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Calvin Johnson has been working on maintaining his body this season and has held back from the Lions last two practices.
“Body feeling good,” Johnson said. “Just got some maintenance issues that we’re just taking care of.”
The Lions will need Johnson as they face a still dangerous Pittsburgh Steelers who are coming off a home win against Buffalo.
Great seats and tickets are still available for Sunday’s game!
The Detroit lions played a great game against the Bengals but came up on the short end of a 27-24 loss. The setback puts the Lions at 4-3.
Next up for Detroit are the Dallas Cowboys and the key matchup in that contest will be rookie center Travis Frederick against defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh.
One player Lions Coach Jim Schwartz will be keeping his eyes on is Cowboys receiver Dez Bryant.
“And I think that Dez Bryant in particular has really improved over the course of his career. We saw him as a really young player a few years ago. He’s playing like a veteran player now. He’s taken the load of the No. 1 receiver. That’s a big burden to be the No. 1 receiver. You’re going to see attention every week. You’re going to see double teams. You’re going to see corners rolled to your side and it’s a big mental adjustment to go through that and I think that Dez Bryant has done that. He’s made big plays for them. He’s always been a really strong player, but you just see him maturing as a player and I think that’s good for the NFL when you see young players improve like he has.
Great seats/tickets are still available for this NFC Matchup.
The Detroit Lions know that nearly everyone on the team and staff are under the gun. After a futile 4-12 season last year (a year removed from a 10-6 record) the franchise are making moves to ensure that a repeat of last season does not reoccur.
In order to get that Lions swagger back, the team signed RB Reggie Bush, Safety Glover Quin, and two top notch defensive ends in Jason Jones and Isreael Idonije. The team also resigned QB Matthew Stafford through the 2017 season, re-signed cornerback Chris Houston, safety Louis Delmas and outside linebacker DeAndre Levy.
“I think we should have somewhat of a chip on our shoulder,” All-Pro receiver Calvin Johnson said. “We know what we were last year and we’re very disappointed that we weren’t able to get back to where we were (during 2011), especially when we were so close in a lot of those games. I think everybody’s focus should be way more intense this year.”
The Lions open the season against the Minnesota Vikings on September 8, 2013. Tickets are still available
Oakland, Calif. — The last time the Lions walked off the field at Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum, patrons showered them with shot glasses and batteries.
“That was fun,” Lions center Dominic Raiola said, chuckling. “Those are crazy fans. It gets you excited to play football.”
Neither team will need any environmental aids Sunday. The stakes are clear. The Lions (8-5) need to win to maintain control of their playoff aspirations. The Raiders (7-6) need to win to keep their playoff hopes alive, too.
“There’s no room for error, especially with all the other teams that are in the pack,” Raiola said of the playoffs chase. “Nobody is really out of it yet, so all we can do is keep on winning.”
The Lions hold the second and last wildcard spot in the NFC. Chicago (7-6), Dallas (7-6), Seattle (6-7) and Arizona (6-7) remain in the hunt.
“One at a time,” quarterback Matthew Stafford said. “As cliché as that sounds, that’s the way it has to be for us. We can’t look too far ahead. You see it on TV (playoff talk) and you hear it on the radio. Everybody knows what’s in front of us, but we have to go out there and execute it.
“This team has a great attitude right now. We understand what we have to do.”
Raiola wouldn’t mind another postgame “shower” from the fans at the Black Hole, because that would mean they won. The Lions’ last game in Oakland was a 36-21 season-opening win in 2007. It’s the only win the Lions have had on the West Coast in eight games the past 10 years.
“You hear the stories,” receiver Calvin Johnson said. “But, hey, I played (at Oakland) my first pro game and we won. We like playing on the road. We like going places and trying to shut up other teams’ fans.”
Coach Jim Schwartz said the venue — as crazy as the Black Hole can be — will be the least of the Lions’ concerns.
“We’ve had success on the road (4-2) and there’s not any difference from one place to another,” he said. “There’s a certain mentality that goes to playing on the road and you have to prepare for the crowd noise, but it’s not our first road trip — whether the fans are dressed as gladiators or anything else won’t affect us very much.”
