ALLEN PARK — During the bye week, Detroit Lions coach Dan Campbell and his staff self-scouted the team which is 6-2 and atop the NFC North heading into the final nine-game stretch.
He boiled it down to three areas that need work on both sides of the ball: turnover-takeaway ratio, red zone and third-quarter production or lack of.
“We still have left so much out there, as good as we’ve played to get six wins, we’ve been able to complement each other, but I would say we’ve not played our best football collectively – offense, defense and special teams,’’ Campbell said on Monday.
So far they have turned the ball over 10 times (5 interceptions, 5 fumbles lost) while also getting 10 takeaways (7 interruptions, 3 fumbles recovered.)
In the Red Zone the Lions’ offense has had a 48.1-percent success rate while the defense has allowed opponents to score 65.4 percent of the time in the Red Zone.
Campbell would like to see a quicker start in the third quarter on both sides.
On special teams he thinks Kalif Raymond can start breaking through on returns.
“We’re one block away, we’re close but we have to start breaking some of these with him in the return game,’’ Campbell said.
Injury update
Coming off the bye week, center Frank Ragnow, running back David Montgomery and left guard Jonah Jackson are trending in the right direction to play on Sunday at the Los Angeles Chargers.
While they have been dealing with injuries that kept them out of games, they were able to participate in Monday’s walk-through.
“All three of those guys moved around today, they were out there. Today was really more priming the pump, getting ready for (Tuesday),’’ Campbell said. “We did some individuals, some group, special teams segment and they were all involved in all three of those.’’
Campbell said Tuesday’s padded practice will be a bigger indication of if they are ready to play.
If Montgomery returns after missing two games, rookie Jaymyr Gibbs will still get his fair share of work, although Campbell doesn’t foresee him getting 65 plays as he did in the win over the Raiders.
“We know what Dave can do but we know Gibbs has gotten better every week so we’re going to ask those guys to do the things they do well to help our offense move the football,’’ Campbell said.
When Montgomery was healthy he was getting the bulk of the carries, while Gibbs was allowed to slowly adjust.
Peoples-Jones gets to work
Wide receiver Donovan People-Jones, who was acquired last week from the Browns, was on the field during Monday’s walk-through but Campbell is taking it slowly with the fourth-year player out of Michigan.
“I think more of it was getting him in here, getting him acclimated with our resources that we have. We’ll get him up to speed with the playbook, make sure he’s good and healthy, then see where he is,’’ Campbell said. “Certainly we acquired him because we think he can help us but I also want to make sure he’s ready mentally and physically. I want to make sure he’s 100 percent ready before we do that. This week will be big for him. … We’ll take it day to day.’’
Jones, who will wear No. 19, had eight receptions for 97 yards in six games with the Browns this season.
UP NEXT: Lions (6-2) at Los Angeles Chargers, 4:05 p.m. on Sunday. The Chargers (3-4) play the N.Y. Jets on Monday night.
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