Lions Lowdown

ALLEN PARK — Matt Prater has proven his worth since he joined the Lions early in the 2014 season. The kicker been rewarded with a three-year contract extension worth $11.4 million.

“It kind of happened quick, management came up, wanted to get a deal done and I was excited —  I’m all about staying in Detroit and hopefully retiring here at the end of the day,’’ Prater said on Wednesday.

He said when he first signed the one-year deal he was thinking maybe he could stick around, but it was tough to tell.

Turns out he loves it in Detroit.

“Just everything from top to bottom, from ownership, the Ford Family, Bob Quinn upstairs, Matt Harriss, coach (Jim) Caldwell, the team, fans, everything,’’ Prater said. “There’s no place I’d rather be than in Detroit.”

(Photo courtesy of Detroit Lions)

Obviously, Quinn values special teams players. Punter Sam Martin signed a four-year extension 13 months ago worth $13.6 million. Martin is the holder for Prater’s field goal attempts.

“We have good chemistry together and work well together,’’ Prater said. “I’m excited to be with him for another three years.’’

Martin has been out injured since the start of training camp but is back in the fold this week.

“He’s great I don’t think we’ll miss a beat,’’ Prater said. “He’s working hard and doing really well.’’

Prater, 33, accounts for 45 of the Lions’ 161 points scored through the first six games this season. He’s a perfect 15 of 15 on extra points and 10-of -12 on field goals.

What makes him better than most of the rest is his distance and consistency.

His teammates love what he brings to the team.

“It’s awesome. Every time we touch the ball we want to score a touchdown, but we know we got a pretty good option if we don’t,’’ quarterback Matthew Stafford said. “He’s shown the ability to make all sorts of kicks, in all sorts of environments in all sorts of climates. So, he’s made some big time clutch kicks for us, I think he relishes that moment, which is pretty fun to see. Some kickers maybe don’t, and he’s a gamer and does a great job for us.”

In his 11-year NFL career Prater has made 40 of 51 field goals from 50 yards or longer (78.4 percent) which ranks as the highest in NFL history. His 40 50-yard or more field goals are tied for fourth all-time in NFL history.

In fact, Prater made a dozen straight 50-yard or longer field goals from Jan. 3, 2016, through Sept. 24, 2017. He averaged 54.7 yards per field goal during that stretch.

When he kicked a pair of 55-yard plus field goals in the loss to Atlanta on Sept. 24, he became the second kicker in NFL history to kick 10 field goals of 55 yards or more.

He is first in the NFL to kick four 55-yard plus field goals in a single season. This occurred during the first three games this season. Chances are he could add to that in the next 10 games.

Prater was named the NFC special teams player of the week after the first week of the season.

When punter Kasey Redfern injured his knee early in the win over the Cardinals, Prater then became the punter too which was a first in his career. He had four punts averaging 34.8 yards.

He kicked a 58-yard field goal — his only attempt of the day. It was the longest field goal in team history at home and tied for the second longest ever.

Prater was signed as a free agent on Oct. 7, 2014, after the Lions struggled in the kicking game with Nate Freese and Alex Henery. He had been suspended for four games by the NFL and when he returned the Denver Broncos cut him, opening the door for Detroit.

Oddly enough, Prater was originally signed by the Lions in 2006 as the backup during training camp to Jason Hanson. He was cut before the season started.

ALLEN PARK >> When last we left the Lions, they limped into the bye week with two straight losses and too many injuries.

The players returned to work on Monday after having five days off for the bye week.

They face the Pittsburgh Steelers (5-2), who are coming off wins over the Chiefs and Bengals, on Sunday night at Ford Field.

It’s too early to know how many of the injured Lions (3-3) will be ready to go. The list includes: Matthew Stafford, Golden Tate, T.J. Lang, Rick Wagner, Kenny Golladay, Ziggy Ansah, Dwayne Washington and Paul Worrilow.

Their first practice this week will be on Wednesday with an injury report at 4 p.m., that day.

Here are thoughts from coach Jim Caldwell at Monday’s press conference:

— Obviously the Lions need left tackle Taylor Decker to return and he should be close. His three-week practice window could start this week, although Caldwell would not say. Decker has surgery on his right shoulder in June and started the season on the physically unable to perform list. It could take a week or so of practice for the second-year left tackle to be activated from the PUP list. “It just takes a little time to get their timing back and physical nature of the game, and all of those things that go along with it. It’s a process–best way I could explain it to you,’’ Caldwell said, speaking in generalities. He said the process is different with everyone.

— Caldwell defended defensive end Ziggy Ansah who has four sacks after six games.  “When you look at him, he’s gotten some production for us. Often times you don’t see it stat wise, you guys look for sacks and those kinds of things, we look for disruption and assists,’’ Caldwell said. “He has a lot of that, makes plays for us, he sets the edge for us, he does a lot of things extremely well. But when you talk about overall, the things you guys focus on are strictly numbers in terms of sacks. Let’s see where he is at the end of the year, then let’s talk about it. But I think he’ll be alright.”

