Lions News

[whatever_gong82]

https://www.freep.com/story/sports/nfl/lions/2024/09/05/detroit-lions-2024-preview-what-to-expect-from-newcomers-on-defense/75041136007/

[El Axe]

Interviews with our 3 coordinators. Two main takeaways (1) this is an incredible group of coordinators (2) Fipp's comments on the new kickoff rule. He basically said that so far, if you don't kickoff in the end zone, you average stopping them on the 28, so the risk-reward tells you that you want a touchback to the 30 because it's not worth the 2 yards to risk a big return.

Fipp's interview overall was really insightful and informative to me

[Blue Lagoon58]

I feel all the coordinators are very insightful and informative, all the time. The entire organization is. Very refreshing!

[whatever_gong82]

https://www.freep.com/story/sports/nfl/lions/2024/09/07/detroit-lions-have-kickoff-plan-we-feel-great-about-under-new-rules/75098984007/

[El Axe]

They're going to need to tweak the kickoff to change that equation Fipp pointed out. Maybe make touchbacks go to the 35.

[chemiclord]

OR... OR... and I know this sounds crazy... don't worry about it. Let kickoff returns be a rare thing that teams only do when they think the opportunity exists for it. Maybe you can make kicking the ball out of the back of the endzone the same penalty as kicking it out of bounds or something, but I actually have no problem with returns happening on average about once per game. Not everything has to be an exciting play that brings you to the edge of your seat.

[whatever_gong82]

Lions’ Dan Campbell has become the coach he always set out to be

Paywall article from today's The Athletic.

By Colton Pouncy
6h ago


Detroit Lions Head Coach Dan Campbell clapping his hands.jpg

DETROIT — The introduction-heard-’round-the-football-world is now three and a half years old. And for a time, was the lasting image of Dan Campbell.

In the early years, you couldn’t see the Detroit Lions receive a national mention without a knee-cap reference, often said in jest. That infamous presser was Campbell’s attempt at speaking directly to this city and its fanbase. This was a job he pounded a table for, quite literally in his initial interview with the team.


His viral, impassioned speech was uttered in an empty broadcast studio to reporters he could only see on a TV screen — conducted over Zoom with in-person access limited at the time. That didn’t change a thing.

This was his way of re-introducing himself — having played for this franchise during its 0-16 season — promising folks things would be different. However, his unapologetic desire to establish a winning brand of football unbeknownst to Detroit didn’t land the same outside of Michigan.

And so, Campbell became a caricature. Typecast as a meathead in over his head. A man on borrowed time. Many had made up their mind before he’d even coached a game.

You best believe he’s kept every receipt.

“I’ve got a whole ton of those, but it’s not time to pull those out yet,” Campbell said in January, three years after that press conference and a few days removed from leading the Lions to their first playoff victory in 32 years. “There will be a time and place for that.”

There were signs that Campbell would one day be here — spending his weekends with a headset on, instilling the lessons learned from a life dedicated to this sport, leading a franchise to places it always hoped to go. But only if you paid attention. And only if you really knew Campbell.

A football lifer from the Texas country — somewhere between Morgan and Walnut Springs — Campbell grew up on a farm and learned an intense work ethic from his father. He was the best athlete in his area and the type of guy who’d extend a hand after trucking you into next week. That latter is what’s gotten him this far.



Some years ago, Campbell arrived on campus at Texas A&M as a lanky tight end with the naivety of a small-towner with big dreams. The outside world was new to him but football wasn’t. It was all he’d ever known, and his plan was simple: outwork everyone in his orbit. It wasn’t forced. It wasn’t for show. You couldn’t help but notice him. His authenticity won everyone over — from his playing days to his coaching career.

It’s why, in some ways, Campbell is exactly who people think he is. And so much more than meets the eye.



Campbell’s superpower in this league — what many of his players and assistants say sets him apart — is his innate ability to tap into the mind of a player. Those who’ve been around Campbell say his attention to detail and recollection of his experiences has served as a guiding principle, and feels different than your typical former player-turned-coach.

It’s the reason behind every decision he makes, and each one he doesn’t.



