Detroit Lions coach Dan Campbell offered safety Brian Branch some advice after his ejection for a helmet-to-helmet hit in Sunday’s game: aim lower, and if he’s going to make such a hit, reserve it for a game against the Panthers rather than the Packers.
In the second quarter of Detroit’s 24-14 win over Green Bay, Branch was removed from the game after a helmet-to-helmet hit on Packers wide receiver Bo Melton. “We reviewed all the angles,” Fewell said, noting that Branch had the “time and space” to make a different decision and avoid a head-and-neck hit, deeming the act “flagrant.”
Sunday’s Lions-Packers game was broadcast widely, with FOX showing it in nearly every market except for Los Angeles and Seattle, where they aired the Rams-Seahawks game. Campbell advised Branch to “lower your target” to avoid head contact, while emphasizing he didn’t want to curb Branch’s aggressive playing style, which is crucial to his performance. Campbell added, “But it doesn’t help us when he isn’t available… so I would tell him just to lower it.”
“They don’t care about the 1 o’clock games… so understand the situation, and we’ll get through it. He’ll be fine,” Campbell said.
NFL analysts, though not Campbell himself, noted a contrasting example: Carolina’s Xavier Woods’ hit on Saints receiver Chris Olave in an earlier game. Woods’ hit led to multiple flags and Olave being transported to the hospital, but Woods wasn’t ejected, highlighting inconsistent enforcement.
Branch received an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty following his ejection, later saluting the Lambeau Field crowd with both middle fingers raised. While Branch is likely to face fines for both the hit and the conduct penalty, Fewell indicated that the NFL Compliance Department may address his gesture as an action “detrimental to the league.”
