Announcement

**-Deborah-** · December 20, 2024, 05:04 PM

Today's report:
FB_IMG_1734731887255.jpg

**ghandi** · December 20, 2024, 06:54 PM

Here was thinking Branch was having cramps...Turns out to be an actual calf injury not cramps.

**froot loops** · December 20, 2024, 07:33 PM

Branch came out of the Packer game with cramps not the Bill game.

**whatever_gong82** · December 20, 2024, 10:05 PM

‘It’s going to be legendary:’ Scottie Montgomery on why these Detroit Lions are built different

Besieged by injuries, the Lions plan to write their own story. The team's assistant head coach, Scottie Montgomery, explains to Go Long in Allen Park, Mich., why nobody is flinching.

Tyler Dunne
Dec 20

Detroit Lions assistant Head Coach Scottie Montgomery.jpg

ALLEN PARK, Mich. — All molded bread has been fully digested. Five days after surrendering 48 points and losing another round of key starers to injuries, these Detroit Lions are loving the earthy-sour aftertaste, too. Dan Campbell started the week with an analogy for the ages. He’s stressing the positive in a team crashing back to earth after 11 straight wins. Carlton Davis, David Montgomery, Alim McNeill and Khalil Dorsey all joined the walking wounded.

It’s true. Everything is still in front of this team.

Beat the flailing Chicago Bears (4-10) and San Francisco 49ers (6-8) these next two weeks, and the Lions are back-to-back division champs for the first time in 70 years.

Top it all off with a Week 18 win vs. Minnesota and the road to the Super Bowl goes through Ford Field. (They’d savor that bye week, too.)

Still, it’s also true that the Lions are lapping the rest of the NFL when it comes to the number of players on injured reserve. Campbell cannot ball up a handful of mud and slap it on his players’ wounds like Phil Swift in those Flex Tape commercials. This is an extreme talent drain. Go Long drove out to Michigan this week to make sense of this team at this time — expect a lengthy feature around Christmas. On Friday, I sat down Campbell’s right-hand man: assistant head coach/running backs coach Scottie Montgomery.

From a leather chair inside the Lions’ team lobby, leaning forward, pen in hand, Montgomery did his best to explain why these Lions are built to withstand such a mass exodus of contributors. He’s also close with David Montgomery, a running back playing for more than himself in 2024, and believes there’s a good chance we see the rugged RB1 again this season. Nobody should interpret Campbell’s bravado as bluster. As Montgomery details, the head man believes every word he says privately and publicly.

Our full conversation is below.

Most teams battered to this degree probably would wilt through Christmas.

The Lions do not believe they’re most teams.

This is a team obviously going through it right now. I don’t think I’ve seen anything like this covering the league. These injuries. Have you ever experienced anything close to this?

Montgomery: You know, it’s crazy because I think what people are feeling on the outside is something totally than what we’re feeling on the inside.

How so?

Montgomery: We’re happy for the opportunities for other people. We’re really sad that we’ve lost some very critical and key pieces, but we were kind of built for this from the beginning. This wasn’t a team that put together with the thought process that we couldn’t handle adversity. And a lot of people think this is a lot. It’s a lot if you’re heavy-loaded at the top end of your roster. From a coaching standpoint, if you’ve only coached the guys that are on the field you didn’t do your job. We feel like we’ve done our job. We coach our offensive show team like it’s our offense. We coach our defensive show team, like it’s our defense. So there’s no worries about guys coming in and having a mental error or not playing at a certain level because of talent. We pushed that talent level up with Brad (Holmes). He’s pushed it up to be right there competing with the guys that were in there. So I think it’s a narrative that may be real. But on the inside of the building, man, we’re looking forward to this challenge of letting these young men who’ve done a great job this year so far, get in there and compete. And then at the same time we’re also looking forward to some of our guys being able to make it back. So it’s kind of a healthy balance of that.

“Culture” is thrown around way too often, but it is real here — what was built from the ground up. Only three players from 2021 are still on the roster. This thing has been churning and churning, but what’s built here can withstand a hurricane. Pick your natural disaster. What does that look like? What does it feel like? What is really ingrained where we’re sitting right now?