In 2001, Campbell was a young pup on a New York Giants team with Super Bowl aspirations. After losing to the Baltimore Ravens in Super Bowl XXV, the Giants waltzed into a brand new season expecting to get back to the biggest stage.

But Campbell, even then, had reservations about what he was seeing. He’d notice his teammates were excited about leaving the facility early. They would applaud lighter days in training camp. This was not how he operated. They believed they were a finished product. They were, in fact, far from it.



Those Giants finished 7-9 that year, missing the playoffs. It was a rude awakening for the team. And an eye-opener for Campbell.

“I will never forget that. Ever,” Campbell said on the first day of 2024 training camp, discussing a fate that keeps him up at night when he thinks about the Lions team he now coaches. “We’re not going to lose our identity. That is the most important thing to me, and I won’t sacrifice it for anyone or anything.”

Dan Campbell during his playing days_without helmet.jpg


Campbell takes these experiences everywhere he goes. Playing for a Cowboys coaching staff that featured two of his mentors — Bill Parcells and Sean Payton — Campbell was often tasked with setting the tone. All it’d take was a look or nod from Payton after a low-effort practice for Campbell to spring into action and set the locker room straight. As a player, Campbell was a force multiplier in terms of influence and approach. A coach’s dream, which is probably why he became one himself.


Before Detroit, there was Miami. A 1-3 start to the 2015 season was the final act of Joe Philbin’s stint as Dolphins head coach. To replace him, they made a 39-year-old Campbell, the tight ends coach, their interim head coach.

In Miami, Campbell faced many of the narratives he’d later face in the early years of his Detroit tenure. But what’s proved to be true in Detroit proved true back then. Campbell got to know his players on a personal level. He got them to buy in.



“I can remember him bringing me up to his office and him acknowledging my knowledge and him acknowledging my leadership ability,” said Kelvin Sheppard, a linebacker on that Dolphins team, and Campbell’s linebackers coach in Detroit. “I kind of attached to Dan as someone that cared about me more than just a football player.”

Terrell Williams, widely regarded as one of the best defensive line coaches in the NFL, was on that Dolphins staff with Campbell. Campbell’s approach to coaching and authenticity with his players was evident back then. Williams saw it firsthand.



It’s why he accepted an offer to join Campbell’s coaching staff in Detroit this offseason.

“He wasn’t trying to be someone else,” Williams said. “I think that we can all learn that lesson. Don’t try to be Sean Payton or Bill Parcels. You can take ideas, but his personality — he just coached the way his personality is: tough, but fair. …I remind these coaches, some of the younger guys, be thankful for who you’ve got as a head coach. In my 14th year, I’ve worked for a lot of different head coaches. Dan’s A-plus, in my opinion.”



This was something HBO’s “Hard Knocks” captured ahead of the 2022 season. That was Campbell’s second in Detroit, and the one that would change everything.

On a humid August morning, the Lions were in full pads, going live to prepare for the season. It was a long day. A full two-hour practice in which Campbell pushed his players with a purpose.



Campbell had studied data that suggested volume and intensity were necessary heading into a season.

He saw some players roll their eyes. Tune him out. He knew a conversation was needed. One built on trust.

“We all respect him because he tells us how it is,” Lions QB Jared Goff said of Campbell. “He’s sat in our seats before and understands on Day 15 of training camp that we’re tired and it’s hard and we know he gets it, but at the same time, he’s going to push us. And when a guy that knows it is still pushing you, you kind of trust that a bit more.”

Trust goes a long way with Campbell. His trust in Goff is what helped revive a career many thought was dead on arrival in Detroit.



His confidence shattered following the trade, it was the little things Campbell said and did, and his coaching staff that reinforced their belief that Goff was no bridge. They supported him publicly and privately, every step of the way. The last two seasons, Goff threw for north of 9,000 yards and nearly 60 touchdowns. And this offseason, he signed a $212 million contract.


“I think the number one thing that I think about with him is his emotional intelligence,” Goff said of Campbell. “How well he can read the room and know people — and that’s maybe characteristic number one of being a leader and why he is so good at that. But he knows when to push, when to pull, when to tell you he needs a little bit more from you, when to love you up. He’s got such a great feel for all that, which is why he’s so special.”

