Detroit Lions players meet with the media on July 20 | 2025 Training Camp Day 1

Detroit Lions players meet with the media on July 20 | 2025 Training Camp Day 1

Jir, it’s uh early, but uh what do you what’s your sense of the offense so far as you guys are transitioning away from Ben into John? Are there a lot of similarities or a lot of different I mean a lot of stuff is the same. You know, some stuff obviously going to change, but um I mean it looks good so far. So that’s all I’m saying. Yeah. So you think this sets you up for an even bigger year? You had a big year last year, but an even bigger one. Is your role expanding more? Uh yeah, I mean whatever they want me to do. Uh, I mean, I’m willing to do it. Just I mean, I just want to win a Super Bowl ultimately. So, I mean, they told me I’m, you know, line up at safety some this year. So, I’ll be doing that a little little nickel. So, hey John, one of the things that Dan was saying to us this morning was that the offensive line is one of the areas he’s really keeping an eye on. How does it change for you guys in your position? And what kind of acclamation period might there be? I mean, they’re all being taught by the same, you know, Hank. So, I mean, pretty much everything’s going to be the same. So, I mean, I’m not really worried about too much. I’m confident in them and I got trust in them. So, I think it’s going to be fine. Is Tate giving the sense right now that he is a rookie at center? How’s he picking it up right now? Uh, you know, some stuff’s obviously going to be shaky like, you know, different uh snap counts and stuff like snapping the ball. Um, but other than that, you know, he’s doing great. You know, I’ve noticed since high school, he’s always had that dog mentality in him. So, I can’t wait to see him this year. Is the uh the playbook much different as far as I mean the verbiage or how John calls the the plays? How what’s the difference between him and Ben so far? Uh I mean I mean they was here at the same time a couple years ago. So I mean it’s not a lot that’s changed, but I mean like I said a little tweaks here and there, but it’s good. What stands out about him though about his energy? Uh he’s always, you know, uh um high energy guy. always, you know, he’s funny. He’s funny. He’s funny as hell. He’s hilarious. I was going to say so, but uh yeah, he’s hilarious. He’s always making jokes. Uh but, you know, he loves the game a lot. So, yeah, we respect him for that. Always, you know, he wants to win now, so we’re on the same page. Can you describe what your mentality is, how different it is walking into camp this year compared to your rookie year last year? Uh, I mean, I approach everything the same. I mean, I’m just uh not going to be too high, not too low. Just try to do my job and get better, uh, you know, every day. Knowing how the NFL runs though, do you feel a little bit different? You have more under your belt, more confidence. Uh, oh yeah, for sure. You know, rookie year, you know, I didn’t know what to expect. So, uh, and last year I was pretty much fine and this year I feel even better. So, the way last season ended and then you guys had some injuries, lost some offensive line, tough schedule, there’s a perception the Lions would maybe take a step back, but 15-2 is hard to do. Do you do you hear that perception of taking it as as possible? I mean yeah I hear it but I mean we control that narrative. So if we come in here and work every day then I mean I mean it’s going to show up on Sundays, Mondays, Thursdays. So I mean we’ll see where that where that takes us. Last year this time everybody was pretty vocal about what the ultimate end goal was. Yeah. This year does that even have to be said whenever y’all walked into this field? No. I mean we we know what we want to do. Not too much talking needs to be said about it. So, we’re just going to work to try to get that. So, getting to be the first team in a training camp, is there any benefit to that? Do the mentality any different when you got to get the head start on everyone? No, I didn’t even know that. I didn’t know that. So, I I don’t know. All good. What was the motivation for the jersey? Oh, I just didn’t like 26. You know, when I got drafted, that was the lowest number available. It was like 26, 33, 35, 40. I was like, bro, it’s 26. Like, what’s it been like with to start again? Uh, it’s great. You know, everybody loves him. He’s hilarious. You know, high energy guy, too. Just like Johnny Mo and Scotty. You know, they all gonna get get along, you know, very well. Um, it’s just great being around all of them with him. Is it Are you guys kind of like falling right back into where you Yeah, I mean, yeah. I mean, nothing much has changed at all, you know. Um, it’s funny cuz I was 17 back then and now I’m 23, but nothing’s changed. So, um, yeah, and I still talked to him