Lions News

[ghandi]

I’m sad to say but that Onwuzurike pick is a bust. That’s sad as Holmes was so high on him but he had that health red flag from jump street

It just shows that he isnt going to nail every pick, no one does......At least he didnt trade up into the first round to get him like he originally wanted.....Thats another reason why some of us are not in the trade up for players camp....The draft is a crap shoot.

[froot loops]

Lions' Wood talks potential headquarters move, new helmets, Calvin Johnson relationship

Justin Rogers

The Detroit News


Phoenix, Ariz. — When the Detroit Lions shifted the team's headquarters to Allen Park in 2002, the state-of-the-art practice facility was the largest of its kind at the time. But as the game has continued to grow, and resource requirements expand, the Lions are weighing whether they've outgrown their home.

The team has struggled with some space issues, in the locker room and with some of its other amenities, including the cafeteria that's being remodeled this offseason. But the limitations of the current facility are most glaring during training camp, where the infrastructure is inferior for maximizing the fan experience.

That's why team president Rod Wood is weighing moving the Lions' basecamp to another location.



"We're considering whether we're going to continue to stay there and put more money into the facility or be better off looking at locations elsewhere in metro Detroit, where we'd have more space for the team and training camp for the fans," Wood said Tuesday evening at the league meetings. "But right now, in the short run, we're going to stay where we are. Do the best we can to get as many fans in there and have the experience as good as it can be."


Wood said his initial goal was to make a decision on a potential move this year, but that's no longer a realistic timetable.

"I kind of had it as one of my goals this year, was to kind of decide are we staying or are we going to relocate," Wood said. "I'm not going to hit that goal because I've not made that decision yet or recommendation. But it's a near-term thing we need to decide."




The Lions have had the opportunity to see some other training camp setups in recent years while conducting joint practices with other franchises. Last year, they got a firsthand look at the Colts expansive setup at the Grand Park Sports Campus in Westfield, Ind. But, as much as everyone enjoyed that setup, including members of the Lions organization, Wood said he'd prefer not shifting training camp off the grounds of the team's facility.

"They're not picking up and relocating to a new city," Wood said about the proximity of Westfield to the Colts headquarters. "Players, I presume, are still going home at night, the coaching staff is still going home at night. I'd rather have a bigger practice facility with more fan experience than stay where we are and going on road for training camp."



Wood said he'd love to be able to host up to 15,000 fans for training camp practices. The current setup in Allen Park can only host closer to 2,500.


Here are some other notes from Wood's media session:


▶Yes, new uniforms are coming, but not until 2024. That will coincide nicely with the NFL draft, which the city of Detroit is slated to host next year.



This offseason, the Lions will be introducing a new, alternative helmet. That's set to debut in late spring and will be paired with Detroit's all-gray uniforms, as per league requirements.



▶Wood insisted he still doesn't know whether the Lions will travel to Germany to play the Kansas City Chiefs next season, but at the very least, the current expectation is the team will have several primetime games.

In his conversation with the league's schedule maker, Wood didn't have many requests this year. He did note the team would prefer to open on the road, since they play nine games away from Ford Field this season and would rather not have a bunch of away matchups crammed at the end of the schedule.

Wood also noted, jokingly — but maybe with a little truth in his jest — he put in a personal request for Detroit's road game against Baltimore to conveniently overlap with his son's October wedding in Delaware.




▶The team continues to make positive progress mending the strained relationship with Hall of Fame receiver Calvin Johnson. Wood delegated that task to COO Mike Disner, who has done a nice job connecting with Johnson on a personal level, according to previous comments made by the player.

Disner, who was at Wood's media session on Tuesday, offered his perspective on the talks with the franchise legend.

"It's been a pleasure to get to know Calvin throughout the process," Disner said. "He's an impressive, impressive guy. One of the best receivers in the history of the NFL, and on top of that, I mean, he cares deeply about his family, the community, football and the city of Detroit. Him and Barry (Sanders) choosing to live here after they're done is part of what makes them so special.

"Just getting to know Calvin throughout the process, having that open dialogue and just getting to know him as a person, kind of what he's interested in, a lot of that aligns with what we're interested in as an organization, you know, helping the city grow the game," Disner continued. "So we're excited about furthering that relationship."