Trust is why star offensive coordinator Ben Johnson remains in Detroit — longer than most believed. And while Campbell is a coach who wants his assistants to get every possible opportunity they desire, Johnson is in no rush, in large part because of his boss.


On the flight home to Detroit following the Lions’ crushing playoff loss to the San Francisco 49ers in January, Johnson’s mind returned to the early years. More specifically, an analogy made by Campbell. The Lions were “taking their medicine,” early on in 2022. They were competitive in games, but not enough to avoid a 1-6 start. In a team meeting, Campbell told his players and coaches they were in the Arctic. Weathering a storm. Hitting icebergs. “The dark days,” Johnson calls it.

He also told them things would be different if they stuck with him. The Lions would go on to win eight of their final 10 games that season. They haven’t lost two in a row since.


“He had the foresight, he had the vision of where we were going and where we were heading,” Johnson recalled in May. “He assured us, ‘Guys, I see it. I see where we are going. The results haven’t been there yet, but the Caribbean is on the horizon. It’s coming up.’”

Fast forward to Jan. 29, 2024. Mind racing, set to interview with a Washington Commanders’ brass flying into Detroit in 24 hours, that lasting memory is what caused Johnson to pause his potential future. It resonated with Johnson — once at a crossroads in his career. His future wasn’t always as clear-cut as it is now. When Johnson joined the Lions’ staff as an offensive quality control coach under Matt Patricia in 2019, he agreed to do so for an annual salary of $40,000. When Patricia was fired, Johnson, too, could’ve been out of a job, wondering what was next.



But Campbell’s first move was retaining Johnson — a coach he’d known from their time together with the Dolphins. They worked to re-invent Detroit’s offense in the second half of the 2021 season. Campbell promoted Johnson to offensive coordinator the following year when he was still relatively unknown. Along the way, Campbell deferred praise to Johnson — despite his fingerprints and influences contributing to Detroit’s offensive success — and has openly supported his OC when opportunities to lead his own franchise would arise.

Johnson’s been given many in recent years. But as he determined on that plane ride home, none like the one he has now.


“I’m sitting on the plane, I’m thinking back to that,” Johnson said. “Just the story of my career has been living in that Arctic for a lot of it. That was the second time I had been to the playoffs, the first time I had experienced winning games in the playoffs. I think when it boils down to it, I wanted the sunshine a little bit longer. That’s really what it comes down to for me. I liked the sunshine.”


As much as trust has elevated this Lions’ franchise, it often doubles as fuel for Campbell’s biggest critics.

Since taking over in 2021, the Detroit Lions lead the NFL in go-for-it rate at 31.9 percent, per TruMedia. It’s well above the league average of 19.8 percent. Campbell’s aggressiveness has led to a league-leading 37.8 expected points added for the Lions in that span — regular season and playoffs. If you’ve watched Campbell’s Lions over the years, you know that this offense often calls for a play that’s only designed to pick up five yards on third-and-8 near midfield. It’s because they’re setting up the inevitable fourth-and-short attempt. Rather than staying on schedule, they’re staying ahead of it.


There are, of course, situations that warrant a closer look. In the NFC Championship Game this past January, the Lions failed to convert a pair of crucial fourth-down attempts. Each time, Campbell had a choice between a field goal or keeping his offense on the field. He chose the latter. Detroit would go on to lose by 3.


Given the nickname “Dan Gamble” whenever these conversions aren’t picked up, Campbell doesn’t see it that way. Neither do his players.

Prior to the NFC Championship Game, Detroit’s offense had converted 17-of-20 attempts on fourth-and-3 or less in plus territory last season — a conversion rate of 85 percent. Detroit’s kicker at the time, Michael Badgley, was 4-of-11 in his career on outdoor kicks from 46-49 yards out — the range of the two would-be field goal attempts, had the Lions sent him out.

continued...

[whatever_gong82]

Campbell had faith in an offensive line, a quarterback and an offense viewed as one of the best in the league to convert, like they had so often before. The plays were there to be made. The trust was there. It was part of their identity, and he wasn’t going to sacrifice it.

About a week after the game, Lions linebacker and captain Alex Anzalone penned a letter to Detroit via The Player’s Tribune. In it, he discussed the fallout from the loss, the pain of losing and where his mind was at.


