Friday night's NFL preseason game between the Detroit Lions and Atlanta Falcons was suspended after Lions safety Morice Norris suffered a serious injury. Once play was slated to resume after the stoppage, Detroit's Dan Campbell and Atlanta's Raheem Morris were able to collaborate as coaches and figure out a way to effectively abandon the proceedings despite being informed that the game was still on.
Campbell was asked about how that process worked during his media availability Monday after being aksed why he believed that happened and what instruction he was given by the league.
"Don't do this to me," he said after a measured pause. "Raheem and I agreed that that was what we were going to do. [Referee] Shawn Hochuli let us know 'Hey, the game is still on.' We communicated with each other, we told Shawn we'd be taking knees and he said 'I understand' and that's the way it went."
Dan Campbell avoids getting in trouble when asked why it took the NFL so long to call the Lions exhibition game against the Falcons. pic.twitter.com/9Qw2VplDB5
— Lions Nation Unite™ (@LionsNationU) August 11, 2025
In the end, Falcons quarterback Emory Jones took one more snap after the injury and held the ball as both teams stood on the field as the clock ran. The game was called soon after.
One can understand why Campbell wanted to take time and formulate his answer very carefully. The decision to just let the clock run out was a unique one—but the situation made both coaches think it was the right path of action.
More NFL on Sports Illustrated
This article was originally published on www.si.com as Dan Campbell Explains How He Worked With Raheem Morris to End Preseason Game.