▶After some struggles in recent years, the Lions aren't having any issues selling tickets this offseason. The team is seeing an unprecedented renewal rate of season tickets, over 96% according to Wood, to go along with plenty of new orders.

Wood said he anticipates every home game being a sellout in 2023.

▶Both the practice facility and Ford Field turf replacements are complete. The team was initially going to stagger the installations by a year, but felt it made more sense to have the players practicing and playing games on identical surfaces.

Wood shared comments from recently signed running back David Montgomery, who called it the nicest turf he's every walked on.



▶On the NFLPA survey of players that identified the team's dining options and training room as weaknesses, Wood said the Lions conduct their own, more comprehensive survey of the roster, and found some overlap in those criticisms. He noted the team had already been taking a proactive approach to improvements in those areas before the NFLPA released their findings.


"Part of bringing in (director of player health and performance) Brett Fischer was a response to that," Wood said. "And we're redoing the dining facility. We're taking the opportunity to move the dining facility upstairs, so we won't be competing with the players and we won't be taking space from them. Hopefully that will at least improve things. And we'll continue to look at the surveys moving forward. We do it on everything with players, way beyond what the PA survey does. I think it was for the most part solid, but the same two areas were identified and we invested in them."



▶The Barry Sanders statue for Ford Field is nearly completed. Wood anticipates a VIP event to initially unveil it before a ceremony prior the team's home opener.

jdrogers@detroitnews.com

Twitter: @Justin_Rogers

The thing to know about this is the Ford company owns that land and the office space has been largely vacant in that office park since COVID. It seems like that would be a a place to expand.

[Futureshock]

[jaadam4]

It just shows that he isnt going to nail every pick, no one does......At least he didnt trade up into the first round to get him like he originally wanted.....Thats another reason why some of us are not in the trade up for players camp....The draft is a crap shoot.

Can you imagine if they’d have traded up? It would have meant no McNeil for sure.

[-Deborah-]

Welcome back, Marvin Jones, Jr!

[CGVT]

Welcome back, Marvin Jones, Jr!

I like Marvin. He seems like a good dude. I just hope he has something left in the tank.

[froot loops]

He was OK in Jax, a decent pickup for depth.

[Cody_Russell]

Hope Marvin Jones Jr. has great success!
He seems to have regressed a bit (eye test when watching the Jags + PFF grade). Still will be nice to see him in the Lions organization again. Perhaps a minimal role to take some of those Chark snaps. Veteran presence. Could mentor Quentin Johnston if he’s the Lions pick at #18…

[whatever_gong82]

Jeff Okudah faces uncertain future after Detroit Lions' free agent upgrades in secondary

Dave Birkett

Detroit Free Press


PHOENIX — The No. 3 pick of the 2020 NFL draft could be the odd man out of the Detroit Lions secondary this fall, though head coach Dan Campbell insisted the Lions' free agent additions do not necessarily spell the end of Jeff Okudah's time in Detroit.


"Just because you acquire these guys that doesn’t mean it’s a lock that they start," Campbell said Tuesday at the NFL's annual spring meeting. "It’s probably a pretty good chance, that’s why you acquired them. But my gosh, the best guy’s going to play and they all know that. And all you do is you raise your level of competition. You raise the floor and that’s a good thing for everybody."


Okudah, the highest-drafted cornerback this millennium, started 15 of a possible 17 games for the Lions in 2022 after missing most of the 2021 season with a torn Achilles tendon.


He played well early in the season, shining in an October loss to the Minnesota Vikings, when the Lions held All-Pro receiver Justin Jefferson to three catches and a career-low 14 yards, but was benched late in the year for Mike Hughes after dealing with brain and elbow injuries.





Okudah played more snaps last season (793) than he did in his first two NFL years combined (508), but his slow development has left him in limbo after the Lions' overhauled their secondary in free agency.

The Lions signed Cam Sutton and Emanuel Moseley to play outside cornerback, added safety C.J. Gardner-Johnson (who could potentially play slot cornerback in nickel packages) and re-signed slot corner Will Harris and special teams safety C.J. Moore.





Along with Okudah, the Lions return starting cornerback Jerry Jacobs, backup Chase Lucas and top safeties Tracy Walker and Kerby Joseph from last season, though Walker is returning from a torn Achilles tendon.

