After watching the Detroit Lions’ preseason opener against the Cincinnati Bengals, I had just two questions.
First: What’s wrong with Isaac TeSlaa?
And second, which is the more important question: What’s wrong with Dan Campbell?
TeSlaa, the second-year receiver who showed a flare for making one-handed circus catches as a rookie, had a terrible preseason debut Thursday, Aug. 13, in a 16-14 loss at Cincinnati.
Maybe it was the slick conditions under the rain. Maybe he had too much Skyline chili before the game.
Whatever the reason, TeSlaa let a great ball from Luke Altmyer literally slip through his fingers and plunk him in the helmet. Then the ball fell gently into the hands of Bengals safety Jordan Battle for an interception that killed the Lions’ first drive.
Two drives later, TeSlaa dropped a short slant pass from Altmyer on fourth-and-3 at Cincy’s 29-yard line.
That was it for TeSlaa’s night. He started the game, played 17 snaps without a catch on three targets.
If it was just one game, and an exhibition at that, that would be one thing. But the troubling part of TeSlaa’s performance was that it was a continuation of the poor training camp he’s had this summer. He’s had trouble using his big 6-foot-4, 214-pound frame and his speed on the outside to gain separation against defensive backs.
After the game, Campbell was asked a good question about whether he needs to speak with TeSlaa to make sure his struggles don’t spiral.
Incredibly, Campbell said he didn’t.
“No, I think like anything, I remember what those days are like,” he said. “You know, you want everything to come in a hurry, and you just, you’re going into your second year and you can place a lot of pressure on yourself to really, you know, especially when you want to be great. I mean, he wants to be great.
“And so I think more than anything is just stay the course. And I feel like TeSlaa – you know, I don’t feel like I need to [address it] with him.”
I understand Campbell faces a delicate balance between giving TeSlaa helpful input and not getting in his head too much about his struggles. I believe Campbell knows TeSlaa well enough to know which buttons he can push, or shouldn’t, to get the most out of him.
“He’s got a damn good coach in that room in Scottie [Montgomery],” Campbell said. “And, man, all it takes is a couple of wins, you know?”
TeSlaa isn’t stupid or cocky. He understands he’s the third receiver behind Amon-Ra St. Brown and Jameson Williams, and often the fourth receiving option after tight end Sam LaPorta, and that’s not even mentioning how many balls Jahmyr Gibbs will catch out of the backfield.
As TeSlaa told the Free Press recently: “You have a lot of mouths to feed.”
Offensive coordinator Drew Petzing recently doubled down on that sentiment when he said: “You want the ball? Go out and earn it. We’re in training camp right now. Guys are fighting for roles, they’re fighting for touches.”
TeSlaa understands this.
“I’ve got to work and prove that I deserve the looks,” he said recently.
But Campbell needs to say more and probably speak harsher truths to TeSlaa, a third-round pick out of Arkansas after he spent his first two years at Division II Hillsdale College.
A third-round pick shouldn’t be guaranteed an NFL career. Even though Lions general manager Brad Holmes loves himself some Brad Holmes draft picks (his second-ever pick in 2021, Levi Onwuzurike, is still on this team after missing two entire seasons), TeSlaa needs to understand nothing is guaranteed, even when you have your GM stoutly in your corner.
That’s another part of the delicate balance for Campbell. He can’t publicly rip the high picks Holmes is banking on to make him look like a genius after he traded both of his 2026 third-round picks to move up 32 spots to take TeSlaa, who was considered a reach because he struggled to gain separation in college.
Now he’s dealing with the same issue in the NFL. Montgomery wants TeSlaa to use his size sometimes and his speed at other times to gain that separation and take advantage of the double teams St. Brown and Williams command, though TeSlaa didn’t have the benefit of playing with either against the Bengals.
The season will be here soon. I’m sure TeSlaa is in no danger of being cut this year, or even next. But if he continues to struggle in camp and in the preseason, the best thing Campbell can do before the situation becomes too dire to salvage is to park the politics, disregard whose feelings get hurt, and give his young, promising receiver an earful about how quickly the NFL moves on from unproductive players.
Contact Carlos Monarrez at cmonarrez@freepress.com and follow him on X @cmonarrez.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Dan Campbell needs to be harder on struggling Lions WR Isaac TeSlaa
Reporting by Carlos Monarrez, Detroit Free Press / Detroit Free Press
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By Carlos Monarrez, Detroit Free Press | USA TODAY Network