“If you have been following this team’s journey for the last three years, then you know how we play football,” Anzalone wrote. “You know the mentality that got us here. It was the right decision — and I’m not talking about the right decision for analytics or talk radio or whatever. It was the right call for us, especially in that moment. I feel like if you shy away from your identity in that moment, then you’re betraying the very thing that got you there.


“When the chips are down, Detroit is always going to bet on Detroit.”


This, at its core, is the environment Campbell’s built in this city. And these Lions believe they’re just getting started.


After the success of last season, Campbell’s become a larger-than-life figure. In more ways than one.

In the town of Webberville, Mich. — located roughly 70 miles west of Detroit — a massive image of Campbell’s face, surrounded by a lion’s mane, appeared on a corn maze at Choice Farm Market back in July. An odd sight, but par for the course in the state these days.

This offseason, after some reluctance and a nudge from his wife and daughter, Campbell agreed to participate in a series of Applebee’s commercials. In them, he plays into the caricature many believed him to be when he first arrived in Detroit. Some of them debuted this week on social media. Campbell returned from practice Tuesday afternoon to a flood of text messages. He thought a relative died. Instead, after a quick parse through the messages, he noticed a common theme — friends and family putting in their order for boneless wings via text, after seeing his comedic acting chops.

“Unfortunately,” Campbell said of the commercials, “There’s more to come.”

Commercials and corn mazes were never part of the plan, but they do come with the territory. Campbell’s made a winner out of a loser. He has the Detroit Lions positioned where they’ve rarely been ahead of a season — a trendy pick to win it all.

As the face of a franchise that’s new to meaningful expectations, Campbell hasn’t shied away from them.


“I don’t see bust,” he said, when asked if this was a Super Bowl-or-bust season. “I see Super Bowl.”

Those words come not from a place of arrogance, but one of confidence. He believes this because his Lions have become everything he said they would on Jan. 20, 2021. They’re physical. They don’t go down without a fight. They’ve taken on the identity of the city they reside in. And now, they’re contenders.


There’s a time and a place for everything. Campbell knows this. It’s why he prefers to keep those receipts tucked away, until the moment he and his team have earned the right to revisit them. Until then, it’s all business, ahead of arguably the most anticipated season in franchise history.


Campbell often brushes off the perception that’s out there of him. He is who he is, after all, and it’s gotten him this far in life.

But this version of Campbell we’re seeing now — a few years into this, with proof of concept by his side — is the fully realized coach those who really know him always felt he could become.


And the coach that Campbell himself set out to be.

“If you knew Dan, you knew it would eventually happen,” Williams said. “I know a lot of people want immediate results, but sometimes when you’re building, you’re building from the ground up, and that takes time. Some people know him from commercials or just hearing about what he is. It’s funny, you hear all these stories and it’s like, ‘OK, I (actually) know the guy.’ You knew it was only a matter of time before he was going to get his imprint on this football team and build it, and now, here we are.”


(Top photo: Ed Mulholland / Getty Images)


Colton Pouncy is a staff writer for The Athletic covering the Detroit Lions. He previously covered Michigan State football and basketball for the company, and covered sports for The Tennessean in Nashville prior to joining The Athletic. Follow Colton on Twitter @colton_pouncy

[Forsh]

Kick off from the 25 ... touchbacks go to the 25 ... done

[whatever_gong82]

Developmental déjà vu: Lions QB Hooker finds confidence with experience, same as he did at Tennessee

Sorry about being a day late. I had to work most of yesterday, so I'm posting this and the other article as well, before the Rams game. whatever_gong82.

Justin Rogers
Sep 7

Hendon Hooker throwing football on the road '24 pre-season.jpg

Allen Park — By the time he was a fifth-year senior at the University of Tennessee, quarterback Hendon Hooker was teeming with swagger and playing with rarified confidence.

His attitude and performance were the result of years of hard work and accumulated experience. He never quite put things together through his first three seasons at Virginia Tech — where his production was good, not great — but he hit his stride quickly with the Vols, securing the starting job in early October his first year on campus.