General manager Brad Holmes said the Lions "fully expect Tracy to be back" for the regular season, and Campbell sounded an optimistic note Tuesday about Moseley's rehab from a torn ACL.






Holmes said the Lions have not made a final decision on whether to pick up Okudah's fifth-year option, which would lock him into a guaranteed salary of about $11.5 million in 2024.


The Lions seem unlikely to go that route, though they have until early May to make that decision.


"I talked to you guys about Jeff at the end of the season in terms of the unique thing about him is that he's still growing," Holmes said. "And he's still learning as a player, even all the years that he's been in the league already, it's still been very minimal play time. I told you that last year was he was basically a rookie in terms of playing time, so he's still got a lot of ability."




Despite all the additions, Holmes said the Lions still could go cornerback early in this year's draft. Sutton, Jacobs and Lucas are the only corners signed beyond 2023, and the draft is considered especially deep at the position.




What that means for Okudah remains to be seen, but Campbell said the Lions' newfound depth could make their secondary a strength this fall.

"It adds depth, and it adds competition," he said. "That’s what it does. That’s what we desperately need."



Contact Dave Birkett at dbirkett@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @davebirkett.

[whatever_gong82]

Detroit Lions Dan Campbell embracing big expectations: 'We got to go get this division'

Dave Birkett

Detroit Free Press


PHOENIX — Dan Campbell called Taylor Decker a few days ago to check in on his big left tackle, and as the two talked they started reminiscing about last season and looking forward to the one ahead.

The Detroit Lions won eight of their final 10 games last year to finish as one of the hottest teams in the NFL. They narrowly missed making the playoffs for the first time since 2016, but Campbell and Decker agreed the Lions found something replicable down the stretch.

"Once we got in our rhythm, got in a groove, and it was the belief in what we were doing, the belief in the guys around them, the coaches, the teammates, was at an all-time high," Campbell said. "And I think there's a feeling that’ll be hard to lose. It would be hard to lose that, because I think, there again, when you get the right type of guys and have been put through the pressure our guys have, and have come from where they've come from, man, you appreciate it a lot more."


The Lions came to the NFL's annual spring meeting this week as one of the buzziest teams in the league, something they have not been in a long time.



They have a high-flying offense anchored by a veteran line, a revamped defense made whole by the addition of three new starters in free agency, a wealth of draft capital, including two first-round picks (No. 6 and 18 overall), and a loveable coach who has embraced his team's new role as a playoff contender.

"It's about raising expectations," Campbell said. "Like, we need to be thinking that way, and everything about what we do needs to have that type of purpose. Our standards have always been about winning, man. You're trying to win every game, but ultimately, I think to take the next step, man, you're shooting for the division. Because you do that, you win the division, you get a home game and then the rest takes care of itself."


The Lions have not won a division championship in 30 years, since before the formation of the NFC North, but Campbell said that is "the next part of the process" for his easy-to-root-for team.

The Lions had the youngest snap-adjusted roster in the NFL last season and will lean on first-contract players in key roles on both sides of the ball this fall.


But by adding three prominent playmakers to their secondary — one in safety/nickel cornerback C.J. Gardner-Johnson who was not on their initial free agent shopping list — the Lions signaled to the NFL their perennial rebuild has finally gotten to the spot they're ready to compete now.



"I would have said C.J. early, of course he would have been an early target, however, we didn't think that was going to be in our capacity, with the money that we had, the cap, everything, knowing where we wanted to spend our resources," Campbell said. "So that one, man, we were fortunate there. It just, the longer it went, the more it ended up favoring us, and we were able to work something out with each other.



"He's an outstanding addition. (Defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn) and I have a lot of history with that guy, and we know what he is, we know what he's about, and he's hungry. I mean he's out here for, this a year, 'I’m here, I want to help, and then we'll see what happens after that.' And that’s — let me tell you something, he's going to be ready to go. So that was good."

Along with Gardner-Johnson, the Lions added two cornerbacks in Cam Sutton and Emanuel Moseley who Campbell admitted have "a pretty good chance" to start this fall ahead of returning starters Jeff Okudah and Jerry Jacobs.

