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Originally posted by Dan V
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I do miss him calling the preseason games. His leadership and passion was on display. He had some of the Dan Cambell gusto. Glad the lions let him lead the franchise.
AAL - Glover Quinn -
Was just thinking about this this week. Amazing!Comment
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Reinforcements on the way for Detroit Lions as Paschal, Moseley and Melifonwu return to practice
Allen Park — After being diagnosed and treated for malignant melanoma in 2018, Detroit Lions Josh Paschal continues to have annual screenings to ensure there’s no reoccurrence of the disease.
During a recent checkup, doctors at Henry Ford discovered a small mass on Paschal’s shoulder, which needed to be removed and tested.
“It was definitely challenging, just because, of course, you know what you went through before,” Paschal admitted.
The relief is the mass was benign, but the procedure still managed to sideline Paschal two weeks, right when he was playing some of the best football of his young career.
"I was hoping just to be out for a week, but it wasn't something you could really bounce back from in a week, so it just took two,” Paschal said. “…It was definitely frustrating, especially with past injuries and stuff. And this wasn't something I could prevent, of course with it not being a physical, football-type injury. It was difficult, but I'm glad to be back now and I'm ready to get after this week in practice and set myself up for a big game on Sunday.”
Paschal had averaged 49 defensive snaps in the three games before the shoulder mass temporarily put him on the shelf. But he’s expected to be back for Sunday's primetime game against the Houston Texans.
Paschal wasn’t the only Lions player to return to practice this week. He was joined by two teammates who have been out a bit longer, cornerback Emmanuel Moseley and safety Ifeatu Melifonwu.
Both players remain on injured reserve but had their three-week acclimation clocks started this week. They are eligible to return as soon as the team’s staff determines they’re physically ready. It’s unlikely either play against Houston. The team’s Thanksgiving matchup against Chicago on Nov. 5 or the following week’s home game against Green Bay are more realistic targets.
Mosely has been out since August with a torn pec. Melifonwu, meanwhile, has been sidelined all year by a slow-healing ankle injury that eventually landed him on injured reserve ahead of the team's Week 4 game against Seattle.
Moseley and Melifonwu join Brodric Martin on the path to return from injured reserve. The second-year defensive tackle is slightly ahead of his teammates, entering the second week of his acclimation window.
That trio would represent the first three of eight alloted returns from injured reserve during the regular season. That number resets and is unlimited during the postseason, a procedural change that was approved this offseason after it was proposed by the Lions.
Other Lions eligible to return from injured reserve this season are defensive ends John Cominsky, Marcus Davenport and Aidan Hutchinson, defensive tackle Kyle Peko and linebacker Derrick Barnes.
A source familiar with Cominsky’s recovery said the current expectation is the lineman could be ready by the postseason. The team has also hinted Hutchinson could achieve an accelerated timetable that would allow him to play in the Super Bowl, if the Lions advance to the game for the first time in franchise history.
There’s been no indication Davenport, Peko or Barnes will be able to return at any point this season.
Email: jrogers@detroitfootball.net
"I hope to see the Lions in the Super Bowl before I die"
My friend Ken LComment
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"I hope to see the Lions in the Super Bowl before I die"
My friend Ken LComment
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Nice breakdown of Smith. All-22 guy likes him. Knows him well from his time with the Ravens.
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Pressers and scrums: Lions give Smith a post-trade break, Branch apologizes, and Williams talks lessons learned
Allen Park — The man of the hour wasn’t even in the building Wednesday.
Continuing the team’s cultural emphasis of putting person in front of player, the Detroit Lions excused veteran defensive end Za’Darius Smith from the first two days of practice this week after he was acquired by the team in a trade on Tuesday.
Smith, who has already appeared in nine games and logged 327 defensive snaps this season, had been set for his bye week in Cleveland this upcoming weekend.
“I thought that was important,” Lions coach Dan Campbell said. “He’s been in this league a while and they were actually just going on their bye week when he got the call from us and everything got done. So, let him do what he needs to do, refresh, get back here Friday.”
