Lions Lowdown

ALLEN PARK >> New defensive coordinator Paul Pasqualoni is itching to get to work in his first training camp with the Detroit Lions.

He has gotten to know the players through OTAs and minicamp, but when training camp starts on Friday it all gets real.

“I want to see tough, I want to see smart and I want to see really well-conditioned guys,’’ Pasqualoni said on Thursday. “What do I mean by tough? Tough is working at a very, very high dependable level on a very consistent basis regardless of what we’re doing — meeting, lifting weights, practice, watching film — every single day. To me that’s tough. Smart from a defensive standpoint – no penalties, knowing what to do, knowing situational football. … So that smart thing is really really important. And condition is condition being able to play hard every single snap, not having to take less effort because you’re so tired you can’t go hard.’’

Players report Thursday and hit the field on Friday morning.

Five thoughts from Pasqualoni on the eve of camp:

1. For him, the scheme is not the most crucial element to a successful defense. He started his career as an elementary school teacher and worked his way up through the coaching ranks. He’s still a teacher at heart and that’s what excites him. He loves developing players and helping them be the best at what they do. “I think there’s a lot of ways to climb a mountain, a lot of ways to skin a cat. I don’t think the scheme is always the most important thing,’’ Pasqualoni said. “I think it’s the attitude and the improvement of the guys who have to do all these things.’’

2. While defensive end Ziggy Ansah starts camp on the physically unable to perform list, Pasqualoni is not concerned that he will miss much about the new scheme. “I look at all injured players the same, there is no reason the attention and the passion to prepare in the meetings and mentally in practice is not at a very high level, the same level,’’ the defensive coordinator said. “So the approach with an injured player is you don’t miss a rep, you do not miss a rep. Regardless of whether you can do the walk-through, can do the practice, you can always, always mentally get the rep. When you’re a pro and at this level of football that is your job, you’re responsible for the information.’’ Of course, he didn’t offer any details on Ansah’s health.

3. He’s taking a wait-and-see approach while he gets a better idea of what kind of unit he has. “I’m going to find out about what I like about our depth on our defense. I’m not prepared right now to be prepared to say we have depth or we don’t have depth,’’ Pasqualoni said. “We have to get going, start working our way through preseason camp – practice hard, work hard let the cream rise to the top.’’

4. He also would not talk about certain players. He was specifically asked about linebacker Jarrad Davis whose growth from a rookie to Year 2 could be critical to the success of this defense. “Again I’m going to say this I think we have a lot of terrific guys on this team. Preseason camp is a different time. I’ve been in this long enough to know that this is a grind. I want to see how each and every player on this team reacts to this next phase of the program which is preseason camp,’’ Pasqualoni said. “I’m going to reserve my comments until we’re into it.’’

5. He’s known Matt Patricia since he opened the door for Patricia as an offensive grad assistant at Syracuse where Pasqualoni was the head coach in 2001-2003. “Obviously I always knew Matt was high-energy very bright guy. Always knew that. He is extremely well organized. The details regardless of what we’re doing whether it’s meetings or practice, or offseason program or conditioning or taking care of the players, hydration, nutrition, he really does an outstanding job. You know the guy but until you work with him there’s no way of knowing that. I think he’s very very well organized a very detailed guy,’’ Pasqualoni said.

When Detroit Lions training camp gets underway on Friday, the shape of this team will start to reveal itself more than in the off-season workouts.

All eyes will be on first-year head coach Matt Patricia. It’s a big task that he is expected to handle well.

Just like every NFL team, there are plenty of questions at several key positions for the Lions.

Here are five battles to watch:

1. The offensive line, which is so crucial to the run game, is not set in concrete. Taylor Decker at left tackle, Rick Wagner at right tackle and T.J. Lang at right guard are givens as long as they are healthy. According to the snaps during minicamp and OTAs, it appears Graham Glasgow has the edge at center replacing Travis Swanson who was not re-signed. Glasgow started all 16 games last year either at center or guard. Look for rookie Frank Ragnow to get the shot at starting left guard. He’ll have to prove himself. If he doesn’t it’s a huge indictment of Bob Quinn’s first-round draft pick. He played 15 games at left guard at Arkansas but the past two seasons at center. When he was drafted the door was left open that he may be moved back to guard. Joe Dahl is highly respected but he has only a dozen games of NFL experience over the last two seasons. He’d be a solid choice to be a Sunday backup at center and guard but veteran Kenny Wiggins might have something to say about that. The Sunday tackle backup role will likely be a choice between Brian Mihalik, Corey Robinson and Dan Skipper.