over the years, even even when I was at Bama and, you know, my first two my first two years here. So, yeah, it was picked up where he left off. We just were asking Jamir just about the uh difference in you know changing from Ben to John Morton. Um what have you seen so far as far as the differences? What what are the things you’ve had to adjust to? Uh yeah, I mean obviously like they different people. Um you know Ben was a an awesome OC and he’s going to be even better head coach, but I think we got a damn good OC and um coach uh Johnny Mo too. So um I think they they coach a little different. Uh Johnny Mo is a little bit more, you know, verbal and vocal. Um but you know, I love it. Did uh do you expect sort of the the playbook to kind of still be sort of what it was last year? I think Johnny even talked about that. Like why why make too many tweaks really when things have been working? Yeah. Um I think like again like Johnny Johnny Mo’s a completely different person than Ben. I think we’ll have a lot of similarities, but um we definitely have a little bit of changes too just knowing that he’s a different uh person and a different coach also. So, um, it’ll be exciting still. Dan seemed to be a little bit more involved in a little more, uh, verbal today. Is that is that a change, too, just being a little bit more involved in the offensive? Uh, I mean, not what I’ve noticed. I mean, Coach Campbell’s always been pretty involved. Um, so I guess you guys see it from a different perspective than I do, but yeah, he’s always been pretty involved. You guys have a few changes on offense besides the coordinator, offensive lineman left, a lot of stuff to figure out there. Any concerns in your mind at all that the offense picks right up where it left off? No, no concerns at all. Um, you know, they do a good job of bringing the right guys in here and, you know, we got a a bunch of young, hungry guys who just got in here, too, and they’re learning fast. So, uh, no concerns at all. The offensive line has a couple of new faces potentially stepping in this season. You’ve obviously loved behind that unit your first couple years here. What do you expect out of that group now that’s looking a little bit different? I expect the same thing. you know, they all have the same potential to to be what we’ve been in recent years, but uh the unique thing about this league, everything changes every year. You never have the same exact team that you had the year before. So, it’ll be new, but um those guys have high potential, high ceilings, and I’m excited to see what they’ll do. David, with how much time the offensive line and running back spend together, how much do you put it on yourself to help the other offensive line just kind of come to and pick this stuff up really quickly? Uh, oddly enough, I think it’s like more so of me trying to get closer to them as a person than I than trying to like help push them to, you know, get the playbook. Cuz I mean, everybody’s telling them to get in the playbook. Everybody’s kind of pushing them to make sure that they know what they know. So, I kind of bring in a different narrative of telling them like, I’m here to just be a teammate to you to let you know like don’t allow this to give you pressure at all, but allow you to just, you know, be know what you’re capable of and and do what you know you can do. chip do you have on your shoulder this year? I know you’ve come in past years with a little bit of something to prove. How does that kind of progress as as you were here? Yeah, this probably the hungriest that I have been, you know, cuz I feel like, you know, everybody a lot of people kind of forget that I’m here in the offense, too. Um, so I’m not here to prove anybody wrong. I’m here to prove myself right and be the best teammate that I can be. But I definitely got like a big chip on my shoulder. We saw a glimpse of you out there on the field with Junior at the same time. Just how excited are you about potential more of those opportunities? Yeah, it’s super super exciting. You know, being able to have me and him on the field at the same time, it’ll be tough for for defense to prepare for it. So, um it’ll be super excited to see us both out there at the same time. Did the way last season ended, did that sting for a while? Does it still linger? Do you think about it at all? Um I’m a I’m a short term guy. I kind of let things go. Um, I’d have been in the league, you know what I’m saying, long enough for me to understand like you can’t hold on to and spill milk. I mean, you just clean it up and you figure out what you do next to get another glass. So, why do you think that people have kind of forgotten that you were still here? Um, I got hurt last year towards the end of the year and I wasn’t able to perform the way I wanted to. Um, yeah, I have I don’t really know, but that’s fine. I don’t