Campbell said the team will determine whether Smith will play on Sunday based on what he shows during Friday’s practice.
Whether Smith does take the field against Houston, Campbell is thrilled the Lions were able to land an edge rusher of that caliber. He noted general manager Brad Holmes made multiple calls and found very few teams willing to discuss shipping over talent at that position.
“I can’t tell you the number of calls and inquiries that there are, and the bottom line is, it’s hard to find a pass rusher, especially in the season,” Campbell said. “Most teams aren’t going to give them up, they don’t care what you say, which is smart.”
The conversations to deal for Smith started shortly after Aidan Hutchinson was lost for the season, giving Campbell plenty of time to learn more about the veteran defender, both through his tape and in conversations with those who have been around him. It confirmed how strongly the coach feels about the fit.
“We’ve got enough people that speak highly of him that I know — players and coaches — and they all say the same thing about him: Team guy, hard worker, tough, loves the game,” Campbell said. “And then you watch the film, and it backs it up. So, I can’t imagine that all of those guys would lie to me.”
Campbell, who spoke to Smith after the trade went through Tuesday afternoon, said the defender is “fired up” to join the Lions. And his new teammates are similarly thrilled to be getting some much-needed reinforcements.
Josh Paschal has actually known Smith for a while. Both played collegiately at Kentucky. They didn’t overlap, but Paschal’s older brother TraVaughn Paschal was teammates with Smith at the school.
“Za'Darius has been in the league for a while, so just everything from how he takes care of his body to how he rushes the passer, how he plays the run, tendencies, I'm just going to be picking his brain as soon as he gets here,” Paschal said.
Taking missteps head on
Lions safety Brian Branch took accountability for his back-to-back 15-yard penalties against the Packers, including the helmet-to-helmet hit that earned him an ejection for the contest.
After reviewing the play, Branch said the officials on the field made the right decision to flag him, repeating a point of emphasis made by Campbell and position coach Jim O’Neil this week that Branch needs to be better about lowering the target of his hits.
“I most definitely agree with the call,” Branch said. “I feel like my target was obviously high, but that was never my intention, to aim for the head. But moving forward, I do have to move my target down.”
Branch was arguably more apologetic for his actions after his ejection, when he gave the Lambeau crowd the double bird as he exited the field, earning an additional infraction for unsportsmanlike conduct.
“That’s not something — like I don’t want to show - ( I don’t want) people to notice me as that,” Branch sheepishly said. “I feel like that was just a heat of the moment for me. I apologize to everyone that seen that. That won’t happen again.”
Branch will inevitably draw his second fine this season for a helmet-to-helmet hit. I asked O’Neil if Branch not only has to lower his target, but also do a better job of keeping his head up to avoid those hits, which don’t just draw flags and fines, but can cause injury to the opponent and self.
"I think he's a very aggressive player,” O’Neil said. “I think we are a very aggressive defense. I think that he plays exactly how we want our guys to play. …I think both of those were situations where the receiver was tracking the ball and at the last second, at full speed, the target changed.
“His target was sternum, and then when the ball carrier or the receiver drops, that sternum now becomes higher up in the head or neck area,” O’Neil continued. “I think that that's part of the game. There were probably four or five hits very similar to it just this past week. I do think the defensive players have done a great job over the past few years taking those kinds of hits out of the game. I don't think anybody is going in there trying to go helmet-to-helmet because everybody understands the consequences."
Fighting upstream about perceptions
Jameson Williams, for better or worse, was less contrite in his first comments since being reinstated from his two-game suspension.
"What have I learned? Just to be smarter, I guess,” Williams said. “Be a bigger person in certain situations and things like that.”
Williams said multiple times that nothing that’s happened will change him.
“I'm good, you know?” he said. “It was just two weeks. I've been suspended before. I don't really look at that as like a good thing or something to brag about, but I had to miss time before. I have always been the same person. It don't change me. Never will change me.”
