Dan Campbell Supports Lions’ Viral TD Celebrations ‘as Long as You Don’t Cost Us 15’

Scott Polacek@@ScottPolacekFeatured Columnist IVNovember 26, 2024

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The Detroit Lions are celebrating a lot of touchdowns this season.

And their head coach is fine with that, as long as those celebrations don’t cost the team with penalty flags.

“I tell our guys, ‘Hey, as long as you don’t cost us 15,'” Dan Campbell told reporters Tuesday. “I’m good with whatever they do. So they have fun with it, they are creative, they like to push the boundaries of whatever those are. I know our guys have fun with it and I think that’s important. They enjoy it, so it’s all good.”

The comments come after wide receiver Jameson Williams was fined for an obscene gesture he made while celebrating a touchdown. Running back Jahmyr Gibbs was also given a 15-yard penalty for taunting after his touchdown in Sunday’s win over the Indianapolis Colts.

Jake Bates still made the ensuing extra point that put Detroit up 21-6 in the third quarter, so the flag ended up not being that costly. Still, it isn’t difficult to envision a scenario where such a penalty would be problematic later in the season in a clutch playoff game.

For now, the Lions are blowing teams out during a nine-game winning streak.

They have more wins of at least 38 points (three) than single-digit victories (two) in the last eight, so individual penalties haven’t been that much of a concern in terms of wins and losses.

But Campbell is keeping his team on its toes before the games become more important down the stretch and into the playoffs. And as long as the Lions continue to play like they have, there will be plenty of more touchdowns to celebrate in ways that won’t lead to flags.