Montgomery: First thing that we do is we carry our pads. A lot of people — when you get to this level — the pads are not being carried as much as we carry our pads. We carry our pads in camp, we carry our pads during the season. We’re in 1-on-1 situations during the season. We do feel like “iron sharpens iron” and we feel like we’ve continued to sharpen our axe as we go through this. So that’s what it looks like. It’s pure competition between our 1’s and 1’s, our 2’s and 1’s, and our 2’s and 2’s. Everybody is competing. Our coaches offensively, defensively, we’re competing on Friday. We’re competing today. We have a red-zone period. We’re going to compete our ass off. That’s what it looks like. We’re not passive by any means here. This is an organization and a coaching staff and — driven by our players — we like stepping up to the challenge. We want to be in the championship rounds. We want it to be as difficult as it possibly can because we don’t feel like people around the league are willing to do what we do from March to now.

When you say “carry pads,” are you saying wearing pads at practice?

Montgomery: Absolutely. We wear our pads. We don’t leave them in the locker room and then think that we’re going to be physical on Sunday. That’s just not what we do. Now, we do that all inside of the restraints of what the CBA will allow us to do. But we’re going to get the work that we’re supposed to get and that’s not from us. The crazy part of it is, our guys will come to us and say, “Hey, we got 1-on-1’s. Let me get two snaps. Let me get three snaps of pass pro.” And it is weird: “Can I get a 1-on-1 rep at the receiver-DB position where it’s 1-on-1 throwing and catching.” So our guys, it may have taken us a while to get where we are now, but I will say that this team embodies the head football coach. They really see eye-to-eye with him and that’s critical.

Detroit Lions Head Coach Dan Campbell_2024 season.jpg

What is that fine line? Because I was just sitting down with Sean Rhyan out in Green Bay. He’s an animal. He was giving it to the defense in camp and Matt LaFleur ripped him after practice. But you’ve also got to condition the body for combat. You’ve got to callous the mind. How far can you really push it as a team in a padded practice?

Montgomery: First of all, these guys are the best players in the world. They’re the best athletes in the world. And because we have a staff with so many former players we know that we got better by the callous part of it. But we also know that there’s things that we can do to be fresh and calloused. So I think you’ve got guys in every room damn near that have done it at this level and have coached at this level a long time. We understand the demands that we’re putting on our body. We also have created spaces for them to be a little bit more successful with taking care of their bodies, whether we’re starting practice later, starting meetings later. Our fueling station is our nutritional department. There is a fine line and we continue to try to find that — how tight can we get to it on both sides? How much rest can we push them to, how much physicality can we have? And then how do we go out and execute our plan with both of those in mind. I think that’s what comes to mind for us more than anything: How do we go execute a plan on Sunday but get the best value out of our physicality and our freshness. And that’s why we have great people in the building watching what the coaches are doing as well.

You guys played, so you can relate. This week, Dan goes on 97.1 and is saying, “Hey, enough of the filet mignon. We’ve got to remember what it’s like to eat that molded bread.” Privately, what is he saying to set the tone?

Montgomery: We are who we are. We got here with grit. We got here with the chip on our shoulder. We’ve maintained that but also it’s good to see how many people that were with us 60 minutes ago and think that — because a guy goes down or this guy goes down — the core of our team is not built from a culture standpoint and people can’t step in. You guys have seen it. We’ve brought in guys from outside of the building and the culture is so strong that immediately you see these guys playing quickly at a high level with great intensity. And as far as coach is concerned, he understands how to speak to us to get us to understand that we’re in the middle of a season. We’re not reactionary. We respond. And I think that’s what we’re in the process of doing.

continued...

**whatever_gong82** · December 20, 2024, 10:05 PM

And you said it — the team embodies him. Tangibly, what does that look like?