He ended up completing 68.8% of his throws for 6,080 yards, 58 touchdowns and just five interceptions in 24 games, before a torn ACL prematurely ended his 2022 campaign.

That’s the guy the Lions thought they were getting — at a discount because of the injury — when they selected Hooker in the third round of the 2023 draft. But with a required retooling of his mechanics, the reality is they were getting a player closer to the Virginia Tech version than what Hooker had been at Tennessee. A reboot of the developmental cycle necessitated a rediscovery of the confidence that made him a Heisman front-runner prior to the knee injury.


That’s a process that requires patience, but Hooker is well on his way in his second NFL season. After essentially redshirting as a rookie while completing a year-long rehab process, he battled through an inconsistent offseason, shined in the preseason, and catapulted past Nate Sudfeld in the competition to serve as Detroit’s backup QB entering the 2024 season.

Reassessing his offseason, from the low of dislocating a finger on his throwing hand during OTAs, to a 12-for-15 performance in Kansas City and orchestrating a 14-point comeback with his dual-threat abilities against Pittsburgh in the final two preseason games, Hooker saw personal growth in one area above all others.


“I think it was my confidence that grew the most,” Hooker said. “Just settling in, getting more accustomed to learning the playbook, getting into a rhythm of consistently having a plan when I get to the line.

"And just having fun," he continued. "I was putting too much pressure on myself at one point trying to be perfect. I had to realize I'm still learning. Heck, today I'm still learning. It's about gradually getting better every day.”


The last time Hooker played football, he was running on all cylinders, posting video-game-like numbers at Tennessee. So his practice field struggles with accuracy and timing brought understandable frustration. He had to relearn to stop being so hard on himself and once again embrace the developmental process that led him to collegiate success.

The coaching staff, led by offensive coordinator Ben Johnson, pushed Hooker hard. They overloaded his plate from the start of the offseason program to test him mentality, on top of the aforementioned mechanical adjustments to his footwork.


Grounded by a strong football IQ, everyone in the building feels reasonably good with where he's at mentally entering the season. He wouldn't be the No. 2 quarterback on the depth chart if they didn't. As for the mechanics, they’re coming along, even if it's a little more slowly.

“I'm still working on it,” Hooker said. “It's definitely not an overnight thing. I'm just working on getting quicker and more efficient with my footwork and matching it with my thought process. The feet say a lot about your thought process. As long as I'm ahead of schedule with processing, my feet should match it.”


Hooker is thankful he landed in this environment. As long as starting QB Jared Goff is healthy, there’s no pressure to start. And Hooker’s teammates, the coaching staff and general manager Brad Holmes have been supportive through each step of the process.

“He’s already proven that he can go through that (development), and so I think he’s really taken the same kind of steps that he’s always taken but obviously you see the ability and the talent he has,” Holmes said last week.


The support network in the building is the reason Hooker was able to let go of his frustrations and get back to having fun in recent weeks. And it’s why he’s poised to get back to the level of confidence he had entering the league.

“It's like wine, the longer you age it, the better it gets,” Hooker said. “It's trying to continue to get better every day. That's my thought process. Every day, come in, let's improve on something. Have two things, three things that I want to work on that day, that week and hone in on them.”



Email: jrogers@detroitfootball.net

X: Justin_Rogers

[whatever_gong82]

Lions add two DTs to Week 1 roster options, hinting at delayed debut for DJ Reader

Justin Rogers
Sep 7


Chris Smith of the Detroit Lions.jpg


Allen Park — DJ Reader had an impressive week of practice — his first since being activated off the physically unable to perform list — but despite being listed as questionable for Sunday’s season opener, the Detroit Lions’ roster additions on Saturday point to the 335-pound defensive tackle needing at least one more week before making his debut.

The Lions announced the addition of two defensive tackles to their game-day options for Sunday, filling a vacant roster spot by signing Chris Smith off the practice squad, while also temporarily elevating veteran Kyle Peko from the unit.


Smith is a Detroit native who played for Cranbrook Kingswood before attending Harvard. The 6-foot-1, 315-pounder finished his college career at Notre Dame before signing with the Lions as an undrafted free agent last year and spending a good chunk of his rookie season on the team’s practice squad.


