Tag: Detroit Lions

Detroit Lions: Five things to know about LeGarrette Blount on eve of opener

Winning more important than number of carries

ALLEN PARK >> LeGarrette Blount is happy to talk about the three Super Bowl rings he’s won in the last four seasons. It’s rare he’ll wear them in public and when he does, it’s the duplicates not the real diamond-encrusted bling. And, oh by the way, the Lions running back says he wears all three together.

However, when it comes to Monday’s season-opening game against the N.Y. Jets at Ford Field, Blount is all business.

“I’m really excited about it, just the opportunity to go out there and play a real game against a lot of different guys, against a really good defense. Obviously we know they’re a good team. I’m excited about it,’’ said Blount whose last game was for the Eagles in the Super Bowl on Feb. 4.

Five things to know about Blount with the regular season a few days away:

1. He’s one of four Lions’ running backs who should get touches in every game. He’s not concerned about his workload or lack of it. “We’re just worried about winning the games, we don’t care about the touches at this point,’’ Blount said on Friday. Last season he led the Eagles with 173 carries for 766 yards (4.4 yards per carry). He also scored a pair of rushing touchdowns. That’s about 18 carries a game. He was the Eagles’ top producing back. Jay Ajayi had 70 carries for 408 yards, while Corey Clement had 74 for 321 yards.

2. Blount loves the versatility among the Lions’ backs which should cause headaches for opposing defensive coordinators. “(There’s) an unlimited amount of mismatches, let’s just say that. Like I said we have a lot of different dynamics in our room. Obviously Theo (Riddick) is one of the most dynamic running backs in this league. AA (Ameer Abdullah) is also one of the most elusive guys in this league. We have a dynamic group and we’re excited to see what we all can do,’’ Blount said, also mentioning rookie Kerryon Johnson.

3. One reason Blount signed with the Lions is that he had a good relationship with Matt Patricia when they were both with the New England Patriots. It’s a mutual admiration society. “He’s been in a couple different programs, so he can really adapt pretty quickly to different structures, different schemes,’’ Patricia said on Friday. “Obviously a physical presence, he runs the ball with a good aggressiveness, a good nature of trying to get the ball vertical into the defense and with a good run attitude from that standpoint. But he really just does a great job. He’s a great teammate, he works extremely hard, he really cares. He cares about winning, he cares about competition, which is great and which obviously you can just keep pushing everything every single day, as far as that’s concerned, to get better, which is what we’re trying to do.’’

4. Blount seems to be a good fit no matter the team. Since his rookie season in 2010 he has played for Tampa Bay (2010-12), the Patriots (2013, 2014-2016) , the Steelers (part of 2014) and the Eagles (2017). “One thing I can say is I just get along with everybody. I bring a lot of energy and joy to wherever I’m going, I think that’s part of it,’’ Blount said. “I never go into any situation with that thought (that I won’t fit in) in my head. I always make my decisions based on what’s best for me whenever I choose to go to a team — what’s best for me, what’s best for my family. I pray over it and I make my decision. I haven’t been anywhere where I was like, ‘I don’t think this is going to work.’’’

5. Even though he’s a short-timer, he’s aware of the Lions’ sad history in the run game since Barry Sanders retired and the 68-game stretch since a back (Reggie Bush) has run for at least 100 yards in a game. “Our group, we want to step up to any challenge that’s presented to us. I wouldn’t say since Barry, I would say since Reggie. I think Reggie was one of the most dynamic backs this league has seen in a long time. He’s one of the good running backs who’s come through here also. I give props and respect to him. I’ll just take full responsibility on how good our room plays. I want to make sure we’re in the best place possible, the best position possible to win the football game and make sure our group does everything possible to put us in that position.’’ Running for 100 yards in a game isn’t the goal, winning games is.

 

Detroit Lions’ opener vs. Jets should reveal more of Matt Patricia’s influence

Preseason was for evaluation, now is time to win

ALLEN PARK — Matt Patricia admitted he was a little extra fired this week.

The Lions are inching closer to his debut as a head coach when they open the season against the New York Jets on Monday night at Ford Field.

“I’m pretty fired up every day. So, sometimes I come in here and you guys suck the life out of me, but other than that, I’m pretty good because you guys aren’t really excited when I walk in here. So, I’m not going to let you guys do that to me today because we’re going out there and we’re getting ready to go win. I mean the best that we can.,’’ said Patricia who was laughing as the words spilled from his mouth.

It’s an odd week for the Lions since they don’t open the season until Monday. They practiced Monday and Wednesday, had Thursday off and then will practice Friday and Saturday.