mind it. David, when you say you’re the h you’ve ever been, how do you feel that manifesting itself? like how is that shining through and how you work how you play this year? Yeah. Um I spent a lot of time alone to myself. Um you know just talking to myself um giving myself you know pep talks of like the reality of of what it actually is and not really focus on the the things that aren’t true. Um but yeah, it’s a lot of me versus me then me versus anybody else. So this team has been knocking on the door for a few years now. Does that add to the hunger for all of you guys? Uh yeah, for sure. It’s everybody’s out here hungry. You know, we tired of just being like at the close. Everybody’s tired of being close. You know, you it’s cool to be close at first, but you don’t want to get comfortable with being close all the time. They don’t want that’s not what you want to be known for, especially when you know you got the guys that you got in on this team and you know, you want to finish it. So, that’s the year. This is the year for us, you know, the year of the reckoning and the year that we choose that we need to finish. What are your reactions to seeing Frank retire and how confident are you and whether it’s Graham or Tate or someone else stepping into that center position? Uh yeah, when Frankie uh retired, I was happy for him. You know, I think everybody don’t really understand like the the toll and the capacity of this game that it puts on like our bodies and our minds. Um but you know, Frank was always a professional. He never was one of those guys who was selfish and you know he played as long as he could like really and Frankie Frankie was hurting. Um but to see him retire the way he did and leave his legacy. I’ll always remember Frank as one of the best teammates I’ve I’ve ever had. You know, me and Frank still text to this day and I’ll continue to text him for the rest of my life because that’s how important he was to me and you know I was just happy that he was able to get some clarity on what he wanted to do and I’m happy that he did it. Do you think the young guy Tate can step in day one as a starter rookie in this league? Yeah, if he wasn’t here, if they didn’t bring him here, I wouldn’t think he would be able to. So, he’s here for a reason and I know he’ll be prepared to do so. I have no idea. Like, so my my family’s always like, “Hey, who you got October?” I’m like, “I don’t know.” But honestly, it don’t even matter cuz uh literally if it’s we got a game on the next week, I can’t even worry about them because I got the game that Sunday and if I lose sight of that one, it’s the NFL. you get your butt kicked out here. So, um, no, I have no idea what the schedule is. All I know is that Wednesday when they show me who the DBs are and who the punter is, I’m locked in. So, no, I have no idea who we play. So, um, I know we play our division twice outside of that. I don’t know. Um, but that’s it. Yeah. Yes, sir. Because we keep asking about it. Do you have any urge to just go pee? No. Well, see, you get distracted though and I don’t do the schedule. I don’t look at the Instagrams or the tick talk. So, I’m good. So, I’m good on all that stuff. Yeah. Yes, sir. starting this early is the upside that you get to, you know, move on with your goals for 2025 and let last year go. Um, I think you honestly, man, you you you let that soak in, especially right after the season, you know, win, lose, the pains, all the aches, the bruise, everything you feel. You got about a month and a half, maybe two months to kind of like soak that in. But after that, man, you got to you got to put your foot on the ground and keep working. And, uh, I feel like as soon as you do that, as soon as you come out here on this field, it’s what can we do this year? Cuz this is all that matter. We looking for the week one, whoever that is. and uh whatever games got ahead of us, but that’s what we’re doing. Sir, how how different does this year feel? I mean, you’ve been part of this for a few years now, experiencing the building process. How different does this camp feel coming in? Uh, man, you know what? I feel like the team feels mature. It’s crazy because you think about it. When I I was here in 2021 when uh DC first came and JG and saying, all those guys, I mean, we’re talking about year four, year five, married babies. I mean, it’s a it’s a mature team. Um, it’s cool to watch these guys grow, but more importantly, it’s cool to watch these guys become pros because now they’re vets. So, watching them take the reigns of the younger guys coming in who were once young guys when they come in, the maturity of the team has been phenomenal to see. So, last last year coming into camp, it was the goal was vocal. Yep. Has anybody said brought up the those two words that that is the ultimate end goal for? Um, I think at the end of the day, uh, you