The Lions have the NFL's worst defense and coach Dan Campbell has no quick fixes

DETROIT (AP) — Dan Campbell knows his Detroit Lions have serious defensive issues.

He's just not sure about the best way to help his team overcome them.

After falling to 2-2 with a 32-26 loss to the Carolina Panthers on Sunday night, the Lions rank last in the NFL in yards allowed per game (423.8) and points allowed per game (31.8). That's been enough to negate an offense that ranks in the top six in yardage and scoring.

“The bottom line is that we have to work through this,” Campbell said Monday. “There are things we haven't tried defensively, and we're looking at everyone we've got here from our own roster to the practice squad. There might be people who we need to push into different spots or it might be about making different calls.”

Against the Panthers, the defense stiffened at the end of the game. With the Lions trailing 32-19 in the fourth quarter, the Lions forced two punts. Jared Goff took advantage the first time, throwing a touchdown pass to Sam LaPorta with 3:38 to play, but on the second drive, Goff took a sack and then the Lions were stopped on fourth down.

“We got two stops and gave ourselves a chance to go down and get the win,” Campbell said. “Until we find our true footing, we're going to have a lot of games like that, and we have to take advantage when we have those opportunities.”

The Lions committed nine penalties for 67 yards, and many of them were on the offensive side of the ball. On the drive before Goff's touchdown pass to LaPorta, they faced fourth-and-10 from the Carolina 15, but took a delay of game followed by a false start and couldn't convert on fourth-and-20.

“That's the starting point in all three phases,” Campbell said. “It's the penalties, especially the pre-snap penalties and the discipline penalties. We just kind of implode at times.”

The Lions weren't able to finish off a comeback on Sunday night, but their offense is averaging 29.8 points and 399.3 yards per game. They've only turned the ball over once this season while scoring at least 25 points in all four games.

Opposing quarterbacks are completing passes at a 69.8% clip with 11 touchdowns and just two interceptions. Detroit is giving up an average of 304 yards passing per game, another category where it ranks last in the NFL.

Goff is averaging more than 300 yards passing per game with a 67.7% completion rate, and he hasn't turned the ball over a single time in more than 170 touches.

The Panthers did an outstanding job of bottling up Jahmyr Gibbs. He carried the ball 15 times for 46 yards and caught four passes on seven targets for 31 yards. His longest play was 13 yards.

Campbell said safety Brian Branch could start practicing this week, although it isn't clear if he could play Sunday against Arizona or if he is more likely to return after Detroit's bye week. The loss to Carolina came exactly 10 months after he tore an Achilles tendon against the Dallas Cowboys.

“I'm hopeful,” Campbell said. “We haven't gotten confirmation from the doctor yet, but that's all we are waiting on right now.”

Cornerback Rock Ya-Sin is a significant question mark after straining a hamstring against the Panthers.

0 — The number of division games the Lions will have played before their Week 6 bye. Detroit plays Green Bay and Minnesota in its first two games after the break, but doesn't face Chicago until Thanksgiving Day.

Put together a game plan that will take advantage of quarterback Jacoby Brissett's limitations and a porous Cardinals defense, then use the bye week to heal up as many defensive backs as possible.

See AP’s full NFL coverage here

Carolina Panthers wide receiver Tetairoa McMillan (4) scores a touchdown during an NFL football game against the Detroit Lions in Charlotte, N.C., Sunday, Oct. 4, 2026. (AP Photo/Erik Verduzco)

Detroit Lions linebacker Jimmy Rolder, bottom, tackles Carolina Panthers tight end Tommy Tremble (82) during an NFL football game in Charlotte, N.C., Sunday, Oct. 4, 2026. (AP Photo/Jacob Kupferman)

Detroit Lions safety Chuck Clark (36) tackles Carolina Panthers running back Chuba Hubbard (30) during an NFL football game in Charlotte, N.C., Sunday, Oct. 4, 2026. (AP Photo/Jacob Kupferman)

Detroit Lions head coach Dan Campbell gestures during an NFL football game against the Carolina Panthers in Charlotte, N.C., Sunday, Oct. 4, 2026. (AP Photo/Jacob Kupferman)

Russian authorities have quarantined a hospital and are monitoring contacts of an employee at a plague research institute in Siberia who contracted pneumonia of an “unknown” cause. Local state TV said the woman died last week.

