Lions News

[froot loops]

This is what makes the Jamo situation so odd to me. For all we've seen he's all speed and nothing else. Doesn't seem to know how to play the WR position. Has poor hands. With past regimes I'd totally chock this up to the FO being fooled by the pure athleticism and not considering the full package. But that is very out of character for this FO, so I think there is still hope.

BTW, in that video - in addition to Jamo flattening his guy on the block, note what happens after the block. He is stopped. Monty passes him going full speed. Jamo gives chase from a dead stop, and passes all the defenders and is easily catching up to Monty. Man, I hope he figures it out.

It reminds me when the Lions drafted John Ford. I remember a draft analyst at the time saying something like, "he has great speed, he just needs to work on his hands and route running."

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Lions' Amon-Ra St. Brown returns to practice; 3 key pieces remain sidelined by injury


Justin Rogers
The Detroit News


Allen Park — The Detroit Lions got one key player back for Wednesday's practice, but remained without a handful of pieces heading into this weekend's matchup with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Wide receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown was the returning player. The team's leading pass-catcher, he missed last week's game against the Carolina Panthers with an abdominal injury. But signs already were pointing to his rejoining of the lineup this week after coach Dan Campbell called St. Brown probable for Tampa Bay during a Tuesday interview with 97.1-FM.

Still not practicing were defensive back Brian Branch and running back Jahmyr Gibbs, who were both given the label of day-to-day by Campbell ahead of the Wednesday session. Branch missed last week's game with an ankle injury he suffered against Green Bay late last month, while Gibbs is dealing with a hamstring injury he suffered last Friday in practice.


Branch was doing some sprinting and lateral movement work on the side with a trainer on Wednesday.

Also not practicing for the Lions were guard Jonah Jackson, running back Zonovan Knight and tight end James Mitchell. Jackson is the obvious concern from that group. The starting left guard exited last Sunday's game in the closing minutes with an ankle injury.

If he's unable to go this week, he'd likely be replaced in the lineup by either Halapoulivaati Vaitai or Kayode Awosika. Vaitai, the starting right guard to open the season, missed two games with a left knee injury and didn't appear in last Sunday's game, despite being active. It's unclear if the team feels he's healthy enough to take on a full workload. Awosika, who is in his second season with the Lions, stepped in for Jackson for the final two snaps against Carolina.

Finally, cornerback and key special teams contributor Khalil Dorsey returned to practice, officially starting his three-week acclimation clock after he spent the past four weeks on injured reserve dealing with an undisclosed illness.


jdrogers@detroitnews.com

Twitter/X: @Justin_Rogers

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Lions GM Brad Holmes: Jameson Williams 'hit the ground running' after suspension




Nolan Bianchi
The Detroit News

Brad Holmes had a riddle for Jameson Williams.

“What’s the best news that you could receive?” Holmes asked the second-year Detroit Lions wide receiver two Fridays ago, less than 24 hours after Detroit vanquished the Green Bay Packers, 34-20, at Lambeau Field.

The best news Williams could receive? He could only think of one thing, but he didn’t want to say it. It seemed outside the realm of possibility.

“He’s still thinking that he’s still got time left on his suspension. He was like, ‘Besides me playing —’ and I was like, ‘Dude, that’s it,’” Holmes recalled. “(I said), ‘You’re back, dude.’ He was ecstatic. He was fired up.


Holmes detailed the moment he found out about Williams’ rescinded suspension and gave his assessment of the team’s early-season success during a Wednesday interview on “The Insiders”, hosted NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero and Ian Rapaport.

Williams made his season debut for the Lions in Sunday’s 42-24 win over the Carolina Panthers at Ford Field. It came and went without anything too notable, save a touchdown-springing block for David Montgomery in the first quarter. But, hey. He was out there two weeks earlier than he should have, and that was considered a win.


Specifically with Williams, he said the former No. 12 overall pick did everything the team wanted him to while he was away. Williams was able to be with the team all throughout training camp, but wasn’t allowed in the building for any reason until after the team’s Week 3 home win against Atlanta.

Further complicating the issue was the fact Williams suffered a hamstring injury before the second preseason game, a situation that not only made waste of his final remaining days with the team, but also put his ability to return at full health in jeopardy.