lose sight of right now, you that’s when you get lost in the sauce. um we paying attention to right now because that’s a long way away from today and we still got tomorrow. So it’s going to be and and the day after that. So we got a lot of work to put in. So I think we focus on right now. Make sure when we come out there week one whoever that is we start balling. So yes sir. I got one more so maybe they cover but David said something over there about you know we’re we’re sick of being close. Like it’s good at first but eventually you want to get over the hump. What sort of motivation does that for you guys this year? What does it mean to what would it mean to, you know, not be close anymore and to to make it happen? Oh, man. That’s I mean, that’s what the reason why we’re out here. Uh to not be I mean, what do they say? Almost is only good for horseshoes and hand grenades, something like that. Like an old school saying, but man, almost is uh that’s not You don’t work for almost. You work for um the whole thing. Uh I think at the end of the day, man, the groundwork that we lay right now is going to determine the small minute details that come with the almost that happened last few years. So, um this is right here where we build it. And last year winning 15 and not getting there probably helps you, you know, put that into context. Oh man, shoot. You trying to win every single one, especially the most important one. So, um, no, I think right now, man, everybody uh has an understanding what we’re trying to do and uh you got to come out here and I think Coach Campbell says sacrifice and I love that. What are you willing to sacrifice now to become who you want to be later? And that’s what we’re looking for. No, he said sacrifice, but that’s how I internalize it. What are you willing to sacrifice today to become who you want to be tomorrow? That could be Pro Bowl, winning team, division, Super Bowl, champ, whatever that is. What are you willing to sacrifice right now to become that later? And that’s what we’re doing. Thank you. All right, guys. Thank you. For me personally, you know, that was the first like playoff game I started, second game I started in this league. Uh, and you know, losing like that, you know, left a bad taste in my mouth. So, I’m coming here to compete every day. Like, that’s just my mindset. That’s what Coach Campbell, Coach Freley, everyone preaches, you know, Coach Martin. So, I’m just trying to compete and be myself and just play with physical and fast. They always say, you know, going into year two, a player has his biggest development. You know, I mean, just how much more relaxed, comfortable do you feel now heading into this season after having a few games and a few starts under your belt? Yeah, selfishly, you know, I had a really good group, really old veteran group, you know, Frank, uh, Kevin Zitler, Panu, Taylor Decker. So, playing with those four guys, it was very easy my transition. So, year two, I just, you know, just got to get better, better, and better. That’s that’s what I expect. To be honest, your camp didn’t look like this with I mean, the moment you start talking and walking, everyone knows how critical you’re going to be to what this team wants to do this year. How much did you wrap your head around that this offseason knowing on what would be expected of you? Um, I mean, I don’t really take I take try to take everything with a grain of salt, you know. Uh, I don’t think any moment’s too big or too small. I just try to appreciate it in the moment and after. So, I’m just looking forward toward towards everything that comes my way. What did you do this on? How did you prepare for this particularly, you know, being able to play right in the I guess after you spend most of your college career, right? You know, we spoke. I mean, like I’ve said, I played left in college. It’s not like I’m new to the position. I played right most of my college career. And then from the day I got here, I was stuck in at left and right. So, it’s not like haven’t been practicing since last year. Coach Freley’s big on, you know, if you’re not playing as much, work on both sides. So, I’ve been doing that, but now primarily mostly left. So, it’s just adjusting and then flipping my feet really and just working with a different guy next to me. Uh, we trade with Pane, you know, most of my time. You know, Pane was big. We we we stay here. So, Pane was big. I don’t know if you were already asked about this, but just Dan said in the press conference this morning that the O line is really the area that he’s keeping an eye on. Yeah. How important is it for you guys to gel quickly or is it really just you kind of have to take your time and and and learn what you guys are learning each other? Yeah, you know, I would say everything good comes with time, you know, like like last year’s old line that took