Lions News

[Iron Lion]

So they told him he's gonna be a healthy scratch, he takes to Twitter X and vents, and they get him to squash the tweets xeets.

[TheLondonLion]

Basically. He’s just let Andy Reid know he’s not gonna be in the middle anyway.

[-Deborah-]

[CGVT]

So they told him he's gonna be a healthy scratch, he takes to Twitter X and vents, and they get him to squash the tweets xeets.

Glad he's not sick

[whatever_gong82]

This is from yesterday. Late, I know, but please enjoy all the same!!


Detroit Lions tantalizingly close to tasting rewards of marshmallow experiment


Dave Birkett

Detroit Free Press


Just wait.

Brad Holmes told himself those words over and over in his first season as Detroit Lions general manager in 2021.

In his car on the way to work. In his office as he watched film. And when he made his way down the hall to visit Lions coach Dan Campbell.

The Lions went 3-13-1 that fall in what Holmes admits now was the first year of a rebuild. They lost five games by four points or less, three on field goals as time expired, and ended the season with three wins in their final six games while fielding one of the thinnest rosters in the NFL.


They had no receivers. Every starter on their offensive line missed time with injuries. And two of their best defensive players tore their Achilles tendons early in the year.

But Holmes saw something that fall — over and over again — that convinced him the rebuild he and Campbell were overseeing was on track.


“It sucks to lose, it does,” Holmes told the Free Press this week. “And especially when you lose like that. Like if you just get your ass whipped, you just get your ass whipped and you’re like hats off to them, they just beat our ass. Like when Cincinnati rolled us that year, it was what it was.

“But those games just like, bro, it hurts, man. It sucks. But that next morning, man, I was just like, ‘Whoo, just wait, just wait, just wait.’ Like we haven’t even used these first-round picks and all this stuff. We haven’t had the cash to spend. We haven’t even had that yet, and I’m just like, everybody was new, coaches all that, and I was just seeing how Dan had those guys ready to go every week and I was like, ‘Oh yeah.’”

Holmes clapped his hands while he talked and gripped an imaginary steering wheel as if he was making his morning commute again.


After one loss — he doesn’t remember which one — he stopped by Campbell’s office to talk.

“I was like, ‘What’s up?’ And he goes, ‘Yessir!’” Holmes recalled, chuckling at the thought. “And then he was like, he was talking about what we’re going to do this week, and he was like, ‘We’re going to score 30, 40 points this week.’ And I’m like, ‘Yeaaah.’ I just was driving in saying, ‘Just watch, it’s going to come.’ So that right there, and that’s why grit is all over this place, because when it gets dark, that’s just who me and Dan are and that’s how we’re wired.”


Slowly, the dark that’s enveloped the Lions franchise has turned to light.

The offensive line is healthy. The defense has been revamped. And even if questions remain at receiver, the Lions will open the season Thursday against the Kansas City Chiefs with one of the best rosters in the NFL.

Holmes said the rebuild, which he initially termed a “retool,” is “ahead of schedule just because of the young players that have produced for us rather early.” And it all started with the plan he and Campbell hatched when they united in the rare arranged marriage that worked.


Marshmallow treats



The Lions set out on parallel coach and general manager searches when they overhauled their franchise after their disastrous 2020 season. Campbell and Holmes had never met before they were hired in January of 2021, and when they came to town they were given one franchise-changing move to make.

Matthew Stafford wanted out of Detroit after 12 seasons as a Lion, and Holmes’ first act as GM was to shop his quarterback to the highest bidder.

Five teams made initial offers, including the Carolina Panthers, whose tempting package included their first-round pick. The Lions already owned the seventh pick in the draft, and adding Carolina’s one slot later at No. 8 would give Holmes the chance to add two blue-chip talents to his roster.

As Holmes weighed the offer, the Los Angeles Rams swooped in with a package that better fit his vision — a starting quarterback in Jared Goff, a third-round pick and two future firsts. He jumped at the bid and the chance at delayed gratification.

“That’s how I’m normally wired,” Holmes said. “That’s something that I teach my children. Everybody knows about the marshmallow test and all that stuff.”