Williams declined to elaborate on both what caused his two-game ban for violating the league’s performance-enhancing substance policy and an early October incident where he was nearly arrested for failing to properly transport his registered gun in a vehicle without a concealed carry permit.
What he makes abundantly clear is he feels incapable of changing people’s perceptions of him.
"I don't really want to address those types of things,” Williams said. “I figure people already have their own types of views and stuff like that. I'm just going to stay away from talking about those things.
“…"I wouldn't really say I have a message (to fans),” Williams said. “People view me how they view me. I'm my own person and things like that. I wouldn't say I have a message."
Williams acknowledged how much he has appreciated the support of his coaches and teammates these past few weeks.
Campbell, who has been one of Williams’ biggest public supporters, believes the young receiver has learned more than he’s letting on.
“I think any time you don’t get to play this game I think you’ll always reflect and it just helps you to look at it — different vantage point, because it hurts, it hurts not to play,” Campbell said. “And when you don’t have anybody to blame but yourself, it makes you look at yourself a little bit harder.
“He’ll be fine,” Campbell said. “I really believe that, and I do believe he’ll learn from it.”
Respecting their process
Have you ever been in a fantasy league draft where another manager keeps drafting your targets? That’s the first thought that popped into my mind when I asked Campbell about the similarities between the Lions and the Texans.
“They’ve got a lot of young talent that they hit on, and it’s funny because most of those players over there are all players that we really were high on, too,” Campbell said. “When you see that, and you see some of these players, you’re like, ‘Man, that was a good one. That was a good pick they got there.’
“Then you see how hard they play and the type of football players they are, and so I do think there’re a lot of similarities,” Campbell said. “There again, I think they’ve drafted well, I think (coach) DeMeco (Ryans)’s done a hell of a job going in there, and just the style of play that they have.”
Campbell described that style of player to open his press conference, and not surprisingly, it sounds quite a bit like Detroit.
“They play hard, they’re physical, they’re violent, aggressive, finish on the ball, they’ve got explosiveness on offense, defense, special teams,” Campbell said.
Jaw-dropping play
By now, most football fans have seen Saquon Barkley’s crazy spin move into a backward hurdle of a defender, but I wanted to hear what Lions running backs coach Scottie Montgomery thought of the ultra-athletic play.
“Amazing,” Montgomery said. “I’ve never seen anything like it. Yeah, I’ve never seen anything like that. It almost looked like it could have been A.I. or something else, but I know that it wasn’t.
“I’ve always loved Saquon,” Montgomery continued. “His offseason workouts are crazy. I don’t know if you guys have seen some of the weight that he can move. But it didn’t surprise me that he can jump, what, 60, 70 inches straight up in the air, keep his balance, turn around"? Amazing play. I’m glad that he had that happen for him. Definitely would have been hard for me not to turn into a fan on the sideline if I saw it.”
Appreciated praise
New York Jets and former Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers had some lofty praise for Lions counterpart Jared Goff during a recent appearance on the “Pat McAfee Show.”
"Well, first of all, I love Jared,” Rodgers said. “He's definitely a guy I've pulled for. He was written off, for sure. He was definitely written off. When the trade happened with Matthew (Stafford) — I love Matthew, too, he’s one of my favorite players to watch — the sentiment wasn’t, ‘Oh, just trading places for these guys.’ It was, ‘Oh, the Lions gave up a franchise quarterback for Jared Goff.’ That’s was the sentiment was."
"What he’s done is nothing less than sensational,” Rodgers continued. “It’s hard to complete passes at that rate. I can’t remember what the stat was, but it was a ridiculous stat, where you’re like, ‘How is this possible?’ Over five or six games and only like 24 incompletions or something like that. That’s wild. It’s wild. It’s bananas. Give credit to his coordinator for sure, but please give credit to this man. This is not easy."
Rodgers and Goff are forever linked, having both played for Cal before entering the NFL. Still, it’s meaningful to receive that kind of praise from a peer, particularly one who is Hall of Fame bound.
