campbell practically begged for someone to step up in the Lions' wide receiver battle. Beyond the three who are locks for a roster spot (Amon-Ra St. Brown, Jameson Williams, Kalif Raymond), there are lingering questions that haven't gone away. Donovan Peoples-Jones, Daurice Fountain, Kaden Davis and Tre'Quan Smith were all named by Campbell Monday night.

It might seem trivial to talk about wide receiver depth, and Raymond should not counted out to again take on a larger role in the Lions' offense this year. But it's clearly on Campbell's mind, and a concern for him.

Dan Campbell issues clear warning to down depth chart Lions' wide receivers

Campbell joined "Costa and Jansen with Heather" on 97.1 The Ticket Wednesday morning. He was asked how important the WR3 spot is in the bigger picture of the Lions' offense.

"Honestly, what it is, is we just need a reliable staple, you know? Like, that's what Reynolds was for us. Josh Reynolds was the reliable guy we could count on he was gonna be where he's supposed to be when he was supposed to be there to play any spot, and he'd make a critical catch for you" "You need a steady reliable, when the ball needs to find you because coverage dictates it, and that's the guy we need to find. Who is that guy? That is important now. That being said, we don't want to just keep a guy because he's receiver 3,4,5..."

Campbell made it abundantly clear the Lions will not keep, say five of their current wide receivers on the initial 53-man roster just for the sake of keeping a certain number at the position. That's not a shocking notion in a broad sense, but it also serves warning to Peoples-Jones, Fountain, etc. If they don't step up, the Lions will find someone who can.