Lions Lowdown

When the Detroit Lions take the field at Tampa Bay on Friday night for their third preseason game, it will be as close to a regular season game as they will see.

Call it a dress rehearsal or whatever. The starters could play most of the first half.

So far the Lions are 0-2 under new coach Matt Patricia and have been outscored 46-27. Detroit’s defense stands out as the only unit in the NFL that has not sacked an opposing quarterback. Even so, Patricia says he’s worried more about evaluation than statistics at this point.

Five players to watch:

— Defensive tackle A’Shawn Robinson has been quiet the first two games. He was a starter last year for all 16 games but finished with just half a sack. Patricia is not about last year, he’s a more of a what-can-you-do-for-me-now kind of coach. Robinson started the preseason game at the Raiders (playing in 47 percent of the defensive snaps) but Ricky Jean Francois got the start in the second game against the Giants.

— Whoever plays right guard. It’s likely to be Kenny Wiggins (who started against the Giants) or Joe Dahl (who started at the Raiders). T.J. Lang expects to be ready for the regular season opener, but is proceeding cautiously with an unknown injury. If caution is the plan, he will definitely sit rather than match up with the Bucs defensive tackle Gerald McCoy. This is a big game for Wiggins and Dahl. If Lang is not ready to go, or gets injured during the season, Patricia wants to find the guy he would be most comfortable with.

— Linebacker Miles Killebrew has made the switch from safety. Patricia seems to like him, so look for him to get some quality playing time. The coach isn’t worried that Killebrew is too small for linebacker. “Miles plays very strong. This guy is really strong, he’s packed like —he can handle himself down in there from that standpoint,’’ Patricia said. The coach also said he likes how Killebrew plays close to the ball. Killebrew’s special teams play should help him lock down a roster spot, but a good showing in Tampa wouldn’t hurt.

— Running back Dwayne Washington has not played in the first two games. Not sure why he’s still on the roster if they don’t think he has a shot at one of the running back spots on the 53-man roster. Typically preseason games are huge for guys on the bubble like Robinson. Of course, Theo Riddick, Kerryon Johnson and LeGarrette Blount are locks along with Ameer Abdullah who has seen plenty of offseason work. It’s a bit of a mystery how Patricia has dealt out playing time to the running backs. And that’s probably just how the coach likes it.

— Defensive end Ricky Jean Francois was fired up after Friday’s loss at Ford Field. He didn’t think the defense put its best on the field and he was not happy. The 30-year-old Francois, who played with the Patriots last season, could be a great leader on the defensive line. But this week Patricia said he has work to do. Let’s see if he can get that done because the line could really use a veteran leader.

ALLEN PARK >> Lions right guard T.J. Lang has been held out of the first two preseason games and much of training camp.

His injury remains a mystery, but he said his goal is still to play against the N.Y. Jets in the season opener on Sept. 10.

“All I can really say is there’s nothing serious going on, I’m being cautious with the training staff — trainers, doctors — my plan this year right now is to take it day by day, get healthy and do my best to get out there for Week 1 which I think is definitely the goal right now,’’ the 30-year-old Lang said on Wednesday.

Lang, who played in 13 games last season, said earlier this offseason it was the best he had felt in a long time. So obviously it’s a little frustrating for him now.

“Luckily for me I’m in a spot where there aren’t any drastic changes just the point where we are in the preseason and training camp I think it’s more caution than anything,’’ Lang said. “I think if it was regular season right now I”d be out here doing everything.’’

He doesn’t seem too concerned about the chemistry with right tackle Rick Wagner and center Graham Glasgow.

“I’ve played a lot of football with Rick and Graham so I think we do our best to kind of simulate what we do on the field in the meetings and the walk-throughs and things like that,’’ Lang said. “We do a good job of communicating even when I’m out there.’’

Coach Matt Patricia turned the tables when asked if it was harder to judge the chemistry on the offensive line with Lang not participating.

“I would say, actually, it’s a great opportunity for us to get a look at a couple of different situations and put some guys in some different spots. Whenever we have somebody that’s not practicing — it doesn’t matter if it’s the offensive line or the secondary or whatever it is, those are all just opportunities for other guys to have reps and to move some people around. Which, we’re going to have to do in order to play during the season,’’ Patricia said on Tuesday.

“You’re going to have to have guys that can play in different positions. And again, now is the opportunity to get a look at that. We can go out and practice at a high level every single day to compete — you get a better feel for those guys than really trying to wait until something happens Week 6, where now you’re trying to find out if a guy can switch positions,’’ Patricia said.

Lang was signed as a free agent in the spring of 2017 when he was coming off hip surgery. He had missed only nine games in eight seasons with the Green Bay Packers.

The Lions play their third preseason game at the Tampa Bay Bucs at 8 p.m. on Friday.

 

ALLEN PARK — Matt Patricia made it clear that while it said Monday on the calendar it was a Wednesday for him.

The Lions coach has scheduled this week, leading up to Friday’s preseason game at Tampa Bay, as close as he can to a regular season week as far as practices and meetings.

“It feels more like a normal week, kind of get into a routine, it’s a little different you’re still in training camp but not in training camp. You’re looking at it as a regular season game as far as preparation,’’ safety Glover Quin said.

With a new coach, the day-to-day workings will change at the Lions practice facility.

“I think it’s very important to figure out a routine, this is as close as we can simulate Week 1 as we possibly can,’’ wide receiver Golden Tate said. “It’s imperative we figure out our routine, the game plan, how we’re going to study film because it’s something we’re not familiar with.’’

While the Lions are 0-2 in the preseason, there didn’t seem to be a sense of panic in the locker room prior to Monday’s practice.

“It kind of depends on how you look at it, obviously we go out to win every game we don’t put in all this work to lose, so yeah we would like to be 2-0, unfortunately we’re 0-2,’’ Quin said. “A lot of it has been self-inflicted things we know we can do better at and clean up to execute at a high level.’’

The offense has looked better than the defense so far. It’s hard to tell without the starters playing consistently.

The offensive line, which should be improved this season, has not looked all that strong. Left tackle Taylor Decker said as a line they will improve and get better.

“Me as an individual I’ll be just fine I’ll improve and get better. Going into this next week however much we play, we play, and I think it’ll be good for us to grow moving forward,’’ Decker said.

“I think moving forward I’ll be a lot better. I’m comfortable with saying that. Overall I’ll be OK.’’

The Lions starting offense hasn’t been together much on the field. Matthew Stafford played on Friday night in 17 percent of the offensive snaps.

“For me personally, there are some things we need to fix for sure but I’m confident with the personnel we have in here and the coaching staff we have in here that we’re going to get better and get better fast,’’ Tate said. “We have a very high standard, it’s not going to be lowered. We have to dig deep, fix what we need to fix and come out and play. The good news is that it’s a new week.’’

Defensive backs added

The Lions have signed three defensive backs and subtracted one in the last two days.

On Monday they signed free agent cornerback Dexter McDougle, cornerback Sterling Moore and offensive lineman Beau Nunn. They have placed linebacker Steve Longa (torn ACL) on reserve/injured, released vested veteran defensive lineman Cornelius Washington and waived cornerback Antwuan Davis.

On Sunday, they announced the signing of safety Marcus Cromartie.