Sutton immediately becomes the Lions' most productive corner coming off a career-high three-interception season with the Pittsburgh Steelers, while Moseley is a scheme and play-style fit who excelled early last season with the San Francisco 49ers before tearing his ACL.



On offense, the Lions return eight starters from a unit that tied for the NFL lead with eight games of 30-plus points.

The Lions still have a hole to fill at receiver after D.J. Chark left for the Carolina Panthers in free agency, but they upgraded at running back, signing David Montgomery to replace Jamaal Williams; held serve at right guard, where veteran Graham Glasgow will compete for the starting job with Halapoulivaati Vaitai, who missed all of last season with a back injury; and expect big things out of speedy receiver Jameson Williams in Year 2.


The Lions aren't done tweaking their roster. Along with receiver, they need an interior pass rusher and are set to host Calais Campbell on a free agent visit, and they could use a more dynamic playmaking tight end.

But as reporters pelted Green Bay Packers coach Matt LaFleur a table away with questions about the Aaron Rodgers drama, Campbell gushed about how much he likes his team in late March and how he can't wait to see them on the field in the months ahead.



"Every team should want to go to the Super Bowl," Campbell said. "I mean, every year. I said that two years ago, of course. But I think we are positioned much better to swing with the big boys this year. Now, does that mean — I can't tell you what that means in win totals, but it means that, that is the goal, man. We got to go get this division."


Contact Dave Birkett at dbirkett@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @davebirkett.


Feeling a draft

What: 2023 NFL draft.

When: April 27-29.

TV: ABC, ESPN, NFL Network.

Lions’ picks (with overall picks in parentheses): Round 1 — No. 6 (6), No. 18 (18); Round 2 — No. 17 (48), No. 24 (55); Round 3 — No. 18 (81); Round 5 — No. 16 (152); Round 6 — No. 6 (183), No. 17 (194).

[whatever_gong82]

Detroit Lions expect more prime-time games in 2023, against Thursday night flex rules

Dave Birkett

Detroit Free Press


PHOENIX — The buzz about the Detroit Lions was palpable at the NFL's annual meeting this week.

"A lot of people come up and were complimenting us on the season and rooting for us and liked the way we finished," Lions president Rod Wood said.

The Lions finished 9-8 last season and won eight of their final 10 games. They missed the playoffs for the sixth straight year, but their hot finish and the excitement about what they could be this fall should translate into more primetime games for the team in 2023.

Wood said he is not sure if the Lions will draw the maximum five prime-time games, but after talking to NFL scheduling czar Howard Katz, he said, "I suspect we're going to get a number" of primetime starts.


"I assume we'll be in more games than just Thanksgiving," Wood said. "There's going to be more opportunities for prime-time games too, because there's going to be three simulcast games on Monday Night Football, with ABC and ESPN, so that's two more. There's the Amazon game the day after Thanksgiving, which obviously we wouldn't play in, but it creates another prime-time game for another team. So there is more inventory, which should enhance our opportunity, as well as the outlook of the team."


Last year, the Lions had a schedule full of 1 p.m. starts, though their Week 18 game against the Green Bay Packers was flexed into Sunday Night Football because of its playoff importance.


"The exposure is great," Wood said. "I'd rather have as many of them at home as possible. I mean, the road prime-time games are a challenge for travel, but if you earn the right to play in prime time, it's because of good things."

Wood spent about 20 minutes with reporters at the end of the three-day meeting and addressed several topics including the unveiling of the Lions' new alternate helmets and the potential for a new practice facility. Here are 10 more highlights:



Must-see TV Thursdays?


The Lions were one of many teams that opposed an NFL proposal to make some late-season Thursday night games a part of the league's flexible scheduling.

NFL owners approved a change to the Thursday night scheduling policy, allowing teams to play a maximum of two Thursday night games in a season (up from one), but the league tabled a vote on the ability to flex Thursday night games till May.


"I would say the flexing part I’m against, at least for the time being," Wood said. "We’re flexing Monday night games this year and to flex a Thursday night game the same year as a Monday night flex, let’s crawl before we run a little bit. And it’s a big deal for the fans, obviously. They’re expecting to play on Sunday, they’ve made arrangements, etc., and then you move to a Thursday night you’ve got school-aged kids, you may lose some families. I just think that hopefully we can find a better way to schedule enough games and if you do two short weeks, you have another group of teams that you can have on Thursday night twice that helps improve the product."



