Dan Campbell Made Lions Players Target Caleb Williams in Week 13

The Chicago Bears and the Detroit Lions squared off in Week 13 on Thanksgiving Day. The Lions escaped with a 23-20 win due to coaching malpractice at the end of the game by Matt Eberflus.

In the contest, quarterback Caleb Williams went 20-of-39 for 256 yards and three passing touchdowns. Even though he played well, there was a time during the game when Bears fans held their breath when Williams was tackled by Detroit linebacker Jack Campbell.

Early in the third quarter, Williams scrambled down the sideline and ended up being hit in the leg by Campbell but no flag was thrown.

That play frustrated his teammates and fans, but Detroit WR Amon-Ra St. Brown revealed that Lions head coach Dan Campbell told them to hit Williams when he scrambles.

On the St. Brown podcast, Amon-Ra said that Campbell showed clips in team meetings leading into the game of Williams scrambling and using the sideline as a tool and not running out of bounds, instead picking up extra yards.

Campbell made it clear to his team that if the USC product is in bounds, hit him. And that's what they did.

"He goes, 'If he does this, we're going to hit his a**. I already warned the refs, the refs know."

Amon-Ra St. Brown

That hit didn't sit well with the young signal caller, who spoke about it after the game. He said, "That play was funky. Just put it that way. I didn't appreciate the play. He just kind of dove straight at my knee.. Definitely frustrated about that one."

It's certainly not the best to see your franchise QB get hit in the leg but this needs to serve as a lesson for Williams. If you're in the field of play, defenders are going to hit you. He needs to understand that he must protect himself at all costs and that means running straight out of bounds to avoid contact.

He didn't do that against the Lions, and we saw what happened.

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