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ALLEN PARK — Last season, one definite shortcoming of the Detroit Lions defense was in creating turnovers.

So in the offseason the coaches emphasized it, the players worked on it and after four games, it is working.

“It’s a lot of fun. Eleven turnovers in four games, it’s a party at the ball, that’s the way we see it,’’ said weakside linebacker Tahir Whitehead who has one interception and two fumble recoveries.

(Photo courtesy of Detroit Lions)

Coach Jim Caldwell wouldn’t go so far as to say turnovers are contagious.

“Usually the more people that you have around the ball when the ball is loose, the better off your chances are at getting it. If you got guys hustling, tipped balls don’t typically hit the ground in this league,’’ Caldwell said. “If people are moving in the right direction at the right speed, then we should be able to get our fair share of them, things of that nature, but, contagious? No, I’ve certainly never been able to see that kind of virus going around a locker room.”

Next time the Lions create a turnover, take a close look and you’ll see plenty of Honolulu blue swarming the ball.

The Lions are tied with the Baltimore Ravens for most takeaways in the NFL with 11.

They are leading the NFL in the takeaway/giveaway category with a plus-nine. The offense has lost one fumble and Matthew Stafford threw an interception. So they are doing their part too.

Whitehead says it’s a mindset.

“If you don’t talk about it then it’s not going to happen. If you don’t work at it, if you don’t work at forcing a turnover, getting the ball out, if you don’t work at ‘OK how to recover the ball when it’s on the ground and make sure the offense ends up with the ball at the end of the play.’ Then it’s not going to happen. It’s been a topic of conversation this year and it’s ongoing,’’ Whitehead said.

Safety Glover Quin and cornerback Darius Slay each have a pair of interceptions while Whitehead, Miles Killebrew and Tavon Wilson each have one. They also have four fumble recoveries. In 16 games in 2016, the Lions had a total of 10 interceptions and seven fumble recoveries.

“Everybody wants a piece of the pie, they’re like, ‘I’m next in line, it’s my turn,’’’ Whitehead said.

“You definitely get guys that pushing each other, challenging each other to get to that ball. It’s like OK I’m going to get the opportunity this time, and that’s the way the defense, that’s how we’re made that’s how we practice,” Whitehead said.

Exactly.

Caldwell and defensive coordinator Teryl Austin have specific drills and methods to use.

“We have a period of time during the spring where receivers or any ball carrier that’s going back to the huddle running with the ball is free game to try to strip the ball out of their arms, all the way up to them handing it to the manager,’’ Caldwell said. “No. 1, it gets us in the mindset that we’re trying to get it out. No. 2, it makes certain that the guys that have the ball in their hands are concentrating, I mean they could be crossing the line of scrimmage with that ball and there’s a defensive guy that’s trying to knock it out of their arms. Now, we have to put certain restraints on certain guys because there’s certain guys a little bit too strong for their own good, and the quarterbacks are off limits obviously, which I think you would quite understand. But nevertheless, I think that part of it.

“But then also, we had defensively in particular, had set up circuit training, just to work on a little bit of what we’ve been talking about and preaching. And I think the emphasis in itself (is important). There’s an old Bo Schembechler term, I think he used to always say, ‘You achieve what you emphasize.’ And I think in this particular case, we gave it a little bit more emphasis, and hopefully it’ll pay off for us for the entire year,’’ Caldwell added.

In other words, it’s not pure luck. It’s hard work that leads to creating turnovers.

“Bottom line. If we get an interception, it’s because we’re running to the ball. We’re in the right spots. So, I won’t ever qualify any turnover as well it’s something that they did. It’s something we did,’’ Austin said. “So, we’ll keep going until something does change. But I think we got a chance to be a pretty good defense we just got to continue to improve each week.”

 

 

 

ALLEN PARK >> Funny, Darren Fells doesn’t feel like he’s 31 years old.

There’s a good reason for that. The Detroit Lions tight end has only been playing in the NFL since 2013. So his body is not beat up like you might expect from a 31-year-old tight end.

“It’s a lot of fun for me to come in here and try to do things to turn people’s heads that his old man can still do a few things,’’ Fells said on Wednesday.

(Photo courtesy of Detroit Lions)

Fells didn’t play football in high school — instead focusing on basketball. That led to a scholarship in basketball at UC Irvine.

After playing professional basketball from 2008-2012 in Belgium, Finland, France, Mexico and Argentina, he decided to give the NFL a try.

