Detroit Lions head coach Dan Campbell had no inhibitions about discussing the postgame brawl on Sunday night between his player, safety Brian Branch, and Kansas City Chiefs wide receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster. This followed a 27- 17 goal defeat in Arrowhead Stadium against Detroit. Branch struck Smith-Schuster using his open palm, resulting in a brawl on the field.
In his postgame address, Dan Campbell said, “I love Brian Branch, but what he did is inexcusable. And it’s not gonna be accepted here.”
"I love Brian Branch, but what he did is inexcusable. And it's not gonna be accepted here."
Dan Campbell speaks on altercation between Brian Branch and JuJu Smith-Schuster after Chiefs-Lions game
(via @Lions) pic.twitter.com/g55QqcQxJs
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) October 13, 2025
Did Dan Campbell Go Too Hard on Brian Branch After the Chiefs Brawl?
Campbell began his after-game remarks by accepting all the blame for what occurred to him in the name of the team.
“Let me start with this. I love Brian Branch, but what he did is inexcusable, and it’s not going to be accepted here. It’s not what we do, it’s not what we’re about. I apologized to coach [Andy] Reid, the Chiefs, and Schuster. That’s not OK.” Campbell said, addressing reporters.
The confrontation began after the final kneel-down when Branch, appearing agitated, ignored Patrick Mahomes’ handshake and went directly toward Smith-Schuster. He slapped the wideout, and Smith-Schuster responded. Branch seized his facemask and threw him onto the ground before his colleagues and employees could step in to stop things.
Speaking to The Athletic’s Colton Pouncy in the locker room, Branch acknowledged wrongdoing but defended the emotion behind his reaction, he admitted. “I did a real childish thing,I’m tired of people doing stuff in between plays and refs don’t catch it. They be trying to bully me out there. I shouldn’t have did it, it was childish.”
Branch explained the altercation stemmed from an illegal block in the back by Smith-Schuster late in the fourth quarter. “I got blocked in the back illegally, and it was in front of the ref and the ref didn’t do anything,” he said.
Campbell’s immediate public reprimand signals Detroit’s intent to maintain discipline in a season already defined by acceptable margins and emotional outbursts. For Branch, whose fiery play has been both an asset and a liability, Sunday’s outburst may now force a deeper conversation inside the Lions’ locker room about professionalism and control, which Campbell insists will define the team moving forward.
