Three games into the Detroit Lions’ season, there are plenty of defensive problems to discuss.
Jack Campbell wasn’t supposed to be one of them.
Detroit’s All-Pro linebacker entered 2026 as one of the unquestioned anchors of Kelvin Sheppard’s defense. Instead, Campbell has endured a stunningly difficult start, particularly in pass coverage.
The numbers are ugly.
Through three games, Pro Football Focus has given Campbell a 44.2 overall defensive grade, ranking him 64th among 71 qualifying linebackers. His 44.9 coverage grade ranks 57th.
For a player who finished 2025 as one of the NFL’s best linebackers, it’s a remarkable reversal.
Jack Campbell Has Been Getting Picked Apart
Coverage has been the biggest problem.
Through Detroit’s first three games, Campbell has reportedly been targeted 14 times and allowed 12 completions for 145 yards and two touchdowns.
Opposing quarterbacks aren’t simply completing underneath throws against him. They’re producing significant yardage when they attack his area of the field.
That became noticeable again during Detroit’s 31-24 victory over the New York Jets.
An analysis of Campbell’s early-season struggles noted his problems in coverage, particularly as Detroit has asked him to handle a different workload following Alex Anzalone’s departure.
Campbell is averaging roughly 43 coverage snaps per game after averaging around 36 last season.
More responsibility has produced more opportunities for offenses to attack him.
So far, Campbell hasn’t handled those opportunities particularly well.
This Is Nothing Like the 2025 Jack Campbell
That’s what makes this so surprising.
Campbell wasn’t merely good last season.
He was one of the NFL’s elite linebackers.
Campbell earned First-Team All-Pro and Pro Bowl honors after leading Detroit with 176 tackles while adding nine tackles for loss, five sacks and three forced fumbles. His 90.2 PFF grade ranked second among NFL linebackers.
Detroit rewarded that development by signing Campbell to a contract extension through 2030, establishing him as one of the long-term pillars of its defense.
He also won the 2025 Pro Butkus Award, recognizing him as the top professional linebacker in football.
The Lions entered this season expecting more of the same.
Instead, his PFF grade has dropped from 90.2 to 44.2.
Three games don’t erase an All-Pro season.
But that’s one heck of a three-game swing.
A New Role Could Be Part of the Problem
There is some important context.
Anzalone is no longer beside Campbell, and Detroit’s defensive approach has changed.
Campbell has been asked to shoulder more responsibility in the middle of a defense dealing with significant injuries in the secondary. Detroit has also used more zone coverage, creating different assignments for its linebackers than Campbell regularly handled last season.
That doesn’t excuse everything.
Campbell knows that better than anyone.
Following Detroit’s 41-31 loss to Buffalo, Campbell became emotional while discussing his performance and repeatedly put the blame on himself.
“I played terrible. It starts with me, and I feel like it’s on me. I gotta be better,” Campbell said after the loss.
He added:
“I have no other thing to do but to look in the mirror and be better. That’s really where it starts. It starts with us.”
Campbell’s assessment wasn’t difficult to understand. Buffalo accumulated 446 yards of offense, including 203 rushing yards, while scoring six touchdowns against Detroit.
Campbell refused to make excuses afterward, repeatedly pointing toward execution rather than scheme.
Lions Need Their All-Pro Back
Detroit improved defensively against New York.
The communication was cleaner. Head coach Dan Campbell said the coverage was “stickier,” and the Lions eventually produced the game-winning takeaway when Chuck Clark stripped Geno Smith in the final minute.
But there is still work to do.
Detroit’s defense entered the season expecting Campbell to be one of the players solving problems, not creating another one.
The good news is obvious.
Campbell is 26 years old, coming off an elite season and has already demonstrated he can play linebacker at an All-Pro level. Three poor games aren’t enough evidence to suddenly declare that player gone.
They are enough to acknowledge that something hasn’t been right.
Campbell has 19 tackles through three games but no sacks or passes defended. More importantly, his struggles in coverage have made an already vulnerable Lions defense easier to attack.
Detroit doesn’t need Jack Campbell to become something he’s never been.
It needs him to become what he was a year ago.
Because through three games, one of the most dependable players on Detroit’s defense has been anything but.
