Tag: Jahmyr Gibbs

Lions versatile LB Grant Stuard checks the boxes with kick return skills

ALLEN PARK — Grant Stuard has never turned down an opportunity on the football field. It started in high school and when he played in college at Houston. It’s no different now with the Lions, starting his fifth NFL season and first in Detroit.

He describes it as a “mad random” deal. He was moved to fullback in his first year (2022) with the Colts and moved around in college and high school.

He’s officially listed as a linebacker on the Lions’ roster but he excels at special teams. He played 73 percent of the Colts special teams snaps in 2024.

Since signing as a free agent with the Lions in the offseason, a new wrinkle has been added to his special teams chores. He’s been working as a kick returner with four returns totalling 112 yards in two of the first three preseason games.

Special teams coordinator Dave Fipp was on the lookout for the position and after watching Stuard’s film from college, decided to give him a shot.

“Anytime you bring a player in, you kind of watch everything they’ve done in the history that we have on film. There was some film from him at Houston where he was running the ball, and I was like, ‘Wait a minute, like this looks pretty good right here,’’ Fipp said on Tuesday.

“So that’s what really started the idea and I was like, ‘Man, I’m not sure who the guy is going to be.’ This is a bigger body guy, physical. Looked like he had some natural skillset to do it, and then we fumbled the opening kickoff,’’ Fipp said.

Indeed Stuard fumbled and lost the ball on the opening kickoff of the preseason Hall of Fame game, opening the door for a quick Chargers’ touchdown. After that score Fipp threw him back in and he returned that next kickoff for 36 yards, holding on tight.

“He showed a bunch of great things and then it said to us, ‘OK, now we got to invest more time in him, to be fair to him and help him with ball security, and stuff like that.’ But it’s now worth the investment because of what he’s shown,’’ Fipp said. “So, we’re excited about him.”

In turn Stuard has embraced the role.

“The longer I play football, the more I understand the threat of a dynamic guy with the ball in his hands. Me knowing, as a cover guy or defensive guy, I’d kind of rather play the guys who want to get sideways because, 1, I’m fast, but 2 if you have a guy who’s as fast as Ja (Jahmyr Gibbs) and he’s slicing through your defense, now he’s at the second level immediately,” Stuard said. “I kind of have that same mentality with the ball in my hand as far as if I can slice through, slice through, slice through, eventually I’m going to get through one-on-one with the safety with all my momentum, it should be something good for the Detroit Lions.’’

He’s gotten plenty of work in training camp, noting that he loves how much time the Lions spend practicing special teams.

“I think just my experience, just as a player, and being around guys who are super-talented and guys who are super-skilled has allowed me to just understand what coach wants from me with the ball in my hands,’’ said Stuard who is 5-foot-11 and 225 pounds.

He thinks the new kickoff rules suit his game.

“If the goal is to get to the 30 I believe in myself getting to the 30 every time just off momentum,’’ Stuard said. “I can run into you at the 20, we’re going to go that way because I’m not running soft or too timid or too visiony, I might take that first gap. I’m trying to mature my game now to where maybe that first gap is tempting, but it’s meant to go here so keep on going over there even if it takes a little longer.’’

UP NEXT: The Lions will hold a joint practice with the Houston Texans on Thursday, before their final preseason game at 1 p.m. on Saturday at Ford Field.

Lions open training camp with high expectations, a few changes and injury news

ALLEN PARK — Lions opened training camp on Sunday, with a few new players, two new coordinators, defensive injuries and the same huge expectations as in recent years.

Coach Dan Campbell said he’s still as enthusiastic as ever.

“The message to the team is what it’s been all along. It’s about who we are, what we believe in and staying hungry, staying hungry. Put the work in, we cannot be content,’’ Campbell said on Sunday. “I believe we’ll be just fine. We have the right guys and we’ve been building and improving for a long time. Our dudes will be ready to go.’’

While expectations from the outside may be lower because of the new coordinators — John Morton on offense replaces Ben Johnson who is head coach of the Bears and Kelvin Sheppard moves up to defensive coordinator replacing Aaron Glenn who is now head coach of the Jets.

Campbell gets it but doesn’t believe it.

“First of all, it doesn’t matter what I say, it’s already been written. So that’s coming. That’s already in there. I’m not going to change that, none of us will. A loss, it’s coming, we don’t do well on offense, it’s coming. Something happens defensively, it’s coming,’’ Campbell said. “That narrative is coming, it’s written, it’s done. I have no control over that.’’

However, that is not what he thinks personally.

“Yeah, I don’t think it’s what it’s played out to be. I’ve said this before it hurts to lose two guys who have been here from the beginning, got a lot of trust and faith in,’’ Campbell said.

“There’s a lot of communication that goes on that’s not even said because once you get to that you understand each other,  a look, a nod, body demeanor says it all,’’ he added. “That’s just a little bit of what we’ve got to gain together between myself, Johnnie Morton and Shep. That takes a minute, takes time, we’ll get it, it will come.’’

