Lions OC John Morton addresses apparent demotion after Dan Campbell decision

Detroit Lions head coach Dan Campbell took over as the club's offensive play-caller during what became Detroit's 44-22 victory over the Washington Commanders on Nov. 9. 

On Thursday, Lions offensive coordinator John Morton spoke with reporters for the first time since that apparent demotion. 

Does John Morton disagree with Dan Campbell's decision?

"I fully support it," Morton said about Campbell's call, per Nolan Bianchi of The Detroit News. "Listen, man. I’ve been doing this for a while. I’ve been with head coaches that are offensive guys, play-callers, so I’m used to that. I feel very prideful of things that I was doing. There’s some things I’ve got to learn, no doubt."

While the Lions initially dealt with "growing pains" associated with Morton serving as the replacement for current Chicago Bears head coach Ben Johnson, Detroit later won five of six games before the club endured a 27-24 upset loss to the Minnesota Vikings on Nov. 2. According to ESPN stats, the Lions will enter the weekend ranked second in the NFL with an average of 31.4 points scored per game. Additionally, Campbell said this week that he feels quarterback Jared Goff is playing the best football of his career, to date, this fall. 

That said, Dave Birkett of the Detroit Free Press noted that the Lions set season-highs of 546 total offensive yards, 226 rushing yards and 30 first downs in the win against Washington. Despite the change, there's no indication Campbell plans to show Morton the door during the season. 

John Morton won't quit after losing play-calling duties

"That’s what we do. That’s what the Lions do," Morton added about supporting Campbell's decision, according to Colton Pouncy of The Athletic. "This organization’s been awesome. They live off grit, adversity, fighting through it. That’s me. My dad worked for GM for 30-something years. I saw him work on the assembly line forever. So, that’s all I know. … Player loses his starting position, what is he going to do? He’s just going to mope around and quit? No, he’s not, because we don’t hire guys like that. We don’t draft players like that. We hire guys that are fighters and will do whatever it takes."

Campbell's staff will spend the weekend preparing for the upcoming "Sunday Night Football" game at the Philadelphia Eagles (7-2). As of Friday morning, ESPN BET had 6-3 Detroit as a 2.5-point underdog for that matchup.