Detroit was enjoying their longest stretch of consecutive games played by the top five offensive linemen this season, but now that streak could be in jeopardy next week in the NFC Championship Game after left guard Jonah Jackson left Detroit's 31-23 win over Tampa Bay Sunday with a knee injury.
"We'll see," Campbell said of the early prognosis of Jackson's injury. "It doesn't look real good for next week but we'll see."
Jackson missed some time earlier in the year with ankle and wrist injuries but was playing really good ball down the stretch. He allowed just two sacks all year and was named a Pro Bowl alternate.
Kayode Awosika replaced Jackson Sunday and played pretty well.
"I thought Yode stepped up," Campbell said. "It was good to see. He went right in there and it was a five step drop right out of the gate and he just went in there and did really good.
"Yode has continued to get better really over the last two years. He's just kind of grown and grown and grown. I thought he did some really good things."
The Lions also lost veteran tight end Brock Wright to a forearm injury and Campbell said it doesn't look good for him to be available next week either.
BARNES' REDEMPTION
About a month ago third-year linebacker Derrick Barnes took a lot of criticism for a missed tackle on Dallas quarterback Dak Prescott that would have been a safety but instead turned into a 92-yard touchdown in a one-point loss to the Cowboys Week 17.
Fast forward four weeks and Barnes was all smiles following Detroit's win over Tampa Bay Sunday after securing the game-winning interception with one minute and 39 seconds left. He also chipped in four tackles in the game.
"Yeah, I'm proud of Derrick," Campbell said. "Derrick, he's one of our guys that we drafted in the first year here and he was a later bloom, later bloomer guy. It took him a little bit and then he really came on this season and he's playing at a high level.
"One of the biggest areas he's grown at, not only just being able to up his level of play on defense, but his psyche. Something bad happens, something doesn't quite go the way you want it to, man, he's able to bounce back in a big way and it doesn't affect him negatively. Man, he just – he keeps going. That's where I feel the most growth and it's why he's playing at a high level. But that was a – what a huge play."
UNSUNG HEREOS
The Barnes play was one of the biggest of the game, but there were other big plays scattered across Sunday's game that didn't come from Detroit's biggest stars.
How about a big 29-yard reception by Wright in the third quarter that helped set up a touchdown? The touchdown was a 1-yard run by third-string running back Craig Reynolds right up the middle on a fourth and goal play.
"I think it kind of goes back to kind of what I was saying of everyone's brought in here for a reason and Barnes and Craig are perfect examples of guys that haven't had the necessarily flash plays all year, but they've been kind of waiting in the weeds for their chance and practice hard and do everything right and then show up on time and continue to do everything right for moments like that," quarterback Jared Goff said. "And happy for those guys, man they deserve it, just as much as anyone else and played well."
EXTRA POINT
- Amon-Ra St. Brown has set the new single-season franchise record for receptions in a season (131) when combining the regular season and postseason.