In the Stanford marshmallow experiment of the 1970s, a psychology professor sat 600 children down at a table and gave them the choice between one marshmallow immediately, or two if they could wait 15 minutes. The children who waited generally went on to experience greater success and self-control later in life.

Holmes applied the same principle to the Lions’ rebuild, figuring the long-term payoff of having multiple first-round picks in 2022-23, plus a stable starter at the most important position in football, trumped the ability to add two high-level talents to an otherwise barren roster.

With little money to spend in free agency that spring, Holmes used the guidance of Lions chief operating officer Mike Disner, then the team’s senior vice president of football administration, to play the compensatory pick game.

The Lions signed a handful of targeted free agents, players like Alex Anzalone, Charles Harris and Kalif Raymond, to comp formula-friendly deals. And their diligence there yielded three extra picks in the 2022 draft. Holmes used those picks to procure more talent, and the Lions now have one of youngest, deepest rosters in the NFL.


“I don’t know (where our roster ranks) from a league standpoint,” Holmes said. “I mean, that’s all subjective. I just have a lot of joy — me and Dan have a lot of peace and joy and we sleep well at night that we have a roster full of football players with talent. It’s not just talent. Like, we have football players with talent. That’s first. It starts with football players.”

The Lions got off to a brutal start again last year, losing six of their first seven games, and Holmes saw the chance to procure more ammunition for his rebuild at the trade deadline when he shipped tight end T.J Hockenson to the Minnesota Vikings for a swap of draft picks.

On their current 53-man roster, the Lions have 19 picks from the past three drafts, three undrafted free agents signed under Holmes and Campbell and five players acquired via trade or waiver since 2021. They used their bonus picks to help draft players like Jahmyr Gibbs, Sam LaPorta and Jameson Williams. Just 11 players remain from the roster Holmes and Campbell inherited when they got to Detroit.

“No one has margin to throw away a season,” Holmes said. “Not coming off a 3-13-1 (record) and we were 1-6 (at the time of the Hockenson trade. Neither) me nor Dan had room to, ‘Ah, (forget) it. We’ll just — we’ll just trade away a good player.’ No. we were like, ‘Look man, we’ll be just fine.’ But the extra capital that we can gain to help the future, on top of what we already had, and we felt confident in our process of player acquisition, we just keep rolling.”


'We'll see'



The Lions finished last season on a tear, winning eight of their final 10 games to narrowly miss the playoffs.

They did so with a flare and flavor that made them one of the hottest draws in the NFL, but nothing they did during that hot streak or since has compromised their process.

The Lions added three big-name free agents to their secondary this offseason in Cam Sutton, C.J. Gardner-Johnson and Emmanuel Moseley, but only Sutton got a multi-year contract. They drafted four rookies who should contribute immediately, but Holmes pointed to the selection of second-round pick Brian Branch as evidence they weren’t just seeking high-floor, ready-to-contribute players.


The Lions signed Gardner-Johnson to play slot cornerback, with Kerby Joseph and Tracy Walker already penciled in at safety. When they drafted Branch, Holmes figured he’d probably begin his NFL career as a backup and play on special teams. But Branch won the slot corner job with an impressive camp, bumping Gardner-Johnson to safety and Walker to the bench.


“Now it’s like, holy shit, man, now this guy, he’s taken over,” Holmes said. “But make a long story short, we never consciously said, we got to push all our chips in. We just kept the same process in terms of the players that we draft and being very strategic. We had more resources to spend, but we still had to find the right guys. We’ll always have that approach.”

The Lions have wholeheartedly embraced the expectations that have followed the success they had last season, and that come with their improved roster.


Campbell said he and Holmes started with the end in mind — winning a Super Bowl — when they first teamed up before quickly returning to reality of their rebuild.

“You have this vision of where you want to go, where you see it going and what it’s going to take to get there,” he said. “You don’t always know the timeline, but you know you’ve got a lot of work ahead of you and so I think we’re both very pleased.”


Holmes said he has a “very high” level of confidence in his team’s ability to win a division title this fall, something the Lions have not done in 30 years. And though he wouldn’t say it specifically, if they do that, that would put them tantalizingly close to reaping the rewards of their own marshmallow experiment and reaching the Super Bowl.