Montgomery: Man, he could tell them anything. And the reason why he can tell them anything is because everything that he tells them, he believes and it is true. He is going to do it. We go out and execute a plan. It’s not something that we’re getting out on the field and doing on the field. It’s not a “gut” decision. We talk about these situations throughout the week. So what that looks like is a complete investment through everybody. Once you give someone a certain level of value to where you can be transparent with them? And they know what’s going on? The buy-in happens. A lot of times people don’t buy in because there’s no investment from the person that’s trying to get the buy-in and to understand what’s going on. It’s just “do as I say, do what I say.” That’s not how it works here. Everything is planned. Our guys understand our plan on Wednesday. They understand what we’re going to do on Thursday. They understand our Friday red-zone plan and what our mentality is. So when it comes up in the game, there’s no question what we’re doing.

So you’re talking about buying in, yeah. He tells them it’s going to be a physical week, it’s going to be a physical week. They expect it. They understand it. So when he tells them, they believe it. And as a player, that’s all you really want. You want somebody that can get you better. Cut all the other stuff out. Coach to player and player to coach, at the end of the day, it is “Can you get me better?” And his track record has shown — even before he got here — that he got players better. He gets guys better. Rookies, he knows how to push their buttons. Vets, he knows how to push their buttons. And it’s not “pushing buttons” from being critical or being demeaning. He’s demanding, there’s no doubt. But he just knows what to do to get them over the hump.

Is there a story, an analogy, a speech in these walls that resonated to you? We’ve heard a few obviously.

Montgomery: I thought what he said about the filet mignon and the molded bread says everything to who he is. When you think about that, there’s joy in that part of the molded bread. There’s joy because you got all the sustenance you need and it reminds you constantly of where you came from. And that story, when I heard it, it’ll quickly take you down memory lane. And I know for all of our players — immediately — it’s a humbling factor. There’s two ways you can be humbled. You can listen to someone humble you and make you understand, or the only other way you can be humbled is humiliation. And we are at a point where we’re not humiliated by any means. Our head coach, our coaches, they have the way of just using certain things like that story to ground us. So I think that was a great grounding point for us. And now we’re ready to run. Ready to go.

Before you got here, Dan was 4-19-1 at one point. There’s a lot of NFL owners that say, “OK, you’re done” at that point. Where this team was, where this coach was, I got to know David Long Jr. and his life story’s unbelievable. He was going to be a captain for the Dolphins, and he’s cut. Many of the individuals here have been in that “molded bread” state.

Montgomery: Love it. A bunch of us. Most of the people that are in this building — damn near all of us — we’ve been fired, we’ve been cut, we’ve been traded, and we came together. We came together with somebody that understands what that is like. To the utmost. And we were just ready at the right time. It really did come together at the right time for us here. So we’re looking forward to closing this thing out.

You were fired by ECU in college, and you also went to a Super Bowl with the Steelers.

Montgomery: Yep, been through it. Seen it all. Multiple guys that played at a high level for me, seen careers change, but it’s truly about the building. It’s truly about the building. It doesn’t matter. The people that are in the building is what makes it. And this building has been put together really, really well.

Are we going to see David Montgomery again?

Montgomery: I think you will. I saw him today. I saw him yesterday.

I should say on field.

Montgomery: (laughs) Hopefully so. He’s working his butt off and it’ll be evaluated. We’re in this wait-and-see moment. But some other guys are ready for the challenge as well. But we’re in a wait-and-see, tread-water position. But if I know anything about anybody that could come back — if anybody could make it back — it’s him. He’s too strong mentally and physically.

Dan said you’re going to write your “own story.” What is that story that you plan to write as a team?

Montgomery: The one thing that our guys understand now, especially after this week, is that we have the pen. It’s our ink. It’s going to be legendary. I really do feel that. Every hit, every tackle, every sack we have is a chance for us to write the chapter and the ending the way that we want it. I do think it’s going to be legendary. I feel it.

State of the 2024 Detroit Lions, with Justin Rogers

ALLEN PARK, Mich. — Good morning! And greetings from Lions Country, where the injuries are piling up to epic proportions.

Read full story

Email any comments and questions to golongtd@substack.com.

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Instagram: @TyDunne & @GoLongTD

YouTube: Go Long Channel

Bluesky: TyDunne

**whatever_gong82** · December 21, 2024, 11:51 AM

DFN Mailbag: Lineup decisions, IR situations and other turnarounds that compare to Lions

Justin Rogers
Dec 21

Mail’s here.