Smith played extensively in the preseason, logging 90 defensive snaps across the three contests, while drawing some praise from coach Dan Campbell last month.


“There will be things on tape that you don’t see,” Campbell said. “He’s tying up guys, he does dirty work, and he does exactly what he’s coached, and he does it over and over and over again. There’s something to be said for that position doing, for example, what he does, but he falls through the cracks if you’re just watching the game.”

Peko’s promotion was the more anticipated move. The veteran joined the Lions this offseason having previous experience playing for defensive line coach Terrell Williams. Peko spent the last couple weeks of training camp filling and thriving in Reader’s spot with the first-team defense.


Assuming Reader isn’t cleared for Sunday, it wouldn’t be surprising to see Peko get the start and draw a significant workload. Before raising hopes regarding Reader’s availability late in the week, Campbell previously said the team had been targeting a Week 2 debut for the free-agent addition.

In addition to the interior linemen, the Lions used their remaining practice squad elevation on a wide receiver, but probably not one people anticipated. Instead of going with one of the three big-bodied options from the unit — Donovan Peoples-Jones, Tim Patrick or Allen Robinson — the Lions will turn to Tom Kennedy to round out the depth chart against the Los Angeles Rams.


Kennedy has spent his entire professional career in Detroit, bouncing between the practice squad and main roster since 2019.

In total, he’s appeared in 20 regular season games, including 19 between 2021-22, tallying 14 catches for 195 yards. More than anything, he brings reliability with his deep understanding of the play book. He can also handle punt returns if the Lions see fit to give Kalif Raymond an expanded role on offense.


Email: jrogers@detroitfootball.net

X: Justin_Rogers

[El Axe]

Wow, not a whole lot of NFL DTs who attended Cranbrook-Kingswood and Harvard

[ghandi]

They're going to need to tweak the kickoff to change that equation Fipp pointed out. Maybe make touchbacks go to the 35.

I was thinking a better solution is move the kicker back to the 20 or 15 so that they cant kick it out of the end zone (well not as often anyway)...and get rid of the short of the 20 yard line rule.

[whatever_gong82]

What we learned from Rams-Lions: Detroit wins in OT with room to grow, Jameson Williams shines and more

Paywall report from The Athletic.

By Colton Pouncy and Lukas Weese
46m ago


David Montgomery celebrating win vs Rams_9-8-2024.jpg


The Detroit Lions started their season as a Super Bowl contender in thrilling fashion with a gutsy 26-20 overtime victory against the Los Angeles Rams on Sunday night in a rematch of last season’s NFC Wild Card Game.

After the Lions went up 17-3, the Rams scored 17 unanswered points to take a 20-17 lead despite dealing with injuries to wide receiver Puka Nacua and several starting offensive linemen. With 17 seconds left, the Lions tied the game at 20 when Jake Bates kicked a 32-yard field goal. David Montgomery, who had 17 carries and 91 yards, capped off an eight-play, 70-yard drive in the first possession of overtime with a one-yard rushing touchdown, giving Detroit the win.


“We’re hard to break and we did what we had to do,” Lions coach Dan Campbell said after the game on his team’s performance.

Here are a few takeaways from the season’s wild opening “Sunday Night Football” game.

Lions win while not playing their best

This was far from a clean game for the Lions. Tackling was sloppy. There were dropped interceptions, poor angles to the ball, too many open looks allowing the Rams into Detroit territory throughout the night. On offense, things were stagnant for a stretch. Before a game-tying field goal, the offense had just seven points in the second half. This will all need to be corrected, especially when you consider the Rams were down some key pieces. But that’s what good teams do — they find ways to win games without their best stuff. When the lights came on, the defense got the stop it needed and the offense scored 10 unanswered to win the game.