He’s in his first season with the Lions after he spent 2014 through 2016 with the Arizona Cardinals.

“In basketball the biggest beating you take is a lot of jumping on your knees here and there. I wasn’t the most explosive guy so I didn’t take that much beating on my knees,’’ Fells said. “It’s drastically different (than football).’’

Five things to know about Fells:

1. He had his best game with the Lions in the win at the Minnesota Vikings on Sunday when he had four catches that were all first-down conversions. Fans started to notice No. 87.

2. On those catches he started out blocking, then got open for Matthew Stafford to find him. “It’s definitely a huge weapon especially since I’m seen as a blocking tight end first, they’re not going to really respect me in that aspect,’’ Fells said. “It helps me get open a lot more, I don’t have the speed (Eric) Ebron has to get open.’’

3. When the Lions signed him as a free agent they saw more than a blocking tight end in the 6-foot-7 Fells. “That was the first thing they actually said to me is they were surprised I wasn’t doing more as a receiving tight end, especially being 6-7,’’ Fells said. The Lions felt with his basketball background that he could go up for a pass like he did for rebounds.

4. The Lions started working with him in OTAS and training camp testing out different routes. Obviously he passed the test.

5. Stafford has been happy with the play of Fells along with Ebron and rookie tight end Mike Roberts. “ think our guys did a nice job, and you’re going to see it in the pass game and the stats and stuff, but I think they did a really nice job on the run game too. We asked them to block the defensive ends one-on-one a lot of times in the run game and in the pass game, and they did a heck of a job, so hats off to all three of those guys for pulling their weight in the run game, and then getting some big conversions from Fells early, Ebron had a couple nice plays and obviously the one to Mike Roberts was a big one as well,’’ Stafford said.

ALLEN PARK >> While it was nothing on the scale of the Las Vegas Mandalay Bay shooting, Lions wide receiver Golden Tate and his wife, Elise, were left scarred by a shooting in 2012.

It was on Dec, 23, 2012, the night of a big win while Tate played for the Seattle Seahawks.

Elise Tate posted on Instagram after the Las Vegas shooting that it brought back “terrible memories.”

(Photo from Instagram account of Elise Tate)

Golden Tate talked about that night on Wednesday.

“We’d just beaten San Francisco late in the season when we were both powerhouses. We were out at a place a block from my house, Munchbar, where guys on the team would go every Sunday night after we won, hang out and enjoy each other.

“The crowd that day wasn’t a typical crowd. My brother was there, I had probably 7-8 friends there. Elise and I and a couple friends, we were just in a circle kind of hanging out. The next thing we know we heard gunshots that were so close it kind of messed up her hearing permanently, like some sounds.

“It all happened so quick and we all felt so helpless because you hear gunshots, I didn’t see anything. (They were about 20 feet from where  the shooting happened.) Just reaction, I pushed her down, gave her a concussion and was on top of her until the shooting stopped and momentarily we got up and ran to the bathroom where we were in a stall with (Seahawks’ tackle) Breno Giacomini. It was scary because she had cut her foot on glass as her heel came off and we were scattering.

“She had a concussion so she was a little confused. I didn’t know if she got shot or not because I just saw blood, I just saw her bleeding. I was like, ‘Did you just get hit?’ She didn’t. We made it out safe, I think someone ended up dying that night from getting shot.

“We got to the hospital, to make sure she’s OK. They cleaned her all up. Probably one of the hardest things that day was to call her parents at that time of night and calmly let them know your daughter is OK, but this is the situation,’’ Tate said.

One man was killed according to the Seattle Times.

That night has changed them.

“When we go in places, no matter where we are, we try to look at the exits because you don’t have much time for something like that,’’ Tate said. “We find the exits and if we’re out and about we try to hang out within reach of the exits so we can get out of there quick.’’

Tate said Elise, who was his girlfriend that night, wasn’t the same for a while.

“You can’t help to think what if one of those stray bullets — stray bullets don’t have eyes — it just happened. We both felt so helpless. You hear gunshots, you can’t find them. The first thing you’re going to do is drop and pray one of those don’t hit you and if it hits you that it skims your arm,’’ Tate said.

The Vegas shooting brought back images from that night in 2012.

Elise Tate’s Instagram post included these words: “Only a few shots were fired but deadly in the shooting I was in, but in Vegas there was 10 minutes of active rounds. I can’t stop thinking about the pain I went through and multiplying that by thousands for what these people have and are going through.’’