Question: Do you believe, given how bad the Chicago offensive line has been playing, the Lions will be able to get pressure without blitzing? — Matthew Sharp

Justin: What if I told you I don't think Chicago’s offensive line has been playing as poorly as the sack numbers would suggest? Yes, quarterback Caleb Williams is getting pummeled. He’s been sacked a league-high 58 times with three games to go, but I’d argue he’s as much a problem as his blocking.

While I’m not watching every Bears game, or even most, I can see a QB who tries to do too much at times when I do tune in. He's ultra-talented, athletic enough to extend plays longer than many of his peers and he's inexperienced, so that adds up. In terms of available data, Pro Football Focus is pinning 14 of those sacks on Williams.

In the last couple of games, despite some moving pieces due to injury, his blocking has only allowed 20 pressures. That's really not bad. Part of keeping that number down has been an enhancement to the quick game since Thomas Brown took over as the interim head coach.

Chicago’s bigger issue is they might be without offensive tackle Teven Jenkins. He's battling a calf injury and is listed as questionable for the contest. Any time there’s a backup out there, there’s a chance for a drop-off in performance.

Will the Lions blitz less? Probably not. They’ll stick to their identity, and blitzing on third down is a bit part of that. They like to stress their opponent and that’s a component of it, defensively.

Question: How much more Brodric Martin do we see this week? — Drew Augustine

Justin: Probably not a lot, and honestly, I wouldn’t be surprised if he was a healthy scratch for the second straight week.

DJ Reader has the nose tackle spot on lock and can handle a heavy workload. And the Lions understandably trust veteran Pat O’Connor more as the backup with those interior alignments.

Question: Long-term risk for David Montgomery not having surgery? — JW

Justin: I couldn’t even begin to tell you. I'm not a doctor and I don't have access to his medical reports. I know there are degrees to sprains, and if it’s an MCL injury as has been reported, it's an injury that typically doesn’t require surgery.

The Lions have said they’ll lean on the medical opinions, first and foremost, while also factoring in Montgomery's self-assessment. I can’t imagine they'd rush him out there with any possibility of doing long-term damage to the knee, particularly with the added investment they put into him with the mid-season extension a couple months back.

Question: Have you considered doing an away game watch party for DFN subscribers? — Paul

Justin: Watch party? No. I’m working before, during and after the game, Paul. I’m not opposed to some type of meet-and-greet somewhere down the line. Maybe that’s something I’ll explore during the offseason, but I know our little community is spread out around the globe.

Question: Buffalo seemed to isolate Ty Johnson on a linebacker, and with his speed, it didn’t work out for the Lions. Is this something the Lions can address moving forward? — Paul Van Randwyk

Justin: That’s kind of how it works for a running back coming out of the backfield. That’s why I’ve noted in the past that you concede an advantage if you try using Jahmyr Gibbs in the slot more frequently.

In terms of Detroit’s schematic decisions against Buffalo when defending Johnson, I didn’t have too many issues with it. On the first one, Kwon Alexander played the route very well, the throw was simply perfect.

With a couple others, Johnson got loose on scramble drills against zone coverage. The Lions need to be better there, obviously, but that’s not because of a physical mismatch.

The schematically problematic one was the fourth-and-2, only because the Lions lined up three defenders in press coverage side-by-side, opening the door for the Bills to easily execute a legal pick to get Johnson open on the wheel route. There are probably other technical adjustments to address that, but again, having a linebacker on Johnson wasn’t the concern. Ezekiel Turner is plenty fast enough to handle the matchup.

Question: While there’s usually a significant difference in talent level between starters and backups, do you think the difference is less between backups and practice squad/waiver wire players? — Al

Justin: It’s not something I’ve thought much about, but it’s probably a reasonable assessment. Where the gap is widened between a backup on the roster and a player coming in from another team is an understanding of schematic nuances built through practice reps.