Break glass in case of emergency


League owners narrowly voted down a proposal by the Lions to grant a team a third challenge, and tabled a proposal to allow teams to use an emergency third quarterback on gamedays if their first two are ruled out for the game.


Rich McKay, chairman of the NFL's competition committee, supported both proposals and said there was enough support for the emergency quarterback rule to pass, but that details like whether the rule only applies to quarterbacks on the 53-man roster need to be worked out first.


"We’ve talked in the past about different rule proposals and I would say in all candor it’s (we) probably ran out of time to get them put together (before we could propose them)," Wood said. "This year we were kind of making note as the season was going along of things that we thought we might want to consider proposing and so we were a little more prepared to get them in on time and then work with the league office to get them written in a way that they could be considered."

continued..

[whatever_gong82]

May I propose ...


The Lions withdrew two more proposals before the start of the meetings, co-authored a fifth proposal that passed (to have one cut-down date after the preseason) and attempted to submit a fifth proposal to allow unlimited practice squad call-ups for Thursday night games that Wood said could not be considered because it was subject to the collective bargaining agreement.



What to wear?


Wood told the Free Press in late February the Lions would unveil a new alternate helmet this spring, with a change in uniforms planned for 2024.


On Tuesday, Wood said the team will unveil its new helmets this spring, and he and head coach Dan Campbell would sit down after the schedule release to pick what uniforms the team will wear in what games. The Lions can only wear their new helmet with their alternate all-gray uniforms.


Home sweet home


Wood reiterated another news item he told the Free Press in February — that the Lions are looking into building a new practice facility. The team needs a 50- to 60-acre plot of land for a new facility, and Wood said that is preferable to moving training camp off-site.

"I'd be thinking less about relocating training camp than relocating the whole practice facility and keeping training camp at the practice facility," he said. "(The Colts have) this unique facility (they use for training camp, where the Lions practiced last summer) that's very cool, but it's in their hometown. They're not picking up and relocating to a new city. Players, I presume, are still going home at night, the coaching staff is still going home at night. I'd rather have a bigger practice facility with more fan experience than stay where we are and going on road for training camp."


A good place to work


The Lions earned mostly high marks from an NFL Players Association survey that ranked the working condition of players. The Lions earned high marks for their strength and training staffs, weight room and for their treatment of families, but scored poorly in nutrition and training room.


According to the report card, players felt "the training room was understaffed" and "the food service was significantly lacking."

Wood said the Lions conducted their own player survey prior to the release of the NFLPA report that "had some similarities" the team is working to address.

"Part of bringing in (rehab guru) Brett Fischer was a response to that," Wood said. "And we're redoing the dining facility. We're taking the opportunity to move the dining facility upstairs, so we won't be competing with the players and we won't be taking space from them. Hopefully that will at least improve things, and we'll continue to look at the surveys moving forward. We do it on everything with players, way beyond what the P.A. survey does. I think it was for the most part solid, but the same two areas were identified and we invested in them."



Barry! Barry! Barry!


Wood said the Lions will hold a VIP event later this year to unveil the 8-foot bronze Barry Sanders statue that is being erected at Ford Field. The statue will be in place before the Lions' first home game, Wood said.

"Looking forward to doing that," Wood said. "We've seen pictures of it. It's coming along, very close to being done. I think Barry's going to be proud of it and so are we, so that'll be a big thing."



Mending fences


The Lions do not have a statue to honor Calvin Johnson in the works, but chief operating officer Mike Disner said the relationship between Johnson and the team is coming along after years of strain. Disner said he and Johnson connected through mutual friends and said the organization is "excited about furthering that relationship."

"Obviously, it's the right thing for us and I think it's the right thing for Calvin, too," Wood said. "We'll get past the history and I think it'll be a win for everybody."



Guten tag


Wood said he has not heard if the Lions will play the Chiefs in Germany this year. He told the Free Press in February he encouraged the NFL to send the Lions overseas to delay the Lions having to play an international home game, perhaps as soon as 2024.

