WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. >> The Detroit Lions have seen their record consistently improve under head coach Dan Campbell, but there isn’t much room for on-paper growth in 2025 after a 15-win season in 2024.

The road schedule the Lions will have to play next season won’t help, either.

Away trips in 2025 include contests against the Washington Commanders, Kansas City Chiefs, Philadelphia Eagles, Green Bay Packers, Baltimore Ravens, Los Angeles Rams and Minnesota Vikings — all playoff teams in 2024. The Lions will also travel to play the Chicago Bears (five wins in 2024) and Cincinnati Bengals (nine).

“You’re always looking for these nuggets of motivation,” Campbell said Tuesday at the NFL’s annual league meetings. “This is a challenge. We’re competitive. I’m competitive. … These are going to be outdoor (and on) grass. I hope it rains, it’s mud, it’s everything, the whole deal. … This is going to be a meat grinder, you know?”

Detroit’s nine road opponents in 2025 combined to go 102-51 last season. The eight road foes in 2024 went 69-67.

“I’ve said this before — we could be a better team than we were last year and have more losses,” Campbell said. “There is a chance that could happen. That’s OK. As long as we learn from what those are and we get better coming out of them, we’ll be good. I always think of this: No matter what happens in a season, you’re trying to sharpen your sword for the playoffs. You’re trying to win your division and sharpen your sword for the playoffs. Win, lose, whatever that is.”

With the stiff road schedule in front of them — and despite how last season ended — the Lions are still aiming for the conference’s No. 1 seed, and with it a bye to the divisional round of the playoffs.

“If you’re just playing the odds, the odds say that when you don’t have as many games to get to a Super Bowl, those odds are normally in your favor,” Campbell said. “That’s better. One less game you have to play. So, I would still say that’s always going to be a goal. You’ve got to win your division, you want to try to get a shot at the one seed or seed yourself the best, certainly a home game and you go from there.

“But the bottom line is this: It doesn’t matter. Just get your ass in the playoffs. Just get in and it’s about the matchups and making the most of that day. And along the way, we’ve got to get better throughout the year. We’ve got to be much better than we were to start the season.”

Johnson’s comments ‘not a shot’

Former Lions offensive coordinator and current Bears head coach Ben Johnson was asked at the NFL Combine what makes him excited to work with quarterback Caleb Williams. Johnson cited the former No. 1 overall pick’s ability to escape pressure and make off-script throws, which some perceived as a veiled slight against Lions quarterback Jared Goff.

Johnson insisted Tuesday that’s not the case.

“It was not a shot at Jared,” Johnson said. “I’ve talked to Jared about it. Sometimes, your comments get skewed a little bit. That was not my intent, (and) he certainly understands that. It was more directed at Caleb and what he brings to the table.”

Johnson’s comment at the combine was the following: “To have an athlete like Caleb extend the play and potentially find an explosive down the field, that’s what gets me going a little bit. I get excited thinking about that because I haven’t really been around that since I’ve been in the league.”

The Lions enjoyed the league’s best offense under Johnson from 2022-24, and Campbell said he wishes his former offensive coordinator well. Johnson said he appreciates the Lions fans who have been “super supportive and very respectful.”

More joint practices

Joint practices will continue in 2025.

Though he didn’t reveal which teams he’s in the process of making arrangements with, Campbell said he’s hoping for two weeks of joint practices this upcoming preseason. In 2024, the Lions visited New York for joint practices with the Giants.

They hosted the Giants and Jacksonville Jaguars in 2023 and traveled for joint practices with the Indianapolis Colts in 2022.

Joint practices provide organizations a chance to practice against another team during the week in the lead-up to a preseason game.

It’s an opportunity for clubs to go up against someone fresh, as coaches on the same staff sometimes become too familiar with what their counterparts are running. In other words: Coaches can see how another team, who hasn’t seen their plays for weeks, reacts to their calls. It’s a positive for the players, too, as they often grow tired of competing against their own teammates during training camp.

“We’ve got something in the works,” Campbell said. “We’ll see what happens.”