Question: With all the injuries, I’m interested in the effect on the special teams units. Do the core special teamers who are now playing on the defensive side play both or is coordinator Dave Fipp moving people around too? — Mark Roden

Justin: It’s both, Mark. If you look at the last game, guys like Ben Niemann, Kindle Vildor and Pat O’Connor had bigger defensive roles, but maintained their special teams reps. Niemann is probably the best example from that trio because his defensive role wasn’t altered by an in-game injury.

Meanwhile, since Jack Campbell became an every-down player, his special teams responsibilities have evaporated.

That’s resulted in newcomers such as Ezekiel Turner, David Long, and presumably Anthony Pittman, picking up some of the slack.

continued..

**whatever_gong82** · December 21, 2024, 11:51 AM

Question: Ben Johnson admitted we have a “older” offensive line that, at times, has been inconsistent. How does the team view this situation? Are a clearly beat up Graham Glasgow and Frank Ragnow better than their backups? — Justin Terry

With our offensive line aging, do you think they will address early or free agency? — Chris Johnson

Justin: The offensive line had a bad game against Ed Oliver, a game-wrecking type along the interior of the defense line. It happens and I’m not sure it merits sounding the alarm.

Ragnow is fine. Beat up? Sure. Who isn’t at this stage of an NFL season? But he’s been pretty damn good most of the year outside a couple down games, coincidentally in Detroit’s two losses. I have next to no concerns there.

Glasgow has admittedly been less consistent this season than he was in 2023. If the Lions feel it would help long-term to sit him a week to get him closer to 100% for the postseason, there’s less of a drop-off between him and his backup than Ragnow and his.

As for the offseason, I don’t anticipate the offensive line to be a priority, outside of potentially re-signing Zeilter. If you’re committed to addressing the unit's future, you have to use premium draft assets. Committing a top-75 pick on an interior lineman would be a reasonable approach, regardless of what the team does with Glasgow or Zeitler this offseason.

Question: The Bills game was lost on the second possession, it turns out. How do the coaches figure out the defense earlier? — Robert Honeyman

Justin: Detroit’s defense has been a little shaky to open games, allowing an average of 4.9 points in the opening quarter. That ranks 23rd. And we know, based on player comments, they approach things with a little bit of a feeling-out process, leaning on a bend-don’t-break philosophy early as they’re deciphering how the opponent wants to attack them.

I don’t have any great or innovative ideas about how to weather the opposition’s early-game script. But as long as they’re sound in the red zone, they should be fine. Plus, given the personnel the team has lost to injury, we should probably temper expectations that they’ll turn around this deficiency.

Question: How do the coaches’ headsets work? Who can talk and how do they avoid talking over each other? — Frank T

Justin: The article is a few years old, but here’s what GeekWire shared about headset communication.

“Each headset comes with a belt pack which has batteries that power both the wireless radio technology, as well as the noise-canceling feature. Coaches can switch between four different channels to talk to other coaches, as well as one offensive player and one defensive player — those who have a green sticker on the back of their helmet are the ones with orange earpieces.

“A team member works with staff and players to establish the channels for each coach, depending on who they want to talk to during a given game. The headset programming and battery levels are monitored via a laptop on the sideline.

“The new system also now allows coordinators up in the booth to speak directly to players on the field — something that (John) Cave (vice president of football technology solutions) had to get approved by the NFL’s competition committee.

"Players, though, still can’t talk back to coaches — it’s a one-way communication channel. Cave said it’s technically possible to enable this, though it would require players to wear a microphone, which could cause more complication.”

Question: With Trevor Nowaske seemingly moving through concussion protocol and on track to play this weekend, how does he fit back into the defense? Which linebacker(s) does he take snaps from? — Michael Martini

Justin: Given the overall state of Detroit’s defense, I’d say there’s a lot of fluidity, but Nowaske sees most of his snaps along the line of scrimmage, where Derrick Barnes was playing early in the year.

Last week, Niemann got 44 defensive reps, as many as he had the previous seven games combined. It’s likely a good chunk of those go back to Nowaske this Sunday.

Question: Do you expect the Bears to emulate the Bills’ approach on the offensive side of the ball or are they going to have to focus on continuing to develop Caleb Williams? — Doug Bradley

Justin: That’s the thing, Doug, the Bears don’t have Josh Allen.