2. It’s really tough to judge running backs in training camp due to lack of hitting except on days when they wear full pads. We’ll get a glimpse into how Jim Bob Cooter ranks his running backs by the number of reps each gets. During minicamp and OTAs, rookie Kerryon Johnson looked solid and got plenty of touches along with veteran LeGarrette Blount who is coming off the Super Bowl champion Eagles. Don’t expect Cooter to name one starting back. He’s typically gone with running back by committee and that’s should continue depending on who is doing well and also on the opposing defense each week. Will Ameer Abdullah be on the 53-man roster come September? Good question. It seems unlikely they would keep him around just as a return specialist and not sure there is a role for him. Would not be surprising if he was traded. The versatile Theo Riddick is a lock. Zach Zenner and Dwayne Washington will be battling to stay on the roster. I’d give the edge there to Zenner, but that is not a popular sentiment.

3. The defensive line must be a bit more nimble moving from 4-3 to 3-4 packages during games. That’s the expectation. It’s not one or the other, it’s both. Ziggy Ansah should be motivated to get a new contract after signing as the franchise player. If he’s healthy, watch out. If he’s not, it could be another disappointing season for the big guy and the line as a whole. Anthony Zettel, A’Shawn Robinson should play key roles along with Kerry Hyder who is coming back from a torn Achilles which sidelined him for the entire 2017 season. In 2016 he led the Lions with eight sacks. Can he get back to that form? We will get an idea during camp, but more likely we’ll see what he has in the preseason games. Da’Shawn Hand, a rookie tackle out of Alabama, has a chip on his shoulder after getting drafted in the fourth round. Shoulder chips are a good thing, typically providing even more motivation. It’s tough to get a total handle on the line because of the new defensive coordinator, along with Patricia and a different defensive scheme. There’s a good mix of young guys and veterans like end Cornelius Washington, end Cam Johnson and tackle Sylvester Williams.

4. Linebacker Jarrad Davis is expected to improve in his second season. It’s a natural phenomena that players improve the most from Year One to Year Two. The 2017 first-round pick was thrown in as a starter as a rookie last year and graded out well, for the most part. At times he certainly did look like a rookie but seemed to learn from his mistakes. Now his challenge is to grasp the new scheme. He’s a smart player so there is not much doubt that he will do exactly that. Jalen Reeves-Maybin, another linebacker entering his second season, developed before our eyes during his rookie season, playing in 14 games. Free agent Jonathan Freeny, a former Patriot (2015-16), was signed to bolster this group and add a little veteran leadership. Also Christian Jones and Devon Kennard will be in the mix. Talent does not seem to be an issue for this position group. They key will be finding the right multi-dimensional guys who fit the scheme.

5. Long-time Lions fans know what a relief it is to have a starting quarterback, especially one as talented as Matthew Stafford. The question here is at backup. It caught some off-guard when Quinn signed veteran Matt Cassel as a backup. He looked solid during minicamp and OTAs. Cassel, another former Patriot (2005-2008), was much more accurate than Jake Rudock, the Michigan product who is entering his fourth season with the Lions. Rudock has not thrown one pass in an NFL regular season game while the 36-year-old Cassel has played in 105 games. Remember that part of a backup quarterback’s role is to share what he sees with Stafford on game days. It’s too early to know whether Patricia will keep two or three quarterbacks on the 53-man roster. Much of it depends on depth at other positions.

(More to come on other position groups including wide receiver, tight ends and defensive backs.)

 

ALLEN PARK — All eyes have been on the defense through the offseason, including on Monday, the last day of Detroit Lions’ organized team activities open to the media.

Certainly the offense will undergo some changes (especially in the run game), but it’s the defense that requires the massive overhaul. It’s exactly why a defensive-minded head coach like Matt Patricia was hired.

So far?

Lions cornerback Nevin Lawson (in photo) expects the defense to improve over last year when it was ranked 27th overall, giving up 355.8 yards per game.

“Because I feel like we’re willing to learn, everyday we ask questions, we come in with the mindset to get better, the mindset to finding a way understand the defense more,’’ Lawson said on Monday. “I know it’s something new for u,s but the only way we’re going to get it is by repetition, doing it over and over.’’

Linebacker Jonathan Freeny, who was signed as a free agent, played for Patricia in 2015, 2016 and part of 2017 in New England where Patricia was the defensive coordinator.

“He’s the same guy, brings the same enthusiasm, same intensity to the game.  Every day he’s just trying to get better,’’ Freeny said.

Patricia has gotten to know the players and seems satisfied (so far) with their grasp of his defense. (Note the word, phenomenal.)

“Our guys have come in every single day and really tried to learn and study. This is a great group. These guys care about football, they love the game, they work at it. They really try to do everything we’re asking them to do at a high level. Absolutely, from that standpoint these guys have been phenomenal,’’ Patricia said on Monday. “We have high standards. We’re going to live to those. We’re going to expect them. …’’

After this week’s OTAs, the Lions will have several weeks off before reporting back to training camp around July 26.

When the pads go on in training camp, it will be easier to judge where the defense stands.