“Look, we’ll see next Thursday,” Holmes said. “We’re about to play the champs. We’ll see how it is. Now, say we compete and play hard. Well, everybody knows we’ve been doing that. That’s not going to be a surprise to people. But if you win that game, now I do think that’ll be a little bit, ‘OK, all right, these guys are for real.’”

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

[whatever_gong82]

Detroit Lions defense: Talent upgrade means they won't be a pushover anymore

Dave Birkett

Detroit Free Press

The Detroit Lions open the NFL regular season Thursday night at the Kansas City Chiefs. Here are three storylines on defense that will define the Lions' 2023 season.


How much better will Lions defense be?



The Lions had an elite offense last season but ranked last in the NFL in total defense and tied for 28th in points allowed. They showed significant improvement defensively in the second half of last season, and I expect those strides to carry over.

The Lions are much deeper defensively than they have been in years past, with legitimate NFL-caliber starters (Tracy Walker, Emmanuel Moseley, Jack Campbell) opening the season in backup roles. They played five rookies significant snaps on defense last season, all of whom should be improved this year. And they’ve upgraded their personnel to allow defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn to be more creative and aggressive with his scheme.

When the Lions were in the dumps defensively last year, they struggled to get to the quarterback and create turnovers. Then they had 16 takeaways in their final 10 games and multiple sacks in seven of their final eight wins. I doubt the Lions will make the leap to top-10 defense in one year, but they should be middle-of-the-pack.



How many sacks will Aidan Hutchinson have?


Eleven.

Hutchinson led all NFL rookies with 9.5 sacks last season, when he finished runner-up to Sauce Gardner for Defensive Rookie of the Year. He had big games against all three division opponents down the stretch and looks poised for an even better 2023.

As good as Hutchinson has been this summer, I don’t think he’s in the Myles Garrett/Nick Bosa tier of pass rusher. Hutchinson was double-teamed more than anyone but Garrett last season, according to ESPN, and that number should go down now that he’s surrounded by a better cast.

But he also had a lower pass rush win rate than many of peers, according to ESPN, and needs to be more consistent overall; 6.5 of his sacks came in three games. I think Hutchinson leads the Lions in sacks and builds on his strong play against the run, but I don’t think his numbers skyrocket in Year 2.


Where will C.J. Gardner-Johnson make his biggest impact on the secondary?


The Lions will open the season with three new starters in their secondary, and Gardner-Johnson, the reigning NFL interception co-leader, is the best of the bunch.

Gardner-Johnson excelled as a slot cornerback with the New Orleans Saints in 2019-21, then took his play to another level last year with the NFC champion Philadelphia Eagles. He signed a one-year free agent deal this spring, and his confidence and brash demeanor have rubbed off on the defense.

The Lions initially planned to keep Gardner-Johnson in the slot role he had so much success in, in New Orleans, but moved him to safety after rookie Brian Branch forced his way into the starting lineup. As versatile as he is, Gardner-Johnson should be a chess piece for Glenn, capable of lining up in the slot, the deep post or playing in the box. He’s a ball magnet who showed his range as a pass defender in camp this summer, but I think his biggest contributions simply will be the way he carries himself on the field. He’s vocal, unafraid to tell opponents (or teammates) what they’re doing wrong, and he has injected a healthy dose of self-belief in the group.


3 newcomers to watch


DB Brian Branch: Gardner-Johnson said Branch is “better than me” already, and while that might be a stretch, the rookie has looked incredibly impressive in his four months. Branch, a second-round pick out of Alabama, won the starting slot cornerback job with his heady play and productivity. He was always around the ball in camp, he’s a capable blitzer, and if the Lions want to use him in the role, he might be their best gunner on special teams. Branch slid in April’s draft because he’s not an athletic freak with a blazing fast 40-yard dash time, but he’s smart and instinctive, and a key part of the defense this year.