And it starts to take more shape in training camp.

Running backs David Montgomery and Jahmyr Gibbs are not concerned about the change.

“Obviously they’re different people. Ben was an awesome OC and he’s going to be an even better head coach, but I think we’ve got a damn good OC in coach Johnnie Mo too. They coach a little different,’’ Montgomery said. “Johnny Mo is a little more verbal and vocal, but I love him.”

Gibbs said not a lot has changed – tweaks here and there – but nothing major.

INJURY NEWS

Defensive lineman Levi Onwuzurike is out for the season following ACL surgery. “Levi’s surgery, it was significant, but it needed to be done,’’ Campbell said.

Left tackle Taylor Decker had surgery to clean up his shoulder. Campbell expects him to return after the Hall of Fame preseason game on July 31.

Defensive end Josh Paschal also had surgery. The plan is to start working him in around Labor Day.

Cornerback Ennis Rakestraw left practice early and is being evaluated for a chest injury.

(Up next: Day Two of training camp on Monday. First preseason game is July 31 against the Los Angeles Chargers at the Hall of Fame game in Canton, Ohio.)

Detroit Lions’ Super Bowl dreams crushed in 45-31 loss to Commanders

Detroit turns ball over 5 times, defense can’t stop Washington

DETROIT — A nightmare of a showing by the No. 1 seed Detroit Lions, squashed their Super Bowl dreams.

The Lions defense had no answer for Washington Commanders rookie quarterback Jayden Daniels, while Detroit’s offense turned the ball over five times in a 45-31 loss at Ford Field on Saturday night in the divisional round of the playoffs.

It was a dreadful combination. If there is such a thing as un-complementary football, this was it.

“You need a stop, you don’t get a stop, when we do get a stop we turn the ball over. We just didn’t complement each other. It’s just, as everybody knows, you turn the ball over five times — the last one was whatever so call it four that’s fine. It’s just too much,’’ coach Dan Campbell said. “It’s too hard against a team like that to come back. We tried, we just couldn’t quite get over the hump. We thought if we could get within one score we’d have a chance, we just could not get over the hump.’’

Jahmyr Gibbs ran in for his second touchdown with 7 minutes left in the third quarter to tighten the gap, with Washington leading 31-28. But on their next series the Commanders came back with another touchdown.

Not sure what was more heart-breaking — losing in the NFC Championship a year ago or getting kicked out in the divisional round as a No. 1 seed this year. Close call. 

Campbell was understandably emotional afterward and didn’t feel the timing was right to look at the big picture. 

“At the end of the day, after the loss, I love the guys and respect them and appreciate everything they put into it. It’s not the time to talk about a great year or how many wins, cause at this moment I don’t think any of us feel that way,’’ Campbell said. “The whole point of doing what you do is to get to the show, that’s why you play this game. We fell short.’’ 

Five reasons the Lions lost:

ONE: The Lions coaching staff has preached all season about turnovers. And until Saturday, the Lions were decent at holding onto the ball. The five turnovers were the killer. Jared Goff threw four interceptions (one late in the fourth quarter) and lost the ball on a strip-sack. On a mysterious trick play in the fourth — what in the heck was that? — Jameson Williams threw a pass and was intercepted. Campbell said he would’ve liked to have him run it there. 

TWO: Washington rookie quarterback Jayden Daniels was poised, didn’t let the noise bother him and found ways to gash the Lions defense. He threw two touchdown passes, zero interceptions and completed 22-of-31 for 299 yards. A mobile guy, he also ran for 51 yards. “We knew we were going to have our hands full,’’ Campbell said.

THREE: It’s rare that Jared Goff has an off night. It couldn’t have happened at a worse time. The Commanders’ defense was too much and he was not himself, finishing 23 of 40 for 313 yards, one touchdown and three interceptions. Goff was having trouble putting it all in words. “It’s a humbling game, a humbling sport,’’ Goff said. “We were on top of the world after that Minnesota game, standing here now trying to process this.’’ Gibbs tried but he could not carry the whole offense. He had 14 carries for 105 yards and two touchdowns along with six catches for 70 yards.

FOUR: The defense was the weak link to start due to so many injuries. Then cornerback Amik Robertson injured his elbow on the Commanders’ second play of the game. They also lost safety Ifeatu Melifonwu to a hamstring injury. As he has done all year, Campbell never used injuries as an excuse for a loss. The defense was absolutely decimated most of the season and until Saturday, was able to overcome it and find a way to win 15 games.

FIVE: Coaching was an issue too. The defense did not look prepared for Daniels. Then in the fourth quarter, they had 12 men on the field with the Commanders on a fourth-and-2 at Detroit’s 5. Campbell took the blame for the penalty. Someone should’ve called a timeout when they saw the situation. Instead Brian Robinson ran in for a TD giving Washington a 38-28 lead. The Lions offense moved the ball – earning 521 total yards (compared to 481 for Washington), but was held to just 10 points in the second half.