Overtime was straight bully-ball, with the offensive line coming alive to pave the way for Montgomery. His game winner from a yard out put the nail in the coffin. There’s plenty of room to grow after a game like this, and plenty to review for the coaching staff. But at least tonight, the Lions will happily take the victory. — Colton Pouncy, Lions beat writer


A stellar Jameson Williams performance

Jameson Williams was the bright spot in this one. His play kept the Lions in this one until others stepped up. How many times could you say that in the past? This was different. Williams has been different, dating back to the spring. He finished the night with five receptions for 121 yards and a touchdown, and picked up an additional 13 yards on the ground — 134 yards of offense total. If he can keep this up, the offense will be just fine. His speed adds a new element to an already strong offense. — Pouncy

[whatever_gong82]

Locker room buzz on Montgomery's heroics, Williams matching hype, Branch's struggles and Arnold's DPIs

Justin Rogers
Sep 9


Detroit — After getting David Montgomery’s perspective, the Detroit Lions running back’s overtime heroics in Sunday’s season opener might have been fueled by a desire to go home more than anything else.


“I’ll be honest, I hate overtime,” Montgomery said. “You know what I’m saying — because it’s a late game. I want to see my son. "

Listen, David, we absolutely feel you. Many fans are going to be sluggish at work Monday morning. And, as you’ll be able to ascertain by the publish time on this post, primetime games are the worst for reporters.


On the bright side, at least this one was at home and you didn’t have a redeye flight to catch.

Driven to get home to his son Sunday night, Montgomery carried the ball five times for 45 yards in the extra period, capping the impressive series with a relatively easy 1-yard touchdown after breaking tackles and pushing piles his other four touches.


It was an appropriate capper to a week after Montgomery was the topic of conversation Friday, when position coach Scottie Montgomery detailed how the veteran sets the tone, not just among the running backs, but across the roster.

The phrase “built different” is a played-out cliche, but Lions coach Dan Campbell explained after the game how they don’t make many players like Montgomery.


“Look, I said it after we ran the conditioning test, …the day before we started our first practice and he was, he just, man, you talk about a guy who was in outstanding shape,” Campbell said. “Look, all of our guys were, but this guy just looked, I mean he looked like he didn’t break a sweat for this thing. And then the first few days of practice he doesn’t look fatigued. And so he’s in unbelievable shape, he’s worked extremely hard, and he’s just reliable.”

That partially explains why Montgomery seems to get stronger as games progress, but the other part of that equation is teammate Jahmyr Gibbs’ keeping his backfield mate fresh.


“We’ve got a good thing going here with me and Jah, going back and forth, saving each other’s energy,” Montgomery said. “We’re going to need both of us throughout the whole, entire year in order for us to go on a run.”

One thing is certain, none of Montgomery's teammates were surprised by his strong finish. Last week, linebacker Alex Anzalone noted how he was sick of having to tackle Montgomery in practice.


And in the locker room after the game, rookie cornerback Terrion Arnold reminded everyone of the video that floated around this offseason of Montgomery deadlifting more than 700 pounds.

“You just know that's a freight train coming through,” Arnold said. “He just pounded the ball down the field, but I wasn't surprised.”


Everyone, but Arnold OK with penalties

Arnold had a quality debut that suffered from two defensive pass interference penalties in the end zone. Physicality was part of the first-round draft pick’s scouting report coming out of Alabama, but as many young cornerbacks quickly learn — the NFL is less tolerant of downfield contact than the college game.

Campbell said he understood why the flags were thrown, while simultaneously calling the infractions ticky-tacky. But there was nothing from the initial viewing of the replays that bothered the coach about the way the rookie handled himself in those moments.


“I wasn’t too concerned,” Campbell said. “…I didn’t feel like it was some blatant, like, ‘Oh he’s out of position',’ or I need to talk to him about it. I don’t want to take away his stinger. I want him to play aggressive, and I thought he did some really good things today. Certainly, this was not too big for him. He stepped up.”

Carlton Davis, the team's other starting cornerback, also has a physical playing style. He said striking the right balance was something he had to learn during the early stages of his career.


Arnold, meanwhile, didn’t make excuses and said he wasn’t surprised by the way he was officiated. Instead, he laid out an improvement plan.

“I just feel like I could have been better with my hands, just looking back for the ball,” Arnold said. “Those are plays I've got to look up, take the risk of looking at the ball and make those plays.”


Besides Campbell, someone else who was impressed by Arnold’s performance was Rams receiver Cooper Kupp.

“After the game, coming up to him, he's like, 'Yeah, man, you're one of them ones,’” Arnold shared. “It was a great game, great matchup going against him. I liked it.”