CB Emmanuel Moseley: One of three free agents the Lions signed to upgrade their secondary along with Gardner-Johnson and Cam Sutton. He was expected to start at one cornerback spot but missed all of training camp while recovering from a second procedure on his surgically repaired knee. Moseley practiced with the Lions for the first time last week, and at a minimum should be a valuable depth piece at outside cornerback. Has ground to make up for all the time missed, but is a physical press-man corner who fits snugly into Glenn’s idea of what a defensive back should be.


DL Levi Onwuzurike: He isn’t technically a newcomer, but it feels like it after he missed all of last season and was slowed his rookie year by a back injury. Healthy for the first time in his NFL career, the 2021 second-round pick flashed as a pass rusher this summer and is ticketed for a role at defensive tackle to open the season. Look for him to play alongside Alim McNeill in some packages. If Onwuzurike can stay healthy, the deep defensive line will be even more formidable.


Depth chart

Defense


DE John Cominsky, Josh Paschal

DT Alim McNeill, Levi Onwuzurike

DT Benito Jones, Isaiah Buggs

DE Aidan Hutchinson, Romeo Okwara

OLB Charles Harris, James Houston

ILB Alex Anzalone, Malcolm Rodriguez

ILB Derrick Barnes, Jack Campbell

CB Cam Sutton, Steven Gilmore

CB Jerry Jacobs, Emmanuel Moseley

SCB Brian Branch, Will Harris

S Kerby Joseph, Tracy Walker

S C.J. Gardner-Johnson, Ifeatu Melifonwu


Special teams


K Riley Patterson

P Jack Fox

LS Scott Daly

KR Jahmyr Gibbs, Craig Reynolds

PR Kalif Raymond, Amon-Ra St. Brown

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

[whatever_gong82]

Detroit Lions 2023 season preview: Scouting the offense, which could be among NFL's best


Dave Birkett

Detroit Free Press

The Detroit Lions open the regular season Thursday night against the defending Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs. Here is a position-by-position look at the Lions offense for 2023.


Quarterbacks


Jared Goff insisted earlier this summer he doesn’t care whether he’s been afforded the respect he deserves as the Lions starting quarterback. “Don’t even know if I do or not,” he said. “Trying to win games for this team, that’s all.”


That may be the case, but the reality is Goff played well enough last year to convince many inside the organization he can lead the Lions to playoff success. He cut down on his turnovers, showed moxie in late-game situations and ran Ben Johnson’s offense to peak efficiency behind a standout offensive line. Goff has been solid this summer – not magnificent and not underwhelming. He needs to be better in the face of pressure and the deep passing game may never be his strong suit. But given his supporting cast and his comfortability in the offense, he appears headed for another good season.


The Lions signed Teddy Bridgewater to be Goff’s backup midway through training camp, then lost No. 3 quarterback Nate Sudfeld to a torn ACL in the third preseason game. Bridgewater went 0-2 as a starter with the Miami Dolphins last season, so he doesn’t guarantee the Lions any success if Goff goes down. But he’s a leader in the locker room and is someone Johnson can scheme a gameplan around. Third-round pick Hendon Hooker should be back somewhere around midseason from his college knee injury, but he’s not likely to see the field unless injuries strike.


Running backs


The Lions are taking a committee approach to their backfield again, only with two new faces at running back. David Montgomery signed with the Lions this spring after four productive seasons with the Chicago Bears. He has good vision in tight spaces and is physical enough to be productive in short-yardage situations, but lacks the big-play burst of his counterpart Jahmyr Gibbs.

A first-round pick out of Alabama, Gibbs is a lightning bolt who should be one of the better receiving backs in the game as a rookie. He and Montgomery will play together at times, and though he’ll spend the majority of his snaps in the backfield, the Lions fashion him as more of an offensive weapon. When I asked Gibbs what he wants fans to take away from his play this year, he said, “They’ll say I’m exciting to watch. That’s what I like. I like to be exciting, put on a show.”


Together, Montgomery and Gibbs have the potential to be one of the most productive backfields in the NFL. Montgomery has amassed more than 200 carries in each of his four seasons and both backs can be dangerous in the screen game. Craig Reynolds is a capable No. 3 who had a strong finish to the preseason, and Jason Cabinda returns for his fifth season at fullback.