“I thought he did a great job of sticking to the schedule that he had in place, that he had to adhere to, and he did a phenomenal job. He hit the ground running, had a great week of practice last week, he was in shape,” Holmes said.

“He had a unique situation, because not only the suspension, but he was also dealing with an injury as well, that he was rehabbing from. He did a great job in terms of taking care of both phases, not only rehabbing but being in football shape and being ready.”


Earlier in the interview, Holmes gave his assessment of the Lions’ performance through five games. Detroit is 4-1 and holds a two-game lead atop the NFC North.

“It’s a good start … especially when you look at it and put it in perspective of where we were at this time last year, I believe the record was reversed,” Holmes said. “... We’ve still got a long season to go, to finish, but good to come off to a much faster start and definitely happy for the fans.”


Holmes didn’t, however, share much on his plans for the NFL Trade Deadline (Oct. 31). He said the team plans to be prepared for any situation, but all told, he doesn’t fully know what his team will need three weeks from now.

“Your roster’s different at different points of the year,” Holmes said. “Unfortuantely, there’s attrition that comes in this league that you have to prepare for, so maybe it’s depth down the road. Maybe you need a guy to come in and be a major contributor. You just need to be prepared for all of that.”



nbianchi@detroitnews.com

Twitter/X: @nolanbianchi

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Detroit Lions' Jahmyr Gibbs sits with hamstring injury, 'right where he should be' so far


Dave Birkett
Detroit Free Press


Bijan Robinson has two 100-yard rushing games already this season. De'Von Achane is second in the NFL in rushing.

Jahmyr Gibbs is off to a slower start than his rookie counterparts, but Detroit Lions running backs coach Scottie Montgomery said he's pleased with Gibbs' performance five games into his career.

"He’s right where I thought he would be, he’s right where he should be coming along at, at this time," Montgomery said. "We don’t judge players based off of anything else besides achievement. Like there is success and there is expectations and I want people outside the building to put those expectations on him because guess what, whether we believe it or not, it motivates him. It does, and that’s a really, really good tool."


Gibbs, the No. 12 pick of April's draft, has 179 yards rushing on 39 carries and another 70 yards receiving on 14 catches in the Lions' 4-1 start.


He's played mostly as a backup to David Montgomery so far, but had 80 yards rushing in his lone start in a Week 3 win over the Atlanta Falcons when Montgomery was out with a thigh bruise.

Gibbs missed last week's win over the Carolina Panthers after pulling his hamstring late in practice Friday. He remained out practice Wednesday and is day-to-day ahead of Sunday's game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Lions coach Dan Campbell said.


"I have to slow myself down and think that he had one start where he had 17 carries, 80 yards, 5 yards (almost) a carry," Scottie Montgomery said. "And I believe in each game that he’s been in and played in, he’s had 50 or more scrimmage yards. That doesn’t sound significant, but when you talk to our coordinator, you talk to our head coach, and especially when we have the type of room and the type of talent that we have on the field, this is not a team lacking for talent, so when you have guys in each room that can make plays, at the end of the day there’s only a certain amount of yardage that can happen on a football field."

Both Achane, a third-round pick who has rushed for 460 yards in the Miami Dolphins' 4-1 start, and Robinson, the No. 8 pick of the draft by the Atlanta Falcons, have provided more value relative to their draft position than Gibbs while playing for teams with winning records and in backfields where they share carries.

Montgomery said he senses a desire from Gibbs to want to contribute more, but that the humbling start will make Gibbs a better player down the road.


"I do feel that he feels a little bit of a, 'Hey man, I got to continue to grow and I got to continue to grow,'" Montgomery said. "But we’re really, really happy with him understanding that it’s about achievement, not necessarily what success is. And another reason this is really good for Jah is that the same way that he’s having to manage these expectations, in a few weeks he will have to manage the what people are saying really, really good about him, and I think that is very humbling and there’s only one way you can be humbled."


Injury update


Defensive back Brian Branch, left guard Jonah Jackson, tight end James Mitchell and running back Zonovan Knight were among others who did not practice Wednesday.

Branch also is day-to-day, Campbell said. He spent the open portion of practice working on the side with a trainer, but could be another week away from returning from the ankle sprain he suffered in the Lions' Week 4 win over the Green Bay Packers.


