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Five things to watch as Lions face Broncos

The Lions, absolutely decimated by injury, are out to break their seven-game losing streak at Denver today. It will be a tough assignment.

The Broncos (5-9) have won two of their last three, while the Lions’ roster features 16 players on injured reserve including Matthew Stafford, Jarrad Davis and Marvin Jones Jr.

It’s not anywhere close to the lineup that started the season, but it gives the younger, inexperienced players a chance to prove their worth.

Still, the Lions are out to win just like every week.

Running back Kerryon Johnson will return from injured reserve. Will be interesting to see how effective he can be along with Bo Scarbrough who is expected to return from his rib injury.

With Bob Quinn and Matt Patricia getting the vote of confidence for another season, it’s a different scenario than in recent weeks when there was speculation that the duo could be shipped out due to the mounting losses. 

Five things to watch:

1. David Blough will get his fourth start with the absences of Matthew Stafford and Jeff Driskel. In the first three, the rookie quarterback threw for three touchdowns and five interceptions. Last week in the loss to the Bucs, he threw two picks (one returned for a touchdown) and no touchdowns.

2. Wide receiver Danny Amendola appears to be the go-to receiver for David Blough. He needs 49 receiving yards in these final two games to surpass his season best of 689 (in 2010 with St. Louis). Amendola, who is not used to losing so many games, still gives it his all. “I think it’s pretty easy to see Danny on the football field on game day, how tough, how hard he plays. He just continually works all 60-minutes of the game. He is definitely one of those guys that maybe – he’s not necessarily sure when his number is going to be called or when the ball is going to come his way, but he’s going to run everything like it’s going to be his way every time,’’ Patricia said. “Certainly, he does a lot of dirty work in the run game too. He’ll go in there, and he’ll throw his body around and try to make some really difficult blocks in both the run and the pass game if we’re asking him to do that stuff. I think that’s just the mentality that you love to have as a coach.’’

3. With Davis out, more is on the plate of rookie linebacker Jahlani Tavai. “His confidence in knowing what the calls are, knowing what the responsibilities are, getting that communicated to the rest of the defense, handling the adjustments and the changes,’’ Patricia said. “It’s certainly, through playing the course of a season, that kind of experience that goes along with that. I think he’s handled that really well. The biggest thing for me with him is just, he’s been consistent since Day 1.’’

4. Detroit’s defensive secondary, ranked 10th in the NFL, goes against the Broncos’ 30th best offense. Too bad “on paper” doesn’t count. Quarterback Drew Lock, who has started the last three games, completed just 45 percent of his passes last week against the Chiefs’ defense. “I think he’s a guy that has a little bit of a chip on his shoulder. He’s a competitive guy, which you love,’’ Patricia said. “I think he feels that he’s out there every single snap trying to prove something. I think he’s fearless in his play. He’ll really put the ball up and trust his guys to go make some plays for him, and he’ll throw his body around. From that aspect of it, you can see that, kind of maybe a little bit of that juice, that fire that he brings to that offense right now.”

5. It’s not so much the Xs and Os for the coaches, it’s finding a way to keep the Lions motivated when nothing is on the line — even Patricia’s job. “There is just a younger age bracket of guys that are playing in the NFL. Certainly, there are the highs and the lows that they can get trapped into, and understand they’re certainly more, I would say, accessible or aware of maybe the things that are going on outside of our world. Sometimes that stuff affects them, and I try to do the best I can to just keep it consistent, keep the message consistent, keep our environment consistent, so that there is some sort of just constant that they can always rely upon,’’ Patricia said.

PREDICTION: Broncos 31, Lions 17. 

Lions Darius Slay on Pro Bowl, contract situation, Matt Patricia and more

ALLEN PARK — Darius Slay said it doesn’t get old being named to the Pro Bowl, even for the third time.

“I told my kids the other day we were going to DisneyWorld,  free too, we love that,’’ the Detroit Lions cornerback said on Wednesday.

Slay appreciates that he wasn’t in the top 10 of fan voting, but the players and coaches know his value so they put him over the top.