Russian authorities said they found no evidence that her illness was caused by any of the pathogens she worked with. But the case has raised alarm in Russia after unconfirmed media reports suggested she might have died of pneumonic plague — a less common but severe form of plague that can spread from person to person.

The woman worked at the Irkutsk Anti-Plague Research Institute of Siberia and the Far East in Irkutsk, southeastern Siberia. A state TV station in Irkutsk reported Monday that she died last week in a hospital in Shelekhov, a town just outside Irkutsk.

The hospital has been placed under quarantine, Mayor Maxim Modin said Friday, no longer admitting or discharging patients, and its laboratory halted carrying out routine tests. The hospital's outpatient clinic kept operating as usual, he said.

Anna Popova, head of Russia’s public health watchdog, Rospotrebnadzor, flew to Irkutsk and met with Gov. Igor Kobzev and other officials on Friday.

Kobzev said everyone who came into contact with the woman is under medical supervision. He didn’t identify the infection and called it a suspected case of “a particularly dangerous infection.”

Rospotrebnadzor was implementing “a full range of anti-epidemic measures,” he added.

Rospotrebnadzor said Sunday the woman was diagnosed with “pneumonia of unknown etiology,” or origin, and said “extensive” testing found “no microorganisms associated with the patient’s professional activities.”

The agency also said it didn't uncover any incidents at the institute “involving pathogenic microorganisms."

Two people who were in contact with the woman tested positive for a virus that causes a common cold and two others for COVID-19, the agency said, adding that others who were tested were all negative.

In Washington, President Donald Trump said he was watching the situation with concern and said the United States would be willing to help, though he said he had not spoken to Russian President Vladimir Putin about the situation.

“It’s a rough disease. You know, that’s a disease we used to be able to control, but somehow those microbes have gotten stronger and smarter. They’re like an army,” Trump told reporters outside the White House. “Even with great advancement, the germs have really become relatively stronger than they were, and things that used to work on pneumonia don’t work as well anymore.”

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Monday he doesn’t think there is cause for alarm, but the U.S. is watching the case closely, aware that “it could spread quickly” despite the quarantine and other public health protocols.

Independent local news outlet Lyudi Baikala quoted sources it did not identify as saying the 28-year-old lab technician died from pneumonic plague and that several Irkutsk hospitals were placed under quarantine.

Asked Monday to comment on the case, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the public and media should follow official statements from Rospotrebnadzor, rather than "rumors or speculation.”

Rospotrebnadzor did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The Irkutsk Aluminum Plant in Shelekhov required staff to wear masks as a precaution, its director Artyom Fominykh said Saturday on Telegram, calling for calm and adding: "Better be safe than sorry.”

The World Health Organization describes pneumonic plague as a less common but severe form of plague — a disease caused by Yersinia pestis, a bacterium usually found in small mammals and their fleas.

“In the event of a potential laboratory exposure, it would be normal to identify individuals who might have been exposed and to monitor them according to the assessed level of risk,” said Dr. Malick Gibani, clinical associate professor in bacterial vaccinology at the Imperial College London.

The scale of any monitoring program would depend on "the circumstances of the exposure and the number of people potentially affected,” Gibani said in a written comment.

Ian Jones, professor of virology at the University of Reading, said that “plague carries a huge history and is still present in many parts of the world, including Russia,” although because of modern living conditions and antibiotics, “its potential is therefore limited.”

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AP reporters Matthew Lee, Will Weissert and Collin Binkley in Washington contributed.

This undated photo released in 2019 by the Irkutsk Anti-Plague Research Institute of Siberia and Far East, shows the institute workers in a lab. (The Irkutsk Anti-Plague Research Institute of Siberia and Far East via AP) ADDITION: adding photo was released in 2019

This undated photo released by the Irkutsk Anti-Plague Research Institute of Siberia and Far East, shows the institute workers in a lab. (The Irkutsk Anti-Plague Research Institute of Siberia and Far East via AP)