“Yeah, it’s cool,” Goff said. “I appreciate it. Aaron’s a guy that I grew up watching and grew up a big fan of and any time guys like that who know what they’re looking at say good things, it’s awesome.”
To be fair, good luck finding anyone saying anything bad about Goff these days. The reigning Offensive Player of the Month in the NFC, he’s putting together a statistical stretch never before seen at his position.
Instead of having to drown out the negativity from previous years, Goff is doing his best to block out all the praise being thrown lobbed his direction.
“People are going to keep telling us how good we are now and then if something were to go wrong, they tell us how bad we are," Goff said. "So, it’s how it goes and just try to keep doing the work, put your head down and go in a hole.”
Injury report and roster moves
The Lions conducted a walkthrough on Wednesday, meaning the participation report was an estimation. The only players projected to be impacted by injury were linebackers Jalen Reeves-Maybin (neck) and Malcolm Rodriguez (ankle). Both would have been held out.
Additionally, as part of some shuffling at the bottom of the roster, the team re-added defensive tackle Chris Smith and linebacker Abraham Beauplan to the practice squad, while also bringing on a newcomer to the unit, linebacker Ezekiel Turner.
A converted safety, Turner played six seasons with the Arizona Cardinals, appearing in 80 games for the franchise as a top special teams contributor.
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"I hope to see the Lions in the Super Bowl before I die"
My friend Ken LComment
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Pride of Detroit Direct
I was in the upper bowl of the Pontiac Silverdome on Monday, October 8th, 2001, when I felt more hopeless and helpless as a sports fan than ever before or since.
Just a few weeks after the terrorist attacks of September 11th, the 0-2 Lions were hosting the mighty St. Louis Rams on Monday Night Football. As exciting as it was to see the Lions host a prime-time game, the vibes were decidedly off. Not only were we being queued through metal detectors—not normal at the time!—the Rams had won the Super Bowl two years before, and were about to return, while the Lions’ Ty Detmer had just thrown an NFL-record seven interceptions in the Lions’ only game since the attacks.
An early Lions sack had forced a Rams three-and-out, setting up the illusion that the game might be close. But in the second quarter, future Lions cornerback Dré Bly ended Detroit’s only threatening drive with a 93-yard pick-six—making the score 21-0, and the game effectively over.
On the Rams’ next possession, quarterback Kurt Warner completed a pass to tailback Marshall Faulk, and my buddy nudged me.
“Has he thrown an incomplete pass?”
I was shocked to realize he might not have.
Warner had, in fact, thrown a couple incompletions, and was about to throw two more—but he’d finish the first half 16-of-20, and the game 29-of-37. Three touchdowns, to three different receivers, and no picks. Faulk would end up with 151 yards from scrimmage on 24 touches. Even on Detroit’s turf, they were still the Greatest Show on Turf.
My buddy and I would go on to watch the fourth quarter from abandoned 50-yard-line lower-bowl seats, and the Rams would go on to win 35-0. It was such complete domination, such an effortless outclassing, that it felt foolish to have thought the team we paid to cheer on ever had a chance.
I imagine many Green Bay Packers fans felt like this past Sunday, when Jared Goff and the Lions made it clear that while they’re technically competing for the top of the same division, they’re in two different leagues.
Like those Rams, these Lions are stacked on the offensive line, and loaded with skill-position talent. Like those Rams, this offense is drawn up by the hottest offensive mind in the game (Mike Martz then, Ben Johnson now). And, perhaps most importantly, Goff is playing much like Warner did: effective, efficient, and seemingly inevitable.
But, like Warner, some people are wondering how well Goff’s really playing —and how much of Detroit’s success is due to him.
Even while Warner shredded the Lions to bits in front of my eyes, I doubted him: Wouldn’t plenty of other quarterbacks do well in that offense? Trent Green, the player Warner supplanted in the 1999 preseason, tore it up before that injury, and again in 2000, in eight games as Warner’s backup. So, broadly, did Warner’s post-Green backup and eventual replacement, Marc Bulger.