Wide receivers/tight ends


Amon-Ra St. Brown is one of the best receivers in the NFL, and to pigeonhole him as a slot is to do his game a disservice. St. Brown is Goff’s favorite target on third downs and in the red zone. He’s a bully of a blocker in the run game. And he’s the most sure-handed player on the team with five drops and 196 catches over the past two years, according to Pro Football Reference.

The Lions’ receiving corps is light after St. Brown, and the offense has struggled to move the ball when he’s missed time dating back to last year. Kalif Raymond is probably the second-best receiver on the roster, though he’ll play as the No. 3 because of his size. Raymond had a career-high 616 yards receiving last season and the Lions rewarded him with a contract extension this summer.

Josh Reynolds and Marvin Jones will open the season in the playing group as bigger outside targets and trusted veterans. Reynolds and Goff have a long history together from their days with the Los Angeles Rams, and Jones is one of the better contested-ball catchers in the NFL, even at 33 years old. Rookie Antoine Davis opens the season as the No. 5 receiver, but the wild card is Jameson Williams. Last year’s No. 12 overall pick, Williams will miss the first six games of the season on suspension but should factor into the group as a deep threat when he returns.

At tight end, rookie Sam LaPorta is the top receiving option, but the Lions rotate their personnel freely. James Mitchell caught 11 passes as a rookie and should have a bigger role in Year 2. Brock Wright had four touchdowns last season but has been primarily a blocker throughout his career.


Offensive line


It’s a universal belief in the NFL that good offenses start with good offensive lines. For proof, look at how the Lions have tried to build over the years: Matt Millen’s first two draft picks as general manager were offensive linemen; Bob Quinn acquired 4/5ths of the Lions’ current starting line; and Brad Holmes’ first pick as Lions GM was Pro Bowl right tackle Penei Sewell.

The Lions have one of the best offensive lines in the NFL, and their dominance up front starts with Sewell. He’s an athletic marvel at 6 feet 5 and 335 pounds who moves like a tight end and is programmed to bulldoze opponents on the field. Johnson admitted last season he even built some gameplans around Sewell’s freakish abilities, which give the Lions myriad options in the run and pass game.


Beyond Sewell, the Lions have three other Pro Bowl-caliber linemen in their starting group: Left tackle Taylor Decker, left guard Jonah Jackson and center Frank Ragnow. That trio has been a fixture on the Lions’ offensive front since 2020 and their familiarity has been key to the unit’s success. Jackson is ticketed for free agency after the season if he doesn’t get a new contract soon, while toe injuries have limited Ragnow’s availability the past two seasons and are something to monitor this fall.

One of Halapoulivaati Vaitai or Graham Glasgow will start at right guard after splitting time with the first team this summer. Both are reliable veterans, and Glasgow doubles as Ragnow insurance at center. The Lions only kept linemen on their initial 53-man roster, so Matt Nelson will serve as the swing tackle and rookie Colby Sorsdal has guard/right tackle flexibility.

Contact Dave Birkett: dbirkett@freepress.com. Follow him @davebirkett.

[whatever_gong82]

Detroit Lions 2023 season preview: Scouting the defense, where improved depth is evident


Dave Birkett

Detroit Free Press

The Detroit Lions open the regular season Thursday against the Kansas City Chiefs. Here is a position-by-position look at the Lions defense and special teams for 2022:


Defensive line


The Lions don’t have a single dominant presence up front, but they have amassed good depth on their defensive line, especially at the edge rush position.

“That’s something I think about quite a lot to be honest with you, like how do you utilize each player and how can you have different packages with those guys in?” defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn said. “Who do you put together to be able to schematically do things that you want to do? So, we’re going to continue to do that. I actually love being able to do that because I love being able to see how I can get offenses to react to certain packages that’s in and we’ve been doing a pretty good job of that with the guys we have.”

Aidan Hutchinson had 9.5 sacks last season and was runner-up for NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year. He’s the anchor of a young line that features four players with at least one seven-plus-sack season. Charles Harris starts at outside linebacker after missing time with a groin injury last season, James Houston should contribute as a designated pass rusher and Harris’ backup, and John Cominsky is Hutchinson’s selfless partner who moves inside on the many of the Lions’ stunt games.