Williams might be great in the not-so-distant future. He has the tools, to be sure, and it’s safe to say he’s better than Allen was as a rookie. But Chicago’s QB isn’t anywhere near as physically imposing, doesn’t have a lot of designed runs built into his scheme, and doesn't have the overall mastery of his offense that Allen does in Buffalo.

Could the Bears borrow some elements of what Buffalo utilized last week and incorporate it into their game plan within their scheme? Absolutely. But the difference in QB style and play makes a copy-and-paste performance out of the question.

Question: Earlier this year they made changes to when press can be in the locker rooms, right? Now that the rule has been in place for a while, what's your feeling about the change? Did it impact the job much? — Mark Petzold

Justin: Not exactly.

This was a player initiative, led by NFLPA president Jalen Reeves-Maybin, which sought to move player-reporter interactions out of the locker room into the hallway. So the windows of access are the same, but the location of individual interviews and all the scrums moved a few dozen feet north.

It’s really had no impact on the job. I offer every player the opportunity to talk outside the locker room. Some prefer it, but I’ve found it's mostly to appease Reeves-Maybin. An increasing number are falling back into traditional habits of chatting at their lockers.

No matter where this settles, I’m confident I can adapt.

Question: With all these players being added to the roster to backfill guys on IR, are there any salary cap ramifications? — Aaron Talley

Justin: And now you know why the Lions prefer to leave a buffer around $20 million in cap space entering the season.

Yes, players on injured reserve continue to count against the cap. So when you’re signing all these guys, even if it’s for veteran minimum, the money adds up quickly. A game check for Kwon Alexander is nearly $70,000. Five games, you're talking $350,000.

The Lions have the space to absorb all of it, but it’s eating into what they’ll roll over next year.

Question: Any chance they’d try to pick up Calais Campbell if Miami goes through with cutting him? — Chris Maguigan

Justin: Could I see the Lions putting in a claim for Campbell if he's waived? Absolutely. Could I see him making it to the Lions on the waiver wire? Probably not.

Question: When will we find out the date and time for the Vikings game? — Lisa Corwin

Justin: Those games will be announced about a week ahead of time, probably Dec. 30-31. At this point, I’d expect it to be a primetime matchup on Sunday.

Question: Alim McNeill should be able to be back for start of next season, right? Also, is there any reason nowadays to worry about players losing a step after ACLs anymore? — Tim Bowers

Justin: The start of the regular season is possible but might be ambitious. Every recovery is different, but Falcons defensive tackle Grady Jarrett tore in Oct. last year and wasn’t ready for the start of camp.

I could see McNeill’s rehab carrying into the early part of the 2025 season. As for losing a step, ACL repair is a pretty common surgery in modern times. There might be some rust (read: atrophy), but I don’t think it impacts the long-term outlook of his career.

Question: What’s your sense of how ready Sione Vaki is to pick up a notable chunk of the load from David Montgomery? — Jeff Koski

Does a combination of Craig Reynolds/Vaki take over 50% of the carries or is Jahmyr in line for a much bigger workload than his traditional 50/50? — Ron Haskell

Justin: First, I anticipate Gibbs’ workload to tick up, but not dramatically. The Lions are going to be careful not to wear down their star dual-threat.

My early impressions are that Vaki won’t be a significant part of the replacement plan. More will likely fall on the plate of Reynolds, the reliable veteran, with Jermar Jefferson expected to get a bump off the practice squad and provided an opportunity to showcase three years of development behind the scenes.

I understand the fascination with Vaki, because I share it, but also recognize he’s a developmental player in the same sense as Brodric Martin. Despite the physical gifts, Vaki has so few banked reps and so much to learn about the nuances of the position.

Question: Do you still think Aaron Glenn will get a head coaching position after their performance in the last two games? — Mark Winters

Justin: I think we can limit the conversation to the last game because the Lions' defense was pretty good against the Packers, despite what showed on the scoreboard. The offense put them in some bad spots in that one, but given the Lions were playing four guys who arrived earlier in the week, it was a great coaching performance.