time, you know, so everything’s going to take time. We got, you know, myself, Tate, you know, people at different positions, some new guys. So, I think it’ll be good. You know, we have a standard here. The standard has not dropped. You know, Coach Campbell believes that, Coach Freley believes that. So, the standard has not dropped just because there’s new people starting. You feel like there’s lots of opportunities for guys like you? Yeah, there’s there’s a lot of opportunities every every day is a competition. I I feel like every day, you know, the eyes in the sky don’t lie. So, every day the film is on and it’s it’s comp competition at the end of the day. May the best man win. You smoke Derek on the screen. How hungry are you to get? I like pads, you know. You know, a lot of guys like, you know, Dererick’s a good dude. I didn’t mean to do that. Um, a lot of guys, you know, they talk, you know, talk talk. So when the pads come on, it’s a I never had pads on here yet, you know, so it’s my first camp, so I’m very hungry. Yeah, mentioning a little bit. Thank you. Thank you guys. Or is this kind of your first time getting together? This is our first time getting together. Um we had talked about getting together over the break, but obviously um his wife is expecting so he wasn’t wasn’t really sure when that was going to happen. So we just kind of um you know didn’t uh we didn’t that didn’t happen, but um obviously very happy for him and his wife um they got their baby. So, uh, yeah, this is our first time. Obviously, I was dealing with a little bit of an injury during OTAA, so to be able to be out here with him is great. How cool was that just to get to catch balls with him today? Oh, it was incredible. Uh, it’s been a dream of mine for a long time. So, to be able be able to go out here and do it is really special. What’s this journey been like to now this point? You sure had a little more time to like let it all soak in and kind of get some time off and now back at it. Yeah, I mean, the journey’s been incredible. I just I mean, I thank God every day that I have this opportunity. don’t want to take any day for granted because little Isaac would be, you know, going out here with everything that he’s got every single day if he knew he had this opportunity. So, just to be in these shoes and have this um just so blessed to be here. So, I just got to take advantage of it. Like being in a room with Branch and Kirby, established pros. What can you learn from guys like that? Yeah, I mean those guys are two of the best in the league for a reason. Um you know, they they put the work in day in and day out. Um and they just play hard once they get on the field. Like it’s it’s balls to the walls. It’s max out effort and uh you know that’s what we’re built on. We’re built on that grit, you know. Um and so just to see it, you know, it’s living proof. So feels really good. What’s your mindset going into this competition? Yeah, just keep my head down and keep working hard. It’s what I always done. Um you know, just try not to overthink the playbook. Uh just go out there, play, and really just soak up all the knowledge from the older guys as much as I can. Um and just just be a sponge. Just sit back and learn. It’s the best I can do. personal opinion. Yeah, it’s like I just said, it’s they’re they’re two of the best in the league for a reason. And uh you know, you see why because the way they practice, right? They come out here and you know, it’s max out effort from from the time they hit the field to the time they leave. So, um and you know, Kirby’s doing a great job uh stepping up and holding guys accountable. So, just to learn learn from those guys and just trying to soak it up as much as I can. How much different is is now this than it was back in June? It was kind of your first time being around it. Yeah, I mean for me specifically, I was a little held back in June. and I had a little bit of a shoulder injury. So, just to be back in like full team drills and uh seven on seven in the team sets, it feels really good. Um like I said, it’s been a long offseason, you know, rehabbing an injury and just kind of going through the proday process. Um so, it feels good just to actually get back out here and and get back uh you know, pads aren’t on yet, but you know, get some physical action going.

Hear from Detroit Lions running back Jahmyr Gibbs, running back David Montgomery, wide receiver Kalif Raymond, wide receiver Isaac Teslaa, offensive lineman Christian Mahogany and safety Ian Kennelly. As they addresses the media on July 20, 2025 at Detroit Lions Training Camp presented by Rocket.

0:00 – 4:10 – Jahmyr Gibbs
4:11 – 10:25 – David Montgomery
10:26 – 13:56 – Kalif Raymond
13:57 – 17:02 – Christian Mahogany
17:03 – 18:02 – Isaac TeSlaa
18:03 – 19:32 – Ian Kennelly

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