Back at the time, I’d have killed to have a stat like Ben Baldwin’s Adjusted EPA per Play–taking a quarterback’s EPA and adjusting for “pass protection, receiver drops, dropped interceptions, luck on interceptable passes, fumble recoveries, and interception returns, given credit for expected yards after the catch only, and accounting for defenses faced.” Isolating just how much of the offense is due to the quarterback dropping dimes would have been great to know.
And since Goff has had good protection, decent turnover luck, and receivers who are good at and great after catching the ball, it’s not that surprising that those adjustments cut his production in half, plummeting him fourth in EPA/DB to 22nd. When Baldwin blends EPA/DB with PFF passing grades, Goff drops to 24th—right between Daniel Jones (!) and Matthew Stafford (!!).
What if we made the same adjustments to Warner’s 2001 numbers? It’s tough to say, because neither we nor Baldwin have the data. According to nflelo, Warner posted 0.20 raw EPA per dropback in 2001–which, as with almost every single passing rate and counting stat, was the best in the league that year. Goff, so far, is right behind him at 0.19.
As much as it pains me to invoke era adjustments from the first Lions game I paid my own way to see, passing offenses are much more effective now than then. Warner’s 2001 season would rank fourth among NFL qualifiers in EPA/DB today, and other common rate stats are just as, if not more, apples-to-oranges.
NFL passer rating ranks Goff No. 2 among qualifiers with 115.6; Warner’s league-best rating of 101.4 from 2001 would rank just 11th today. Goff is fourth in Adjusted Net Yards Per Attempt with 7.9; Warner’s 7.4 would rank sixth. Goff’s matching Warner’s 2001 touchdown rate of 6.6 percent, and his 1.9 interception rate would have been second-lowest in the league that year—but Goff’s touchdown rate is only fourth so far this year, while Warner’s 2001 interception rate would rank between Jordan Love and Bryce Young at 33rd.
And there, maybe, is the fulcrum point. For all the superior talent and schematic wizardry, the Greatest Show on Turf was still ultimately about Kurt Warner testing defenses with his arm, winning more often than anyone else, but making mistakes more often than most. And with defense and special teams nearly as good, the Rams’ occasional risk-it loss was more than worth the biscuits they gained—no wonder Warner worked so well with Bruce Arians later in his career.
Meanwhile, as I wrote here last week, Goff has been excellent while blitzed, elite on throws of 10 air yards or less, and deadly on play action. When going short, he’s second in passer rating, third in yards per attempt, first in completion rate, first in completion rate over expected and second in EPA/DB. He leads the league in yards off play-action, and is somewhere between fourth and first in all those rate stats, as well.
And guess what? Detroit’s called more play-action passes than anyone else, and gained the most yards, the most YAC, and second-most YACOE off of play action of any team in the league.
Back in 2000, I thought about how many other quarterbacks would succeed sitting behind that line, dumping off to Faulk, and knowing at least one of Bruce, Holt, or Az-Zahir Hakim would be open on almost every play. And surely, many other great quarterbacks would love to be dropped into the Lions’ offense.
But the offense is built around Goff. It’s designed, not just with scheme but personnel, to maximize his elite traits and minimize his less-elite traits. To keep him comfortable and give him time to pick a secondary apart. Not every quarterback is equally good at those same things.
Look at the QBs who top the adjusted EPA table: Jayden Daniels, Joe Burrow, Brock Purdy, Derek Carr, and Lamar Jackson. How many could truly trade spots and perform as well? And rate qualifiers currently hide Tua Tagovailoa, who’s posted a 0.21 raw EPA/DB, right between Goff and Josh Allen for fourth-best.
NFL-watchers who’ve long dismissed Tagovailoa as a limited and streaky triggerman were shocked to see how the Miami Dolphins offense fell apart this year without him. It turns out that when your receivers, blocking, and run game were built from the ground up to take advantage of one quarterback’s elite quick-throw accuracy, you can’t lose that foundation.