— During the bye week, the Lions brought back rookie quarterback Brad Kaaya who they drafted in the sixth round. He’s familiar with the offense because was with the Lions through training camp. He didn’t make the final cut so was placed on waivers and picked up by the Carolina Panthers. They waived him on Oct. 17. So for the first time in the regular season, the Lions have three quarterbacks on the 53-man roster. It could means changes in the daily routine. “We practice in terms of making certain we get Matthew (Stafford) ready for the game. That’s the key. Jake does get some reps, but not necessarily many, and Brad Kaaya will get obviously what’s left in that regard. But obviously, we like him. Obviously, we think he’s a fine player, and has a good potential and we want to continue to work with him,’’ Caldwell said.

— The coaches had some time to breathe during the bye week also. “Just kind of gives you an opportunity to kind of look at yourself a little bit. You got a couple of extra days. You do a little bit more self-scout, those kinds of things,’’ Caldwell said. “But then also you get a chance to get a little ahead on the next opponent as well. So, you get a little extra viewing time in terms of preparation. So, those things all bode well.”

ALLEN PARK — Like any NFL team the Lions would have preferred to go into their bye week riding a high with a win.

Not only did they lose 52-38 on Sunday in New Orleans, it was a game that exposed their shortcomings.

Coach Jim Caldwell doesn’t mind that the players have an extra week to stew about the loss.

“Sometimes festering’s a good thing. So, we try to balance it and it kind of depends on where we are as a team and how we see it and we adjust it in that regard. But there’s nothing wrong with being really determined about making certain you correct your errors,’’ Caldwell said on Monday. “So, it just kind of depends on the week. When you got one right away, you certainly try to get it behind you within a relatively short period of time, and this particular week, it’s not a bad thing that we need to be concerned about a whole lot of things in terms of how we’re playing.”

Players and coaches went over film on Monday — it couldn’t have been any fun— and will look to correct those mistakes before the players get league-mandated time off.

The Lions (3-3) will  worry about their next opponent, the Pittsburgh Steelers, when they get back from their break.

Five things that should be on the to-do list for the Lions:

1. Get healthy. The bye week couldn’t have come at a better time. Caldwell said after the game, and again on Monday, if they had to play on Thursday night they might be in trouble. “If we were playing a Sunday game it might be even fairly tough, so this comes at a great time for us,’’ Caldwell said on Monday. The injured include Matthew Stafford (ankle, ribs), Glover Quin (concussion), Golden Tate (shoulder), T.J. Lang (back), Greg Robinson (ankle) and likely more we don’t know about. And, of course, Caldwell wouldn’t provide any news. When asked if any of the injuries are long-term, he just said, “We’ll see.” No injury report will be released this week due to the bye.

2. Fix the offensive line. It will help when left tackle Taylor Decker returns which could be in a few weeks. Caldwell wouldn’t say. But in the meantime, they’ve got work to do on the line. Don’t know where to start. They seem stuck with Greg Robinson until Decker returns. It’s a mash-mash of bodies. It’s a mess. The line is part of the reason that Stafford has been sacked 17 times in the last three games. Fix the line and Stafford will look like the quarterback he can be. Funny how that works.

3. Figure out how to get the offense out of neutral and off to quicker starts. The Lions have been outscored 37-17 in the first quarter in the first six games and 92-62 in the first half. Caldwell said it changes from game to game, but they are not executing early

4. The defense has to stop the run. Sounds easy, eh? Well they allowed the Saints to scamper for 193 rushing yards and two rushing touchdowns. They miss Haloti Ngata but other guys have to step up. Plain and simple. “I’m as much concerned with the turnovers that we had that cost us points, that gave up points as anything. That teams going to score some points, but we certainly got to be able to keep them at bay,’’ Caldwell said. “It’s really the yards on the ground obviously we’re concerned about. Anytime they can churn up that kind of yardage on us we’re concerned and the turnovers mar a lot of different things just in terms of, when you look at strictly how the game unfolded, turnovers kind of clouds your mind a little bit.’’ The Lions lost two fumbles and Stafford threw three interceptions.

5. This is specific. Figure out how the Saints were able to tip a dozen balls on Sunday. It was the most in the league on Sunday. Caldwell said it didn’t mean that the Lions offense is too predictable just that it was an unusual game.  “I mean, you just look at the game, it’s kind of changed a little bit. I think A’Shawn (Robinson) has 10 at such a young stage in his career. And big John Henderson when we played when he was at Jacksonville was a big, tall guy in there, J.J. Watt’s one that’s done a great job of adjusting. I just think it was just one of those games that you — we’ve played a lot games around here within the same system and it was just unusual. Just unfortunate, and they were all different ways that they had them,’’ Caldwell said. “Maybe it was a lineman didn’t cut his guy, his hands got up, he’s supposed to get him on the ground, maybe it was a launch angle, those kinds of things. So, it was a lot of different scenarios, but the great thing about it, even though it was difficult, and it wasn’t pretty, and we’re not happy with it, it’s correctable. So, we’ll go to work on that.”

BONUS: Caldwell on the loss of Aaron Rodgers and what it means to the NFC North: “He’s a great player but you find that you look across the League and there’s a number of teams that have guys starting for them that they’re not starter at quarterback position that still play extremely well. That’s a good football team all the way around. They’re good on defense. They’re good kicking game. They have a really good unit. He’s obviously a phenomenal player, but I still think Green Bay is Green Bay.”