At defensive tackle, Alim McNeill could be headed for a breakout season after losing 22 pounds and reshaping his body this offseason. He’ll play more out of the three technique, with one of Benito Jones or Isaiah Buggs starting at nose tackle. Levi Onwuzurike is a wild card on the inside after missing all of last season following back surgery. He’s incredibly talented and could give the Lions’ interior pass rush a boost if he can stay healthy.


Linebackers


The Lions spent their second first-round pick, No. 18 overall, on Jack Campbell, but Derrick Barnes played well enough this summer that he may keep Campbell out of the starting lineup. Barnes and Campbell split middle linebacker duties during camp. Barnes is further along as a pass defender for now, while Campbell’s length and closing speed help him as a pass rusher and in the run game.

Alex Anzalone returns for his third year as a starting linebacker, but will play more on the weak side this fall. He had career-highs of 125 tackles and seven for loss last season and played a full compliment of games for just the third time in his career. Malcolm Rodriguez made 15 starts as a rookie but appears to be fourth in the linebacker rotation for now. The Lions may try to get all four inside linebackers reps on defense, and all but Anzalone should contribute on special teams.

Jalen Reeves-Maybin could play in certain sub packages as well because of his cover skills, but he and Anthony Pittman will contribute primarily in the kicking game. Collectively, the group needs to be better about making impact plays after intercepting one pass, forcing two fumbles and logging 3.5 sacks last year.


Defensive backs


No unit has seen more turnover than the Lions secondary, which added two new starters in free agency and a third in the draft this spring.

At cornerback, Cam Sutton takes over the No. 1 role after a six-year run with the Pittsburgh Steelers. He had three interceptions last season — the Lions emphasized adding players with proven takeaway ability — and played primarily on the right side this summer. Jerry Jacobs will open the season as the starting left cornerback, though Emmanuel Moseley looms in reserve. Between Sutton, Jacobs and Moseley, the Lions have three capable outside corners, the best depth they’ve had at the position in years.

C.J. Gardner-Johnson, who tied for the NFL lead with six interceptions last season, and Kerby Joseph (who had a Lions-leading four picks) give the back end a true playmaking element. Both are rangy players who can patrol the post and both have good ball skills. Rookie second-round pick Brian Branch is ticketed for the slot cornerback role in sub packages. He looked as good as any Lions defensive player, not just rookie, in training camp. And Tracy Walker is back from his torn Achilles tendon to provide depth at the position.

While those seven should see the bulk of the playing time in the secondary, Swiss Army knife Will Harris also could factor in as a reserve and the Lions are high on young cornerback Steven Gilmore, who made the team as an undrafted rookie.


Special teams


The Lions have been good in just about all aspects of special teams under third-year coordinator Dave Fipp. They pull off a handful of well-executed fakes every year, they ranked top-three in both kick- and punt-return average last season and they have one of the league’s best punters in Jack Fox.

The one area that has been and remains a question mark is place kicking. Riley Patterson won the kicking job after a so-so preseason, but the Lions were less-than-enamored with his performance and re-signed Michael Badgley to the practice squad. Badgley kicked well for the Lions last season, making 20 of 24 field goals. Neither he nor Patterson have reliable legs from long distance, which is something to watch in close games.

Fox had the lowest net punting average (41.2 ypp) of his career last year, but he cut down on touchbacks and excels on kickoffs and holds. Kalif Raymond emerged as one of the NFL’s best punt returners last season with a 13.2-yard average, second-best in the league. The Lions lost kick returner Josh Jackson to a surprise summer retirement, but have myriad replacement options including running backs Jahmyr Gibbs and Craig Reynolds and cornerback Khalil Dorsey.

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

[whatever_gong82]

Detroit Lions DT Isaiah Buggs: Missing voluntary workouts 'played a part' in benching

Dave Birkett

Detroit Free Press

Isaiah Buggs did not take part in most of the Detroit Lions' voluntary workouts this offseason, and the big defensive tackle said he believes that played a role in his demotion from the starting lineup.

