Tag: philadelphia eagles

Dan Campbell expects Eagles to test whether Lions’ woes have been fixed

Last season the Eagles mauled the Lions, 44-6 on Oct. 31. No one has forgotten.

On Sunday, the Lions face the Eagles again in the season opener at Ford Field. Both teams are different. The question is to what degree.

“It was an embarrassing loss, they let us have it, they rubbed our nose in it. They came in and did everything that they wanted to do to us, times 10. I think we’ve acknowledged that,’’ coach Dan Campbell said.

That loss put the LIons at 0-8 on the season. It was followed by a bye week and a time of reflection. After that humiliation, Campbell started calling the plays on offense and made changes including getting wide receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown more involved. 

The Lions finished the second half with a 3-5-1 mark.

“We understand that’s what they’re coming back for. If I’m them I’m doing the same thing. We’re going to come back and attack you the same way to see if you’ve fixed your problems,’’ Campbell said. “They’ll have a couple tweaks here and there but I would fully expect them to come in and see if we’ve fixed our problems. We understand the opponent that’s coming in.’’

While there are a few new players, the core of the Lions’ group that played in that game is still on the roster. They haven’t forgotten either.

“Watching that film is hard to watch, with that you’ve got to learn from your mistakes,’’ defensive lineman Charles Harris said. “Understand we have a different scheme, different techniques, we’re a lot better team this year. With that we have confidence we can get the job done this year.’’

In that 44-6 loss, the Eagles ran for 236 yards with four rushing touchdowns. The Lions were down 17-0 at the half but gave up 21 third-quarter points. Jared Goff was 25 of 34 for 222 yards and zero interceptions. 

“Going into this week we know what happened last year and we’re not going to let it happen again … I think going into this year, starting off fresh. We’re excited. It’s a new team,’’ St. Brown said. “We feel completely different about this year than we did last year. We’re excited to play them again in Week One.’’

Lions Dan Campbell: The strength is the team; no decision on play-calling

Dan Campbell appeared more fired up than usual on Monday, the start of the  first week of the regular season. 

After months of work and coming off a devastating 3-13-1 year, the season is here. The Lions open the season against the Philadelphia Eagles on Sunday at Ford Field.

“We have our players, we have our crew. We have the brotherhood, if you will. The 53 with a 16-man vet squad or practice squad. There’ll be a couple things that always come up through the year but for the most part this is our crew,’’ Campbell said at his Monday press conference.

He likes that they were able to sign veterans – he named Jarrad Davis in particular – to the practice squad. So when injuries happen he’ll have plug-and-play guys available. 

“I feel like we have the right guys, it’s the right 53 and I feel like our strength is exactly that, the 53 plus that 16-man practice squad. So I think that is our strength, I don’t think you can point at one player and say this is who we are,” Campbell said. “I think it’s kind of unique that way, I appreciate that and I think our guys do.’’

It’s uncertain whether Campbell or offensive coordinator Ben Johnson will call the plays on Sunday. Johnson called them during the preseason. Campbell said Johnson is ready but he is too.

“It’s been good, it’ll be fun. He’s done a great job. This is going to be interesting to find out, I’m excited to know too,’’ Campbell said. “I’ll be honest I’m just not quite there yet, I still have this eagerness to want to call it myself.’’

Lions backup QB Nate Sudfeld practices, starts to learn offense

Tim Boyle and David Blough had every opportunity to become the Lions backup quarterback for this season. Instead both were released and the Lions signed Nate Sudfeld who was cut due to a numbers issue by the 49ers.

“They just didn’t quite make the jump we were expecting them to make,’’ Lions GM Brad Holmes said at a Thursday press conference.

It has been a whirlwind for Sudfeld who caught a red-eye flight on Tuesday night in San Francisco, landed in Detroit at 5 a.m. Wednesday and went straight to the Lions facility for meetings and practice. He managed nine hours of sleep Wednesday night and was feeling rested and ready for practice on Thursday morning.

“It happened fast, but I’m super-pumped to be here,’’ said Sudfeld who wore No. 12 which was last worn by Boyle.

He’s got a lot to learn and a short time to learn it with the regular season preparation starting next week. The season opener is Sept. 11 against the Eagles at Ford Field.

Sudfeld, who is in his seventh NFL season, has learned from other quarterbacks while at the 49ers, Eagles and Washington.

“A lot of concepts I’ve definitely run and done before, there’s a lot of new verbiage and memorization things so definitely going to continue to study, definitely a lot of carryover,’’ Sudfeld said. “There’s some different concepts I haven’t done before but I love how much we do at the line of scrimmage and how much confidence they have in Jared (Goff) and the quarterbacks getting us into the right play. Really looking forward to the opportunity.’’

Sudfeld, 28, knows Goff although they’ve never been on the same team. They have the same agent, both are from northern California and came out for the NFL draft in the same year. Occasionally they have worked out together in the offseason.

“It’s been a beautiful journey that I’ve been fortunate to be a part of and just try to get better every year, the older you get you just want to stack years and keep improving as a player,’’ Sudfeld said. “All the other stuff it’s just a matter of time, it will take care of itself.’’

Holmes didn’t address the situation, but if Blough clears waivers he could be signed to the Lions’ practice squad.

“We did what is best for the organization at this time. There were a lot of different options. You can trade a bunch of draft capital for a backup quarterback, there’s a lot of different options. We did the best thing for Detroit,’’ Holmes said.