As for general ticket demand, Disner said nearly 97% of season ticket holders have renewed for 2023, which Wood said "may be the highest (rate) ever."

"And then thousands and thousands of new season-ticket purchases, too," he said. "So ticket demand remains strong, which I think is because of the buzz about the team and the way we finished. I'm suspecting that we're going to have sellouts for every game this year and that will create that same stress that we dealt with last year with parking and then getting in and out of the stadium."


2023 schedule


Wood said he made only minor schedule requests for the fall. With nine road games, Wood said he asked Katz to start on the road for balance in the season's final 17 weeks, and he said he made a personal plea for a road game against Baltimore in October - for the same weekend his son is getting married in Wilmington, Del.

"Either that or a Monday night game at home or something," Wood said.

The Lions also will be on the road (or on bye) the weekend of Nov. 12, when Metallica plays a two-day show at Ford FIeld.

"I feel like we've been treated fairly," Wood said. "I think it might be better for us, given that we only have eight home games to maybe open on the road, so that you don't end up having to have so many road games at the end of the year. If you opened at home that's kind of one week you've taken away, so I did request consideration to open on the road if that works out. But that's not a must have."


Contact Dave Birkett at dbirkett@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @davebirkett.

[whatever_gong82]

Lions lose out on Calais Campbell after veteran DT agrees with Falcons

Justin Rogers

The Detroit News


Phoenix, Ariz. — Still in the market for defensive line depth, particularly along the interior, the Detroit Lions were among several teams that explored adding free agent Calais Campbell. But on Wednesday morning, the six-time Pro Bowler decided his next NFL home, and it isn't Detroit.

According to the NFL Network, the 36-year-old Campbell has agreed to a one-year deal with the Atlanta Falcons after also receiving interest from Buffalo, Jacksonville and the New York Jets.

Drafted in the second round of the 2008 draft, Campbell has had a stellar career with the Arizona Cardinals, Jacksonville Jaguars, and most recently, the Baltimore Ravens. Even with a slight dip in his playing time and production last season, he still managed to log more than 500 defensive snaps, while finishing with 36 tackles and 5.5 sacks. That sack total was more than Detroit's top-three defensive tackles combined in 2022.


Recognizing the roster need, and potential value of adding a veteran like Campbell to the mix, the Lions reached out, but ultimately couldn't lure the veteran to Detroit.

"Look, we turn the tape on, man, and I'll tell you what, you talk about a lot of respect for a big man," Lions coach Dan Campbell said Tuesday morning at the league meetings. "Oh, my gosh. I just keep watching it and I'm like, there's no way he can feel good, that body can not feel good. But it looks like it feels good because he's just a force to be reckoned with. You put him in a closed end, you're not running over there. He can rush as a 3-technique, still, on third down. Man, he's got length, he's got size, he's still quick. We'll see. We're not the only one who is on him."



After losing out on Calais Campbell, the Lions can continue to explore the free-agent market, where quality veterans such as Poona Ford, Matt Ioannidis and Shelby Harris linger. Alternatively, the franchise can turn its attention to bolstering its foundation of talent through the draft, where the Lions hold a pair of picks in both the first and second rounds of the April event.

jdrogers@detroitnews.com

[whatever_gong82]

Lions bringing back Marvin Jones Jr. to bolster wide-receiving group

Nolan Bianchi

The Detroit News


Make it one, two, three "homecomings" now for the Detroit Lions this offseason.

Veteran wide receiver Marvin Jones Jr. announced via his Twitter on Wednesday that he will be returning to Detroit, where he spent five seasons from 2016-20. NFL Network insider Mike Garafolo reported the deal is for one year with a base salary of $3 million and incentives that can push the total to $5 million.

Jones, who turned 33 earlier this month, is third on Detroit's all-time touchdown reception list (36) behind only Calvin Johnson (83) and Herman Moore (62). Over five seasons with the Lions, he recorded an average of 62.2 receiving yards per game and 14.9 yards per catch.


The signing fills a void left by the departure of wide receiver D.J. Chark, who signed a one-year deal with the Carolina Panthers last week. Offensive lineman Graham Glasgow and linebacker Jalen Reeves-Maybin have also had reunions with the team after striking free-agent deals in recent weeks.

