McNeill's extension has been on the cards for some time. When Holmes casually broke the news of Decker's extension during a training camp radio interview, he also mentioned that McNeill was one of the players next on his list.

McNeill played arguably his best game of the season in Sunday's 47-9 win over the Dallas Cowboys at AT&T Stadium, where he recorded two sacks on a season-high seven pressures. McNeill has had dominant pass-rush performances in back-to-back weeks; He had six pressures and one sack in the team's Week 4 win over Seattle.

Lions head coach Dan Campbell named McNeill as one of the players he expects to step up in the absence of Aidan Hutchinson, who suffered a broken tibia and fibula in the win.

“He was a man on a pre-departure mission when he came out and he was locked up this week. “He was right and he was going to be a factor in this game and that's what we expect from Mac every week.” is exactly that,” Campbell said. “So yeah, how much (will we rely on him)? Very. And he's one of those guys that we're going to lean on. He doesn't have to be Superman, but we have to figure him out every week, and he has that ability.

Lions linebacker Alex Anzalone called it a “statement play.”

“The sacks weren’t coming his way at the beginning of the year. Coming into this game, he felt like we felt like he was going to make a difference and improve those stats,” Anzalone said.

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Lions coach Dan Campbell says, “It’s my job to coach what’s here.”

Lions coach Dan Campbell says, “It’s my job to coach what’s here.”