“We’re just going to try to prepare — look this is a really good team, I’m just telling you. Todd Bowles, I have the utmost respect for him, his staff, and what they do week in and week out. Obviously been going against him for a while. And he’s a great coach, and he’s an even better person,’’ Patricia said. “So, when you go up against somebody like that and you’re not really sure what it’s going to look like week 1, you have to be ready to go from the start. So, that’s where we’re at.”

It was an unimpressive preseason (1-3) under Patricia who was evaluating his roster, not necessarily trying to win. So the big reveal will be at kickoff Monday night. No one really knows what to expect, but here are five things we might be able to learn about Patricia’s version of the Lions in the opener:

1. The re-imagined defense has been the subject of much discussion. New scheme, new coaches and a few new players. After watching all of training camp and the offseason, it’s difficult to know what we will see. The pass-rush in the preseason was ineffective (and that’s being nice.) Defensive line coach Bo Davis said he’s not concerned. “We get everybody playing together I think it will be a different scene,’’ Davis said. “I think that’s the thing, we have to continue building on, I think the guys are very aware of it. It’s more in being in control of what you’re doing and how you’re doing it.’’ We will see.

2. The run game has been a huge focus. Don’t expect they will lean heavily on rookie Kerryon Johnson early on unless he looks so good they can’t keep him off the field. Don’t count out LeGarrette Blount as a key factor and, of course, Theo Riddick. One similarity for the run game, will be the fact that it’s by committee. Don’t look for a No. 1 running back because you won’t find one. Also the back who gets the most carries on Monday night, might not get the same workload the next week at San Francisco. The Jets gave up 117.9 rushing yards per game in 2017, but this is a different Jets’ team also.

3. Middle linebacker Jarrad Davis needs to take a big step from his rookie season. He’s got his leadership role down but he needs to improve his pass coverage. It’s not all about Davis, but he’s an integral part of this new-look defense. “We’ve tried to do a few things and played a lot of people in preseason. So, it’s a work in progress. We’ll get better. I think we’ve had some spots where we have done well, and we’ve had some other spots where we have to be more consistent. So, we’ll just keep working at it and keep getting better,’’ defensive coordinator Paul Pasqualoni said.

4. Matthew Stafford, entering his 10th season, should be just fine. He and coordinator Jim Bob Cooter have developed a better relationship over two-plus seasons. “The more we’re around each other, the more we talk through different thoughts and ideas, I think the deeper we get into certain thought processes—sometimes very similarly, sometimes coming from a different angle,’’ Cooter said. “So, we’ve had certain times where he’s walked off the field and maybe I’d go into a discussion about what I was thinking on a certain play and he finishes the second half of that discussion because he was right on the same page. And there’s also times where I might see a certain route one way and he kind of sees the other way and we’re talking through that stuff. Like anything, the more you’re around—players, coaches, each other—you really get to know each other better, you really sort of go through the trials of working through those things.’’

5. On paper, the Lions have a better team with an experienced quarterback. They’ll be facing Jets rookie quarterback Sam Darnold, the youngest QB to start an opening game in the NFL since the AFL/NFL merger. It’s tough to plan a defense for a rookie NFL quarterback. “It’s a big challenge, I think, when you get those guys. And certainly with a new offensive coordinator, maybe a couple different things scheme-wise that they’re going to do with the hiring of a couple new coaches,’’ Patricia said. He doesn’t expect to learn much from preseason game film.

Lions waive Anthony Zettel; awarded DE Romeo Okwara via waivers

Zettel had 6.5 sacks in 2017

In the past two years, Lions GM Bob Quinn has proven that he is not shy about dumping his own draft picks.

It happened again on Wednesday when Quinn waived defensive end Anthony Zettel who was a sixth-round pick in Quinn’s first draft class in 2016.

The Lions were awarded DE Romeo Okwara via waivers from the New York Giants. Okwara, 23, played in six games for the Giants in 2017 due to a knee injury and finished with no sacks. As a rookie he played in all 16 games with four starts and one sack. He was signed by the Giants as an undrafted free agent out of Notre Dame in 2016.

In 2016 with Kerry Hyder out, Zettel started all 16 games and was second in sacks (6.5) only to Ziggy Ansah (12).  As a rookie he played in 13 games with no starts.
Zettel, who is from West Branch, Mich., was listed as Hyder’s backup on the depth chart released this week.

In the final game of the 2017 season, the defensive line starters were Zettel, Ansah, A’Shawn Robinson and Akeem Spence who was traded to the Dolphins in May. Ricky Jean Francois and Sylvester Williams are expected to start at defensive tackle with Robinson as a backup. Hyder and Ansah will start at defensive end.

The Lions open the season on Monday night against the New York Jets.