Campbell’s Detroit Lions voiced strong objections to an NFL Films segment that criticized Branch’s play during Detroit’s Week 6 defeat against the Chiefs.

Lions players were upset about the now-deleted video—narrated by ESPN analyst Louis Riddick—in which Riddick appeared unusually harsh toward safety Brian Branch.

Branch, of course, faced heavy criticism for his role in igniting a postgame confrontation with Kansas City after he struck Chiefs wideout JuJu Smith-Schuster, reacting to what he perceived as an illegal block from behind.

However, the Lions believed the deleted NFL Films clip crossed a line and spoke out publicly on Friday. On Saturday, head coach Dan Campbell addressed his team’s response to the controversy.

“We overcome adversity, and, listen, that’s their brother, man,” Campbell said. “And if you’re gonna attack their brother, that’s what they’re gonna do. So, you know, we’ve got a tight knit group, and I already said this — BB’s a good dude. He’s serving his punishment and he’ll be ready for Minnesota.”

What were the Lions players’ reactions to the controversial Branch clip?

“I thought that video was wild,” Lions captain and receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown said Friday. “I don’t understand why it was posted or what the purpose was. When I first saw it, I was like, ‘I don’t know if this is a joke or mockery.’ I clicked on the NFL account to check if it was real — and it was. So I still don’t know why they shared it or what they gained from it.

“But Brian Branch is a great person. Inside the building, he’s one of the nicest guys you’ll meet. He’s quiet, rarely gets angry, always smiling. He made a mistake — he knows that and apologized. I don’t get why it’s still a topic, but that video was not right.”

What did Louis Riddick say about Branch in the NFL Films feature?

Here is a portion of Riddick’s commentary from the now-removed clip.

“It was a rough night for Lions safety Brian Branch,” Riddick narrated. “He got burned by [Travis] Kelce’s basketball move, embarrassed by Mahomes, juked by Xavier Worthy, and took a shot from JuJu Smith-Schuster…”

Defensive tackle D.J. Reader said he was stunned by Riddick’s tone, especially coming from a former NFL player himself.

“The narration was just wild to me,” Reader said. “I could never imagine being a former player and saying those kinds of things in a voiceover. Especially someone who played the game. These guys talk like they were perfect, but we saw them play too. YouTube exists — we can see it.

“It’s crazy to me. A lot of people just do stuff for clicks now — that’s the world we’re in. It is what it is.”

Reader also suggested the NFL was being hypocritical for suspending Branch a game while then spotlighting his struggles in that video.