Detroit Lions secondary coach Aubrey Pleasant and Jeff Okudah exchanged words during Sunday’s Lions vs. 49ers game, which drew national attention. And while Dan Campbell may not like how it went down, he doesn’t appear to be too mad either.
After the 49ers scored a touchdown on a blown assignment by Okudah, FOX Sports cameras caught the fiery exchange between the two. Pleasant was in Okudah’s face, pointing at him and seemingly telling him to do his job. It became so intense to the point that Lions safety Tracy Walker stepped in between the two.
On Tuesday morning, Campbell appeared on Stoney & Jansen with Heather and discussed the situation. And while Dan Campbell may not like how it went down, he doesn’t seem to be too mad either.
“I don’t like it, but I don’t dislike it,” said Campbell. “I mean, it’s what goes on the sidelines. It’s high emotions, man. It’s high stress. And sometimes, it’s the only way to communicate at times. You have to get through. You gotta break through that barrier. And sometimes, there’s players, and there’s coaches when you get one blow up, now you can finally get some work done if that makes sense.”
“It just happens that way naturally. I don’t want disruption, but at the same time, I know this; things got cleaned up after that. That’s the way it goes sometimes.”
And Campbell didn’t stop there. He further elaborated that these types of situations between players and coaches get blown out of proportion.
“Those things happen in practice all the time,” said Campbell. “But nobody sees all that. And so it’s not like there’s anything different going on live tv than what’s going on in practice.”
Unfortunately for the Lions, Okudah will have to wait until next season to receive tough lough again from Pleasant. Campbell confirmed yesterday that the second-year cornerback would miss the remainder of the season. He suffered a ruptured Achilles during Sunday’s game vs. the 49ers.
With Okudah out, the Lions will turn to rookie Ifeatu Melifonwu, Bobby Price, or Jerry Jacobs to step up and fill the void.
Follow Kory Woods on Twitter at KoryEWoods.
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