And for as much as my young–and, ahem, not-young–analyst brain loves trying to isolate individual performance, we’re entering an age of football where doing so isn’t just harder to do, it’s less relevant.
Every NFL-watcher loves watching Justin Herbert grip it and rip it; he ranks fifth in PFF’s eye-test-based passing grades. Every NFL-watcher would love to see Herbert blessed with the situation Goff’s got—but Herbert’s short-throw completion rate is 71.5 percent (25th), compared to Goff’s 83.8 (1st). Herbert’s 11th in CPOE on short throws; Goff is No. 1. Herbert’s 22nd in EPA/DB on short throws, Goff again is No. 2.
Herbert, in a vacuum, is a better passer than Goff. He’s certainly more capable of generating offense by himself, regardless of supporting cast. But if Detroit had to replace Goff right now, and could wave a magic want to do it, they’d be better off putting in Tagovailoa, Jackson, Baker Mayfield, or Kirk Cousins than Herbert.
Maybe on Earth 2, where Green never got hurt, he still would have led those Rams to crush the Lions that night. And they’d still have won 10 of their 12 remaining regular-season games, finished with the No. 1 scoring offense, and won another NFC championship. Maybe Green would have gone on to win the MVP that year, and eventually joined Faulk, receiver Isaac Bruce, left tackle Orlando Pace, and cornerback Aeneas Williams (and maybe others, like receiver Torry Holt, someday) in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
But Warner actually did all those things, and won those high honors–not least of which because, like Green, he went on to have multiple Pro Bowl seasons with a completely different team. And right now, Jared Goff is the keystone of the NFL’s No. 1 scoring offense, which was custom-built precisely for him. And the Lions are the best team in the NFL, just as balanced and diverse and talent-packed and well-coached as those Rams were.
Regardless of how much you think Goff’s the reason for that, or how much better some other quarterback might be in the same situation, he’s the one doing the damn thing. And he deserves credit for it.
"I hope to see the Lions in the Super Bowl before I die"
My friend Ken LComment
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Interesting article and well-reasoned.
PFF doesn't like Goff, for whatever reason. No surprise that using them puts Goff towards the bottom of the league.And since Goff has had good protection, decent turnover luck, and receivers who are good at and great after catching the ball, it’s not that surprising that those adjustments cut his production in half, plummeting him fourth in EPA/DB to 22nd. When Baldwin blends EPA/DB with PFF passing grades, Goff drops to 24th—right between Daniel Jones (!) and Matthew Stafford (!!).
Most people who don't like Goff as a player come to that conclusion because they over-rate the importance of scrambling. Don't get me wrong, if Goff could scramble well, it would help him as a QB, but if other scrambling QBs could make better pre-snap adjustments, reads and deliver the ball like Goff, they would also be better.
One advantage I had as a coach (in another sport) was that I would recognize that the ability to read and anticipate a play was more important than the ability to react after you had made a poor read. Basically, the brain is faster than the legs. When I had conversations with other coaches, we might watch 2 players and the other coach would gush about how player A was so much better scrambling for a play than the other -- while I would see that player B wasn't scrambling because they better anticipated the play and put themselves in better position in the first place.
Honestly, it's a huge difference between winning and losing. The players who make the game easier for themselves by thinking the game better will more consistently have success. There is probably no position in all of sports where that will make a bigger impact than NFL starting QB.Comment
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Dollars to doughnuts - Kyle will be missed!Originally posted by whatever_gong82 View Post
He endured a lot of bad football and kept it light and honest. Happy for him and his cat. (hopefully it has some lives left?)
thank you Kyle! He left his mark on mlive articles and I appreciated them.
