Lions’ Dan Campbell puts team on notice after fumble issues

The Detroit Lions fumbled the ball four times and lost three of them in Sunday’s 24-6 loss to the Dallas Cowboys, and it was something head coach Dan Campbell did not take lightly.

Jared Goff and Jamaal Williams fumbled the ball two times each while Anthony Barr, DeMarcus Lawrence and Sam Williams were among those who recovered balls for the Cowboys. Campbell made clear after the game he was not going to have it with anyone’s butterfingers.

“If you can’t hold onto the football, you can’t play for us,” Campbell told reporters, via the Detroit Free Press. “It’s too devastating. We’re not in the position to overcome those.”

The Lions have five fumbles on the season and are tied with six other teams in the NFL with the mark. They are also minus-6 in the turnover differential category.

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On Sunday, the Lions had five total turnovers and did not get into the red zone.

“You don’t like to lose games, but I’m not down and I’m not losing confidence. I’m not going to go hide in a corner,” Campbell said. “Because I know if you change a couple of things, take care of the football, play the game plan the way you should and all of sudden you win.”

Campbell added: “So we got to keep this in the true perspective of the fact that, hey, our defense is playing pretty good football right now and we got to continue to do that. And if we do that we can alleviate some pressure now in all three phases, or the other two and now we can start to — you can help your other units out a little bit. That’s why I’m encouraged. I hate losing, but I’m encouraged by that because I know we’ll get better offensively and it won’t always be like today’s game plan, either.”

Detroit fell to 1-5 despite being one of the most productive offenses in the NFL.

Campbell is 0-11-1 on the road and 4-18-1 overall in his second season as the Lions’ head coach.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.