As for last week, it was bad. A historically great offense came to town and ran through the Lions. Still, it doesn’t alter the overall job Glenn has done all season or lessen the attributes he exhibits behind the scenes that make him equipped to lead a franchise.

Will he get a job? I’m not in those interviews or making the hiring decision. I believe his resume continues to merit strong consideration. That is the limit of my prognostication abilities on the matter.

Question: Will you be attending the Super Bowl? — Nate

Justin: If the Lions make the Super Bowl, I will be working in New Orleans that week.

Question: What's the best press box food in the NFL? — Jeff Zyla

Justin: The state of Texas comes strong. Dallas and Houston have unbelievable spreads, both in quality and quantity. Tampa has also been historically solid.

The NFC North leaves a lot to be desired. If I were to rank them it would be Minnesota, Detroit, Green Bay, Chicago, in that order. If another reporter wanted to flip Detroit and Green Bay, I’d understand.

Question: Who is our starting four on the defensive line now? — Brandon Kerr

Justin: Speculating here, but probably Za’Darius Smith, DJ Reader, Levi Onwuzurike and Josh Paschal. If they add a fifth man to the front, depending on the personnel package for down and distance, probably Al-Quadin Muhammad, Jonah Williams or Trevor Nowaske.

Question: I know you thought we should re-sign Carlton Davis, but does his injury put the kibosh on that idea? — John Mullen

Justin: No. I would say I’m firmer in the belief because he suffered an injury by giving all-out effort in run support, confirming he is exactly who I thought he was, a selfless and physical player who stands for everything this team preaches.

Question: Do any other rebuilds/new regimes in the modern era have a track record in their first four years similar to what Dan, Brad & Co. have established? How did those franchises sustain that initial success (or not), and what implications could it have for the Lions? — Zach Meyers

Justin: Man, what a question.

I looked at several of the top franchises from the past couple of decades. Many had success immediately with a change in leadership. The Chiefs with Andy Reid, the Saints with Sean Payton, the Ravens with John Harbaugh, Tony Dungy in Indianapolis, and even Sean McVay with the Rams, all hit the ground running, making the playoffs their first season.

Bill Belichick didn’t in New England, but he won a Super Bowl in Year 2, kickstarting that dynasty.

Seattle made the playoffs in Pete Carroll’s first year, but as a 7-9 team. It wasn’t until his third year the franchise took off, with five straight seasons having double-digit wins to go with back-to-back Super Bowl appearances.

From that group, if you’re looking for the secret of sustainability, it’s pretty easy to point to the quarterback play paired with the coaching. If Joe Flacco or Jared Goff is your floor, you’re set up for success, especially if you can field a capable team around those QBs.

That said, I think the closer comps to Detroit’s steady rise are probably Cincinnati or San Francisco.

Zac Taylor bottomed out the Bengals in his first season, leading them to two wins. Two years later, now armed with a franchise quarterback in Joe Burrow, they’re in the Super Bowl.

Concerningly, if you like the comp, the Bengals have struggled to stay at the top and are on the brink of missing the postseason for a second straight year.

As for San Francisco, it took a minute to get going under Kyle Shanahan. QB play, not surprisingly, was a factor. The team won 10 games his first two seasons before 13 victories and a Super Bowl appearance in Year 3. Injuries stalled them out in 2020, but they bounced back with double-digit wins the past three seasons, including a second Super Bowl appearance, until they were again undone by injuries this season.

One separator between those two organizations is ownership. The Bengals have long been viewed as corner-cutters with cost, including paying their players. The 49ers, like the Lions, have drafted well and consistently rewarded their stars with extensions. And as we’ve seen in Detroit, that helps breed a healthy culture.

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**whatever_gong82** · December 21, 2024, 05:09 PM

Pasting this current article from my cellphone.

Deciphering Detroit Lions' slew of Saturday transactions

Justin Rogers
Dec 21

Chicago — The Detroit Lions made a slew of moves on Saturday, activating defensive back Ifeatu Melifonwu off injured reserve, signing three players off the team’s practice squad, temporarily elevating two more from the unit, and waiving three, including one off injured reserve.

