Brian Branch will return from his 1-game suspension after next week's bye for the Detroit Lions' game against the Minnesota Vikings.
Dan Campbell found a silver lining in the critical piece NFL Films did on suspended safety Brian Branch this week – the way it galvanized the Detroit Lions locker room.
"That’s what our guys are about," the Lions coach said Saturday, Oct. 18. "We overcome adversity. And listen, that’s their brother, man, and if you’re going to attack their brother, that’s what they’re going to do. So we’ve got a tight-knit group. And I’ve already mentioned this, man, B.B.’s a good dude. So he’s paying for what happened and he’ll be back, ready to go for Minnesota.”
Branch will miss Monday's game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers (7 p.m., ABC/ESPN) after he was suspended one game for hitting wide receiver Juju Smith-Schuster after last week's loss to the Kansas City Chiefs.
NFL Films highlighted the incident and several on-field mistakes Branch made during the game on its show "Turning Point" this week.
On Thursday, Several Lions players expressed online their disappointment in a promotional video for the show that appeared on social media, and players spent much of Friday's open locker room session with reporters discussing the topic.
While Branch's suspension, the fallout from the "Turning Point" and the league's handling of the Lions' fourth-and-goal trick play in last week's loss to the Chiefs have dominated much of the conversation around the team this week, Campbell said he does not feel like it's a distraction for Monday's game against a Buccaneers team that, at 5-1, has the best record in the NFL.
"We assume that we’re going to get nothing to go our way and that’s OK," Campbell said. "I mean, seriously, that’s the game, man. There’s always calls, every team that happens one way or another and you’ve got to overcome them and the good teams always do. So, we’re not worried about it.”
Dave Birkett covers the Lions for the Detroit Free Press. Contact him at [email protected]. Follow him on Bluesky, X and Instagram at @davebirkett.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Brian Branch clips galvanized Detroit Lions locker room: Dan Campbell
Category: Football