Enjoy Germany 🇩🇪
AAL - Glover QuinnComment
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His lower PFF grades this year has a lot to do with his fumbles. He has been fortunate to recover them, but in their grading system it is a big negative.Originally posted by El Axe View PostComment
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"Your division isn't going through Green Bay it's going through Detroit for the next five years" - Rex RyanComment
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Coordinator recap: Lions reaping rewards for offseason focus, team likes Smith's inside out potential
By Justin Rogers
Detroit Football Network
Allen Park — In 2023, the Detroit Lions were one of the NFL’s worst with dropped passes. According to STATS, LLC., the team put 35 catchable throws on the ground, 5.8% of the team’s targets. Both total and rate ranked bottom-five in the league.
This year, the Lions have made a complete turnaround in that area. Through eight games, they’ve dropped just four passes. Only the Eagles have been better. I asked offensive coordinator Ben Johnson if there was anything specific that led to the change.
“(We) highlighted that in the springtime, made it known to each position group,” Johnson said. “They were all at fault — receivers, quarterback, for ball placement at times, tight ends, running backs. It was really everybody. And so, we’ve made it a big emphasis, and so far, we’ve seen some results from it.”
Detroit’s focus was particularly impressive against Green Bay last Sunday, when wind and rain added to the challenge.
“That particular game, I was kind of coming out in pregame expecting to see us struggle a little bit more, but they, between wearing the right shoes, not slipping, focusing on the football, securing it after we caught it, I mean, I thought they did a phenomenal job.”
Have your fun
During the broadcast of Sunday’s game between the Lions and Packers, Fox cameras repeatedly showed defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn, who was soaking wet with rain droplets covering his glasses.
Still shots of the scene have become the source of memes and Glenn said he’s seen them all.
“Listen, this thing is really getting out of hand,” Glenn said. “I am not a social media person, I’m not, but I have three kids and they’re grown and my wife of 28 years — and let me say this first off, she told me I was so much better up here last time because I smiled, so I want to make sure she sees this.
“Man, for all the memes or whatnot that people have been sending me about that — and I had no idea, I really didn’t — ,an, I was just locked in trying to call the best game I can, knowing that was a quality opponent,” Glenn continued. “The best one I’ve seen was the one that (Amon-Ra St. Brown) Saint put together where he had his Green Bay shirt on or whatnot and he put my face on his. But this thing is getting out of hand.”
I had a few minutes between press conferences Thursday, so I added a Glenn meme to the mix.
Gunner popping
According to the DVOA metric, which attempts to establish down-to-down value of a unit, the Lions have the best special teams group in football. That's hardly a surprise with Jack Fox on pace to set a new NFL record for net punting, Jake Bates a perfect 12-for-12 on field goals tries, and both the punt and kickoff return units ranking first.
Like everything in football, success is a measure of all 11 players on the field operating jointly, but I asked coordinator Dave Fipp if anyone from his groups deserved attention for their under-the-radar contributions this season.
“I don’t know if I would say a higher level than I expected, but I think (cornerback Kindle) Vildor has done a really good job for us as one of our gunners,” Fipp said. “Everyone focuses on (Khalil) Dorsey, and he gets a lot of attention. Because of that, Dorsey gets the double teams, and then if you can (effectively) single the other (gunner), well, then, it’s a tough day for you in coverage. But Vildor’s been able to show up for us on the backside when he’s got the one-on-ones and really helps us out.”
Vildor has played 117 snaps on special teams this season and will likely set a new career-high workload this week against Houston, topping the 123 he logged for Chicago in 2021.
One play at a time
Quarterback Jared Goff has competed 82.8% of his throws over the past six games, registering a passer rating of 140.1 during that stretch. Many in the building, including Goff, have tried to downplay the remarkable success, but not Johnson.
Johnson applied Goff’s play-by-play consistency to a lesson he learned from a coaching mentor, former University of North Carolina offensive coordinator John Shoop.