Let’s break down what the moves mean.

Activating Melifonwu

Lions coach Dan Campbell had left the door open for Melifonwu to be activated off injured reserve on Friday, despite the defender only getting three days of practice after having his clock started earlier in the week.

“So much of this was about getting his legs back under him, getting him comfortable this week,” Campbell said. We’re not closed to (activating him), I’m not closed to that. He’s gotten a little better every day and he’ll go out there today and practice and we’re working him in some stuff, just (to) see where he’s at.”

Because the Lions still had another two weeks until they needed to make the decision points to Melifonwu being part of the game-day roster on Sunday. How many snaps he gets remains to be seen, but given the team opted not to elevate Jamal Adams off the practice squad a third straight week, you can anticipate at least a handful of defensive snaps for Melifonwu.

Elevating Loren Strickland and waiving Brandon Joseph

With Melifonwu back in the fold, he becomes the No. 3 safety behind starters Brian Branch and Kerby Joseph. That requires No. 4 on the depth chart to be a key special teams contributor. Saturday's moves point to the Lions valuing the rookie Strickland more than Brandon Joseph in this role.

The release also points to Branch -- questionable with a calf strain -- being good to go for Sunday’s game against Chicago.

Strickland has appeared in six games for the Lions this season, averaging 11.8 special teams snaps in those contests. Brandon Joseph, meanwhile, has averaged 6.9 special teams snaps in 14 games.

Additionally, Strickland can provide some depth in the slot if the Lions opt to shift Amik Robertson to the outside to address the loss of Carlton Davis III.

Signing Tom Kennedy and waiving Maurice Alexander

This receiver swap likely suggests the Lions feel better about Kennedy as their punt returner for the next couple of games while Kalif Raymond continues to recover from the foot injury he suffered in November.

The Lions should also feel more comfortable using Kennedy on offense if needed, given his ability to replicate much of Raymond's skill set and versatility.

Signing Chris Smith and Mitchell Agude

Smith, the second-year defensive tackle, gives the team extra depth along the interior of the defensive line after Alim McNeill was lost for the season in last weekend’s game against Buffalo.

Signed as an undrafted rookie out of Notre Dame last year, Smith made his pro debut in this year’s season opener. He’s appeared in two games, logging 18 defensive snaps and two tackles.

As for Agude, it provides Detroit a little more edge depth with Levi Onwuzurike, Jonah Williams and Al-Quadin Muhammad potentially needing to adjust their roles along the front to compensate for the loss of McNeill.

Agude, who spent the better part of two years on Detroit’s practice squad, debuted against Green Bay earlier this month, seeing nine snaps on defense and 13 on special teams.

Elevating Jermar Jefferson

The Lions haven’t hidden their intention to give Jefferson — a seventh-round pick in 2021 — an opportunity to help pick up some of the slack with David Montgomery on the shelf.

“I think that’s a big reason why you get into this business to start with is to see growth and guys grow as players, as people, and then eventually get an opportunity to play and that’s what you’ve seen from him,” offensive coordinator Ben Johnson said. “He is a guy that has matured so much from the moment he got in the building, and he’s taken some lumps and been cut and brought back and this, that and the other. He’s really deserving of a chance here this week to show what he’s made out of.

“He’s almost like a silent assassin,” Johnson said. “He goes about his business, he’s coming in, he’s working, don’t even hear a peep from him in the unit meetings, but you know when you’re watching him on scout team and how he’s going about his job, he’s taking it very seriously. He’s very professional and I’m looking forward to him getting a chance this week.”

It's been three years since Jefferson appeared in a regular season game.

Lions waive/injured David Bada

Lions fans didn’t get a chance to know Bada, a German defensive tackle who joined the team as part of the NFL’s International Pathway Program. He suffered a season-ending Achilles injury in the preseason opener against the New York Giants.

Montgomery avoids injured reserve

It’s still possible Montgomery won’t play again this season, but the Lions aren’t closing the door on the veteran back after additional medical opinions offered an optimistic rehab outlook with his injured knee.

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