Asked what it meant to get that kind of feedback from one of the better receivers in the league, the ultra-confident Arnold shrugged it off.

“I mean I know I'm one of them ones,” Arnold said. “I know I'm a great player. I go out there and play with confidence and it's just a testament to my hard work, but also a testament to our pass rush. They do a really good job getting back there, affecting the quarterback.”


Spiritual source of Bates’ calm under pressure

Big moments have a way of finding Lions kicker Jake Bates in his debuts. With the Michigan Panthers this spring, he was asked to hit a 64-yard game-winner. His ability to come through in that moment helped pave his path to this NFL opportunity.


With the Lions, he didn’t face those kinds of distance demands, but needing to make a 32-yarder to send the game into overtime likely carried just as much if not more stress, given the magnitude multiplier of it being a primetime matchup in the NFL.

But one of the things the Lions love about their young kicker is his calmness in all situations. Bates explained the mentality.


“I think you always try to be the same guy,” Bates said. “I think how you do anything is how you do everything. I think I'm pretty consistent, low-maintenance, calm, a little bit quiet. That's kind of how I was then, that's how I am now and how I continue to be.”

To achieve that consistent mindset with every kick, he has a process to center his mind before taking the field.


“When it gets to third down and I'm on the sidelines, I recite Hebrews 12:1,” Bates said. “‘Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.’

“That's just something I tell myself to calm myself down to know it doesn't matter how many people are watching or what the situation is, just go out and run the race that the Lord has put me on and do that to the best of my ability,” Bates said.


Has he ever been in front of a cloud of witnesses this big?

“Yeah, there was a lot of people.”


Living up to the hype

No two Lions players got more nice things written about them this offseason than Jameson Williams and Levi Onwuzurike. Both made sure not to let down the fans who blindly bought in.

The third-year receiver set a personal best with 121 receiving yards, nearly doubling his previous career-high. The performance was highlighted by a 52-yard touchdown, while Onwuzurike racked up QB pressures and contributed on a sack in the first half.


“It’s awesome,” quarterback Jared Goff said about Williams’ performance. “That little double-move we had, kind of getting ready all week, he kind of smoked them on it and I laid it out there for him. (He) made a great catch and (we had a) couple of big plays from him all night. He did a great job.”

The overwhelming sentiment with Williams is everyone was just happy to see his hard work paying off.


“It means a lot, you know,” Williams said. “I put in a lot work, not just this year. It’s been continuous work ever since I got in the league, and it’s just time to show (it). It’s first game, it’s just the start though. We got 16 more in the regular season, playoffs, we got a lot more ball to play, so it’s just a start.”

As for Onwuzurike, who regularly declined media interviews during training camp to focus on getting ready for the season, it was another meaningful hurdle cleared after three frustrating years of being limited, one way or another, by a back injury.


And now that he doesn’t have to worry about the back, he can put all his attention into getting better and building off this outing.

“Man, I feel good, but I want to play better in the run,” Onwuzurike said. “That's how things are when you win. You have to look at what you didn't do as good as you wanted, so you can get better. That's the realm I'm in. Yeah, I had pressures, I had the sack, but moving forward, I want to be better in the other parts of the game.”


Branch explains first game mistakes

Brian Branch was one of Detroit’s better defensive players as a rookie, starting with a pick-six in his debut in 2023, but he battled a slew of uncharacteristic mistakes on Sunday, including multiple missed tackles and a dropped interception.


After spending much of this offseason rehabbing from surgery, and not getting a chance to knock off the last remnants of rust in the preseason, Branch admitted his emotions got the best of him against the Rams.

“It was just me being antsy and getting the jitters out,” Branch said.


The missed tackles, you can live with those in a win, but even with the victory, it’s a little more difficult to stomach a dropped pick. Those opportunities are far fewer and further between.

“I’ll be kicking myself all night,” Branch said. ‘I don't know I dropped that to be honest, but I know it's going to come again, so I ain't worried.”


Quote of the night

“I just give them a lot of credit. They did, they fought now, but we’re hard to break. We did what we had to do.” — Campbell (of course)


Email: jrogers@detroitfootball.net

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