“I still remember him when I was a quarterback at Carolina, he said, ‘Man I don’t know if you guys can go 18-18, but I know you can go one-for-one 18 times.’” Johnson recalled. “It feels like that’s what’s going on with Jared and (Amon-Ra) St. Brown right now, their connection in particular. Just Jared, as a whole, each play is its own play and he knows where to go with the football, he’s putting it in a good spot for our guys to not only catch it but, also, run after the catch.
“I think he’ll tell you, he’s just playing disciplined football and distributing on out,” Johnson said. “For me as a play-caller, it just makes me want to call more and more passes right now. The issue has been, we just haven’t gotten many plays. The last five games we’re only averaging like 58 plays a game right now, and normally we’re over 70, so we’re not able to get to all of our good stuff at the moment.”
It’s interesting to hear Johnson highlight his desire to call more passes, given the team’s success on the ground has been one of the primary culprits for the reduced snaps per contest.
That said, it’s tough to complain when you’re leading the NFL in scoring.
Homecoming on deck
This week is a homecoming for Glenn, who was born and raised near Houston, later playing at Nimitz High School in the city.
Additionally, Glenn signed with the Texans as a free agent in the first year of the franchise’s existence, playing three years for the team and earning a Pro Bowl appearance in 2002.
That stint from his playing days has always carried special meaning for the coach.
“Listen, I was leaving the Jets that I had an eight-year run with, and, listen, that was tough to leave that place because I really enjoyed playing there,” Glenn said. “But I really looked forward to going home and playing in my hometown, to be able to play in front of my family and friends.
“I really took that as an opportunity to, ‘Man, how can I put my stamp on this team,’ knowing it was a new franchise,” Glenn said. “I wanted to do everything I could to lead by example, and I thought I did that because I know that me and (defensive lineman) Gary Walker were like the first two guys to make a Pro Bowl from an expansion team. I was really proud of that because I felt like I did exactly what I wanted to do, put my stamp on (things), so guys could actually follow and understand what we’re trying to do to be a really good team. The record wasn’t what we wanted, but I thought, defensively, we did a pretty good job.”
Next man up
The Lions are relatively healthy, but the team faces the prospect of being down two of its top special teams performers with linebackers Jalen Reeves-Maybin (neck) and Malcolm Rodriguez (ankle) sidelined by injury the first couple of days of practice this week.
I asked Fipp about the challenge of being down two of the unit's leaders and the coach made it clear it’s up to the depth to step up if needed.
“I think the biggest thing is if you have a bunch of good players then everybody can kind of share the load a little bit,” Fipp said. “It’s an opportunity for somebody to come up and play, last week (Loren) Strickland came up. We played (James) Houston a little bit more, (Pat) O’Connor a little bit more, so some other players maybe play a little bit more. (Shane) Zylstra, obviously, is playing more for us than he was.
“We’ve had a lot of depth on the roster, and these guys have been here, so even if they haven’t been playing, they’ve been practicing and doing a lot of things that we ask them to do on game day now. So it’s not like they’ve never done any of it.”
Not just an edge threat
Trade acquisition Za’Darius Smith will join the team on Friday, and his status for Sunday’s game will be determined after that. Glenn said the decision will ultimately be coach Dan Campbell's to make.
Whether it’s this week or next that Smith makes his debut, Glenn said he’s excited by the ability to line up across the front.
“The first thing that everybody sees with this player is the edge presence that he has,” Glenn said. “He’s tough, he’s been doing it for a long time, he’s tough in the run game, he can set an edge, which we really look forward to seeing him do. But then he has a knack for really going inside and being able to capture an edge on third down against guards. Listen, (Aidan Hutchinson) Hutch can do that, but Z, and the body type he has, man, he’s really good at doing that.
“…The more that we look at him and see what he likes as a player, we’re going to use him in those situations.”
Email: jrogers@detroitfootball.net
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"I hope to see the Lions in the Super Bowl before I die"
My friend Ken LComment
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"I hope to see the Lions in the Super Bowl before I die"
My friend Ken LComment
-
"I hope to see the Lions in the Super Bowl before I die"
My friend Ken LComment
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