T.J. Lang is a low-key kind of guy which we learned a year ago, his first as the right guard for the Lions.
Takes a lot to get the big guy excited, get back to him in September.
The key difference this year is he is not coming off surgery. A year ago when the Lions signed him as a free agent he was coming off hip surgery.
“Feel pretty good, I do. Obviously this time of year is kind of getting back into shape, getting working with the guys again,’’ the 30-year-old Lang said on Thursday. “Thinking back to last year at this time I was just getting off crutches. I’m way ahead of where I was last year.’’
The Lions are in their second week of offseason workouts with a minicamp set for next week.
Five thoughts from Lang:
1. On coach Matt Patricia: “He’s another guy who comes from a very successful team, has won quite a few championships and knows the way it’s supposed to go. Excited to have him as a coach, I think the biggest thing you get from guys the last couple weeks is he’s always excited every time you talk to him, he’s very passionate about this game. It’s going to be fun to work with him.’’
2. On new offensive line coach Bo Davis: “I think he’s been around this league for a really long time, he’s had a lot of success everywhere he’s been. Right now is the period where we’re just getting to know each other a little bit. We’ll work on that relationship and I’m sure as we move forward in the next couple weeks we’ll get into more football stuff. … I’m excited to work with him.”
3. On improving the run game: “It’s early on in the process. We haven’t really dived into a lot of things from last year. Everything right now is mostly in the weight room and running on the field. I’m sure that’s a step we’ll take soon. It’s no secret everybody in that room, the O-line room wants to be responsible for our part of having a well balanced offense, that requires you to run the ball effectively. That’s probably going to be an emphasis of ours as we move forward into some on-field drills.”
4. On the injuries across the board on the offensive line last season: “At the time it was frustrating. Right now there’s not one guy in the locker room talking about last year. Everybody’s focused, there’s new optimism, new excitement in the locker room. We don’t care about last year any more. It’s well documented what we went through, especially as an offensive line injury-wise and obviously performance. We’re going to try to learn from our mistakes, we’ve got some new guys in the room it’s a totally different team this year so we’re going to have to figure out what we do well and move forward from there.’’
5. On the NFL schedule being released tonight: “For me the only thing I look at, to be honest with you, is the bye week. Hopefully it’s in the middle of the season to split it up a little bit.’’
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