"I mean, when I was looking for places to go, that was something that was really enticing to me, just seeing how good they've been so far," Glasgow said last week.



Jones was a fifth-round pick by the Bengals in 2012 and spent his first three seasons in Cincinnati before signing a five-year, $40 million deal in Detroit during the 2016 offseason.

Following his tenure with the Lions, Jones joined the Jacksonville Jaguars on a two-year deal. He caught 73 passes for 832 yards and four touchdowns, but for the first time in his career, saw that production dip significantly last season as the Jaguars added several new weapons for young quarterback Trevor Lawrence. He caught 46 passes for 529 yards and three touchdowns over 16 games in 2022.




While it's probably safe to assume that Jones' best days are behind him, he has been far more durable than Chark recently. Jones missed just one game over his last two seasons; Chark missed six in his one and only season with Detroit.


nbianchi@detroitnews.com

Twitter: @nolanbianchi

[whatever_gong82]

Friends, family remember Jerry Green, say 'Hum baby' one more time

Jerry Green was remembered as far more than just an iconic sports journalist, but also a doting family man.

Tony Paul

The Detroit News


Troy — Jerry Green was no fan of growing old.

Often times — and this has been going on for years — after reading an obituary in the sports section, he'd call the reporter who wrote it, and bemoan, "I'm next." Except, he was never next. Until, inevitably, he finally was.

Green, who famously was the only man to cover the first 56 Super Bowls over a seven-decade career in which he was one of the most influential voices in a robust Detroit sports scene, was laid to rest Wednesday afternoon, following a funeral service in which he was remembered as much for his career as he was for being a doting husband, brother, father, uncle and grandfather.


Green died Thursday, March 23. He was 94. His last byline appeared in The Detroit News just weeks ago.

"I was Jerry's colleague and friend for 50 years," said Tom Gage, a retired Detroit News sportswriter who spent many days and nights sharing press boxes with Green, all across the country.


"I feel sports in this room, I feel football in this room, I feel newspapers in this room.

"But, mostly, I certainly feel love in this room."



A crowd of more than 100 gathered Wednesday at A.J. Desmond & Sons Funeral Home in Troy to pay final respects to a man who made his name covering football — he's in the Pro Football Hall of Fame, and missed his first Super Bowl this February, his health forcing him to watch it in his Bloomfield Hills apartment — but really spanned the whole sports spectrum. One of Green's nephews, James Citrin, read condolence emails he received in recent days from NFL commissioner Roger Goodell and NBA commissioner Adam Silver. Multiple Detroit sports teams sent flowers, as did legendary New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick.


From Silver: "I always admired Jerry's incredible knowledge of the NBA and the extraordinary work ethic he displayed in the many decades he covered our league and every sport. It's remarkable when you think about the generations of sports fans in Detroit that he influenced throughout his legendary career. … Jerry's humility and class made him such a beloved figure, not only in the NBA but across the entire sports world. He will be deeply missed."

From Goodell: "He was a special man and someone I always admired personally, as well as professionally. He set a standard for all of us."


Green's two nephews, James and Jeffrey, both spoke at his service, providing a personal glimpse into the family man Green was. Green's wife Nancy died in 2002. He is survived by younger sister Glenna Citrin, daughter Jenny, her husband David Klein, and granddaughters Gretchen and Susannah Klein.



But Green's family never could escape his legacy, not that they wanted to. James Citrin recalled a visit with Green in the late 1960s, when he had given his nephew an autographed copy of his new book, "Year of the Tiger," which chronicled the 1968 World Series championship. James took the book with him when he went off to college, at Vassar. There, he learned his new roommate was from Farmington Hills.

"The first question I asked was, 'Do you know Jerry Green?'" said James, standing next to his brother Jeffrey, Green's casket behind them. "He said, 'Of course, he's a legend, I read him every evening.' … Then I said, 'What do you think of him compared to Joe Falls?' … 'Joe Falls is great, a legend also…but I think I like Jerry better.'

"Any time you meet anyone from Michigan, certainly from Detroit, my first question is: 'Are you a sports fans?'"

They're from Detroit. They're always a sports fan.


"Do you know Jerry Green?"

"Yes! He's a legend!"

"I always take such pride in that," James said.


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