"I think so," Buggs told the Free Press on Monday. "But I had a baby so I couldn’t be here and my family comes first. So anything my family needs, that’s what it’s going to be. And I can’t help that if they can’t accept that, but I definitely think me not being around in the spring played a part in it. That’s what it is."

Buggs started 13 games at nose tackle for the Lions last season and had his most productive year in the NFL with 46 tackles and one sack.


He signed a two-year extension worth up to $6 million to stay with the Lions this spring, but spent much of the summer working with the second-team defense and played late into the Lions' final preseason game.

Buggs said Lions coaches told him he would be inactive for Thursday's season-opener against the Kansas City Chiefs. Benito Jones is expected to start at nose tackle that game, alongside Alim McNeill.

"As of right now, they told me that I was not going to play so that’s what we got and I’m going to be straightforward with it cause they were straightforward with me with that," he told a group of reporters. "As of right now, I will not be playing."


Buggs missed practice Saturday because he said he was sick, then caused a minor stir on social media Sunday with a cryptic post on X, the site formerly known as Twitter.

"I’m Good But Just Know Situations Change #96BALLFOREVER Y’all Gone See," he wrote.

Asked about his post Monday, Buggs, who also reportedly removed any reference to the Lions on X and Instagram, where he refers to himself as "Athlete" in his bio, said there was "nothing to address."

"Like I say, things change, relationships change," he said.

Asked if his relationship with the Lions had changed, Buggs downplayed his post.

"I’m not going to technically say that," he said. "I’m just saying in life period. It’s nothing dealing with football, it’s nothing dealing with here, I’m just saying, so I don’t want anybody to take that context and run with it. But at the same time, relationships do change. That’s all I’m going to say. There’s nothing else to say about it."

The Lions have improved their depth on the defensive front with 11 edge and interior rushers currently on their 53-man roster. Typically, teams keep eight linemen active on game days, and Aidan Hutchinson, John Cominsky, Charles Harris, Josh Paschal, Levi Onwuzurike and James Houston are candidates to join McNeill and Jones in the rotation Thursday.

A sixth-round pick by the Pittsburgh Steelers out of Alabama in 2019, Buggs said he thought he had "a pretty good training camp" and was caught off guard by his benching.


"Played an important role last year, leading (into) this year, you think you’re going to be that guy, you’re thinking they’re all in with you and then, boom, in the snap of a finger it’s like that," he said. "So like I said, I always been a team player, I always been a role player. Whatever they have for me, that’s what I’m going to do."

And if being a backup is his role now, Buggs said he'll use that internal fuel.

"I’m always determined to go harder every time things go against me and not my way," he said. "That’s just something I’ve been dealing with all my life, even from junior college to Bama, from the Steelers to here. I’m going to always keep going and that’s what it’s going to be."

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

[ghandi]

Thank you for posting those WG82

[jaadam4]

Going from starter to inactive is pretty crazy considering that’s the weakest position on the roster. Last year he was one of our best run stoppers. Well good on Benito Jones for balling out

[Iron Lion]

Buggs needs to chill out. It's not like he's a superstar. He shouldn't have been starting last year. The defense was trash and he got an opportunity. He'll get loads of playing time this year when people go down.

I'd like to think Tracy Walker handled his demotion well, but a part of me thinks MCDC took him aside and said, "We're going to play CJGJ at your spot this year while your Achilles heals, and then when we lose CJGJ to FA it's your spot again."

[jaadam4]

Buggs scrubbing his social media accounts of all Lions stuff is such a high school girl move

[El Axe]

First-person article where Levi Onwuzurike talks about his injury and extensive rehab. I'm not usually a fan of these types of articles, but I enjoyed this one.

https://view.ceros.com/detroit-lions/beyond-levi/p/1

This quote got me:

The darkest it ever got was when I slipped at my house and fell down the stairs two months after my fusion surgery, which now thinking back on, I find pretty funny. There was no way my story ends with me slipping and falling. After I got up, I texted my doctor in a panic like, ‘Damn, did I just mess everything up?’ But the x-rays were good. My bone scan was fine. The metal and screws weren’t impacted by the fall.

[dpatnod]

Wow. Scary. Good on him. Hope he balls out.