“Coaches watch film enough, players do as well. I appreciate the respect they gave me because I go out there and work hard. I compete at a high level,” Slay said.

Five more thoughts from Slay:

1. Slay, whose contract expires after the 2020 season, was much more open to talking about the Pro Bowl than his contract situation. He sat out the offseason workouts last spring aiming to get a new deal from the Lions without any results. Will he sit out again? It’s up to him and his agent but he didn’t have an answer ready. One thing is for certain, when he signs a new contract — no matter which team it’s with — Slay has his eye on a Rolls-Royce truck. He joked he might even have a driver bring him to practice on the first day. When asked what three-time Pro Bowl corners make, Slay had a short answer: “Hoo-hoo-hoo!”

2. Slay didn’t have much to say about the announcement on Tuesday that Matt Patricia will be back next season. “II thought it was already automatic,’’ Slay said. He added that the players don’t worry or talk about it. “Not really that’s their personal business. I just play. He could be up and gone, I could be up and gone.’’

3. The expectations from ownership next season are that the Lions are a playoff contender. Slay said he thought that was the goal of every team. “Some of us have been here with Patricia for two years going on three, we’ve got a better understanding of him as a coach and his program that’s basically where we’re at,’’ Slay said.

4. The cornerback said the key to improving is finishing and he puts that on the players not the coaches. “We’ve been in there every game, fourth quarter get in there, don’t finish. Definitely on the defensive end we have to finish,’’ Slay said. “Coaches doing a good job putting us in the predicaments at practice, we’ve just got to execute as players. I’m mean we’re out there. They tell us the play, obviously it’s mostly on us, it’s a team effort. As a player and me personally I take it to the chest, I feel like it’s out on the field, so we’re the ones who could fix it.’’

5. Slay was wearing a chain with a pendant photo of his grandmother. “My baby, my heart and she raised me. Yes, it’s so nice, it’s my angel,’’ Slay said.

Lions’ Matt Patricia forges on; focuses on final 2 games not his future in Detroit

ALLEN PARK — Matt Patricia is focused on the Lions’ final two games this season more than his immediate future.

With the Lions at 3-10-1, there is no guarantee the coach will return for a third season.

“For me, one of the things that you realize pretty quick when you get in the game of football – college, NFL, it doesn’t really matter what it is – coaching is a tough profession. Playing is a tough profession. It’s a mindset that you probably just develop early on,’’ Patricia said on Monday following the 38-17 loss to the Bucs on Sunday.

“When I was in other places and worked at other places, part of the thing that just makes me, me, is that I go into work every single day trying to earn my job that day. I would go in and make sure that my key card worked, and I was in the building and I was OK,’’ he added.

Patricia, who often spends the night at the Lions facility, even showed a little sense of humor in his reply.

“It’s most of the reason why I don’t leave the building because they’re going to have to throw me out, like I’ve said before,’’ Patricia said. “From that aspect of it, that’s all you can control is just your effort that day and your drive that day to be better as a player, as a coach, as a team, and that’s all I really worry about.”

He was seen talking at length on the sideline prior to Sunday’s game to owner Martha Firestone Ford and her daughter Sheila Ford Hemp but he never discloses the content of their discussions. If he knows his future with the team, he is not saying.

 “I just expect to be here every day until they tell me not to. Hopefully, that’ll be a long time,’’ Patricia said.

The Lions went 6-10 in his first season and have fallen on hard times this season. They’ve been hit with a ton of injuries. When they placed Kenny Wiggins and Mike Daniels on injured reserve on Monday they joined a dozen other teammates in that classification.

Despite seven straight losses, Patricia always emphasizes that the team continues to fight. The toughness and competitive spirit of the players is a foundation for building a perennial winner.

 “I think that’s where you need to start, and I would say that’s where we’re at right now,’’ Patricia said. “We obviously need to add some pieces, and we need to get better, and we need to improve, and hopefully stay a little bit more healthy than where we’re at right now. I think those things will build on top of each other from there.”

The Lions play at the Denver Broncos (5-9) on Sunday and then wrap up the season against the Green Bay Packers (11-3) at Ford Field on Sunday, Dec. 29.