With Gibbs and Knight out, the Lions had three running backs at practice Wednesday: David Montgomery, Craig Reynolds and practice squad back Devine Ozigbo.

Amon-Ra St. Brown returned to practice Wednesday after sitting out last week with an abdominal injury.


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

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On pace to threaten rookie records, Lions' LaPorta remains focused on long-term success



Justin Rogers
The Detroit News


Allen Park — Aside from quarterback, tight end might be the most difficult position to have an immediate impact as a rookie in the NFL.

There are myriad reasons the transition often proves rocky. First, there's the mental requirements to play the position. A tight end must have a deep understanding of the entire offense — from run blocking to quarterback protection to route running.

Then there's the physical component. Not only do they have to make adjustments for matching up with bigger, faster and stronger defenders, but when it comes to blocking, few are prepared for the demands of the professional level because they weren't asked to do it regularly in college.


That's not the case at the University of Iowa, which has long been a factory for tight ends. And if you can't block, you can't play for the school. Still, it's not as if former Hawkeyes Dallas Clark, George Kittle, T.J. Hockenson and Noah Fant hit the ground sprinting as NFL rookies.

Clark, a first-round pick in 2003, had 15 catches for 131 yards in his first five games. Kittle, a four-time Pro Bowler, was a little bit better with 17 grabs for 166 yards over that same starting stretch. And Hockenson racked up 187 yards through five games as the No. 8 pick for the Lions in 2019 but only averaged 14 in the four contests after exploding for 131 in his debut.



That context is important to driving home just how special the beginning of Sam LaPorta's career has been. Not only is he outpacing the impressive group of Hawkeyes who came before him, but the Lions rookie is on track to threaten rookie records set by legendary players at his position, Mike Ditka and Keith Jackson.

Coming off a two-touchdown performance in last Sunday's victory over Carolina, LaPorta is on track to catch 85 passes this season, more than the 81 Jackson hauled in as a rookie in 1988. That's still the record for a first-year tight end. LaPorta will need to pick up the pace a bit to break Ditka's rookie mark of 1,076 yards, but with good health for the duration of the 17-game season, he should become the third tight end to break the 1,000-yard mark, joining 2021 first-round pick Kyle Pitts.


"What's exciting is what you see out of him right now, I think is real," Lions coach Dan Campbell said in an interview with 97.1-FM this week. "It's only going to get better. I really believe it. Every game that comes, every practice that comes and goes, all he does is gain the confidence of this staff and the players around him. And he gains the confidence of (quarterback Jared) Goff. I feel like he's becoming one of our guys we can really depend on right now — and that's a good thing for a rookie."

Even though he's consistently produced more in the passing game than anyone could have expected to begin his career, what's really been impressive about LaPorta has been his competence with his blocking. While no one is going to confuse Detroit's rookie for the mauling Kittle, LaPorta has provided some key blocks on touchdown runs and is rarely blowing assignments. This, despite coming in with lower outside expectations in that area because of his smaller, 6-foot-3, 245-pound frame.


LaPorta is quick to praise the work of his coaches, both at Iowa and in Detroit, for flattening his learning curve. His position coach with the Lions, Steve Heiden, has been particularly valuable because his teaching is rooted in a decade of NFL playing experience.

"It has a lot to do with coach Heiden," LaPorta said. "It also has a lot to do with the standard the staff has not only set for me, but set for everybody. Simply put, it's that they're not going to deal with the bulls---. That starts with coach (Dan) Campbell. He doesn't like losing and he doesn't like putting up with bulls---, so he's certainly not going to allow for his rookie tight end to be making rookie mistakes. I feel like that learning curve is smacked out of you from the very beginning.

"But coach Heiden has helped me in ways that go beyond the field and the playbook," LaPorta said. "He played the position for 10 years and he knows what it's like as a young player. He knows there's a lot on my plate, but he tries to make it simple for me, which lets me go out and play football."


LaPorta also said the experience he's gained on the practice field has been invaluable. Detroit's edge rushers, led by Aidan Hutchinson and Charles Harris, have been pushing him to the limit since he arrived.

"Those guys are all really dynamic pass rushers and understand where they fit into the run scheme," LaPorta said. "I certainly figured out what didn't work for me, right away."


Thinking long term


Beyond blocking, another area where LaPorta has impressed has been his ability to do damage after the catch. A frequent criticism of Hockenson during his time in Detroit, LaPorta rarely loses his balance in the open field or goes down on first contact. Through five games, only Jacksonville's Evan Engram has more yards after the catch among tight ends.

"I'd say the mentality I have with the ball in my hands is don't let the first guy bring you down," LaPorta said. "I know that my buddies are out there blocking for me. Guys like (teammate) Brock (Wright) are always running down the field trying to get that extra block — the receivers as well — so if I can make the first guy miss and they're covering up the rest of the guys, it has the potential to be a really good play. I'm not saying I'm going to house-call one —sometimes I get tracked down — but don't let that first guy tackle you."


After every game, the Lions are quick to share LaPorta's newest milestone. This week, the team noted he's only the second tight end in NFL history to have 275 receiving yards and three touchdowns through five games.

The fact that he's chasing rookie marks set by Ditka, a Hall of Famer, and Jackson, a six-time Pro Bowler, isn't lost on LaPorta. But, for as nice as these early accomplishments have been, he's focused on avoiding a lull. He doesn't want to be the best over five games. He's not even that interested in first-year accomplishments. He's looking to piece together a career that will be viewed like Ditka or Jackson's.

"I think it's cool to reflect on that for a moment, but you have to quickly move on," LaPorta said. "There's a longevity thing with reflection. I've done this four (now five) games. Those guys did that for 10-plus years. I obviously think careers are a cooler thing to look back on, thinking, wow, that dude for that long at such a high level. Hopefully, I can be in that conversation in 10 years where it's like, 'Man, he did it so well for so long.' I think that would be a better tell.


"It's cool to stop and smell the roses, but not for very long."


jdrogers@detroitnews.com

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'Consistently consistent': Lions not surprised with explosiveness of RB Craig Reynolds



Nolan Bianchi
The Detroit News


Allen Park — Craig Reynolds entered Sunday’s game against the Carolina Panthers and never looked back.

Well, that’s not entirely true — he looked back once, after a gain of 19 yards to reach the 5-yard-line of Carolina, and saw his teammates and coaches waving him back onto the field. Two plays later, he scored his first NFL touchdown.


While he wasn’t aware of the milestone, first-year Lions running backs coach Scottie Montgomery on Wednesday said the moment was a culmination of the work Reynolds has put in since arriving in Detroit three seasons ago.

“From the first day that I got here to now, he has been consistently consistent. … If you go back and look at our scrimmages and the things that people couldn’t see, he’s always had explosives,” Montgomery said.


“He’s always made runs. He’s always made catches. He’s always been on his tracks. He’s always been good in protection. He's always been easy to coach and been available to coach.”

Reynolds’ small sample size on Sunday was a continuation of what he’s done for the better part of his time in Detroit. He took seven carries for 52 yards and the score, including the 19-yarder and another 17-yard run a few plays earlier. In the 2021 and 2022 seasons, he had 78 carries for an average of 4.3.


But as these things tend to go in the NFL, Reynolds has continually found himself on the outside looking in when it comes time to trim the roster to 53 men. Even after re-signing to stay in Detroit back in May, the Lions were forced to release Reynolds in late August before bringing him back after shuffling the roster.


All of this has been a great life lesson, Montgomery said.

“What I told him is that, ‘Man, this is life. Boy, you have to endure. You have to endure.’ And this isn’t going to be the toughest thing that he goes through,” Montgomery said. “When I was growing up, it was a thing that I used to hear some old people say, and I never really knew (what it really meant): You don’t know how tough you are until tough is all you got.’


“You get cut and you’re going home, and those nobody around, and you keep going, eventually you’re going to break through.”

Montgomery said he sees all the necessary traits in Reynolds for him to eventually catch that big break.

“He’s not a quitter, man. He’s tough. And boy, I am hoping for him. I am hoping for him,” Montgomery said.


nbianchi@detroitnews.com

Twitter/X: @nolanbianchi

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[jaadam4]

Is that a fucking joke? McVay and Tomlin over MCDC. That’s absolutely insane.