What may impact the Lions, though, are injuries, particularly to a defense that has given up an average of 30 points the last four games.
They will play the Raiders without starting safety Louis Delmas, who did not travel with the team. He will miss his third straight game with a Grade 2 MCL tear.
Also out will be cornerback Aaron Berry (shoulder) and defensive end Lawrence Jackson (thigh).
Defensive end Willie Young (ankle), defensive tackle Nick Fairley (foot), outside linebacker Justin Durant (hamstring) and cornerback Eric Wright (hamstring) will be game-time decisions.
The defense will get a huge lift, though, from the return of two key starters — defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh (suspension) and cornerback Chris Houston (knee).
“Yeah, we got a lot more weapons (this week),” defensive coordinator Gunther Cunningham said. “We are still banged up here or there, but every team is this time of the year. I think the biggest thing for our football team on defense is learning the attitude you got to have going into the final couple weeks; knowing how important each game is.
“We talked about four games to go; well now it is three games to go. They are all into it and focused, but they have been all year. It is just magnified now.”
The offense is expected to get back running back Kevin Smith (ankle), who practiced this week, albeit in a limited capacity. The question will be, how long will he last?
“I made it two quarters last time; hopefully I can go four,” he said.
This would be a good week for Johnson, the Lions’ quiet Pro Bowl receiver, to have a loud game. Defenses the last few weeks have gone to extreme measures to take him out of the mix, especially in the red zone. After scoring 11 touchdowns in the first eight games, he has one in the last five.
“He’s not a decoy at all, but if he’s taken away, then you have to go other places,” Schwartz said. “We never go in planning on using him as a decoy, but you also need to make smart decisions.
“We didn’t have any turnovers (against the Vikings), didn’t have any turnovers against New Orleans — two teams that were really trying their very best to take him out. If you press it too much, then you end up getting turnovers. Our game plan every week is to try to get him the ball, but we have to make smart decisions — smart decisions trump getting him the ball sometimes.”
To get Johnson the ball downfield, the offensive line is going to have to give Stafford a few extra seconds. There were several plays against the Vikings where Johnson got open but Stafford didn’t have time to wait for the route to develop.
“It’s all about being a great offense,” Stafford said. “He’s a great player and when we have one-on-one shots, we’re going to take them. But teams aren’t giving us those very often. We had some plays called last week to get him the ball downfield but for one reason or another it didn’t work out.
“But the great thing about Calvin is, he only wants to do one thing and that’s win games. That’s what you love about the guy.”
Said Johnson, “Man, as long as we’re winning, that’s going to keep everybody happy. That’s what everybody wants.”
So the Lions continue their own version of March Madness; it’s survive and advance time. If they win out, they end their 11-year playoff drought.
“We are excited about the possibilities,” defensive end Cliff Avril said. “But we are even more excited to be playing games that matter in December. We need to keep winning to have a chance to make something special happen. I think we are up for the task.”
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Kickoff: 4:05 p.m. Sunday, Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum, Oakland, Calif.
TV/radio: Fox/97.1
Records: Detroit 8-5, Oakland 7-6
Series: Oakland leads 6-4 (Detroit 36-21, Sept. 9, 2007)
Line: Lions by 1
Detroit— The noise and the numbers are ratcheting so quickly now, they’re starting to echo. The Lions no longer are just Detroit’s riveting fresh story. They’ve gone national and gotten numbingly tough, rolling in ways we’ve almost never seen.
The Lions were determined to make their loudest clamor yet Monday night. So were their fans. And with an offensive blur and a defensive blast, they hammered the point — repeatedly.
The Lions beat the Bears 24-13 in front of 67,861 shrieking fans, and there’s no turning back now. Every expectation for this team has rocketed, now that it’s 5-0 for the first time in 55 years and has won nine straight for the first time in 57 years.
See what I mean about the numbers? And the noise?
“It was electric — the fans did an unbelievable job,” said quarterback Matthew Stafford, who was 19-for-26 for 219 yards. “You saw what it can do to an opposing offense, and our defense fed off it. You couldn’t even hear yourself think.”
The frenzy for the Lions’ first Monday night game since 2001 was incredible, as loud as Ford Field has ever been. The full-throttled crowd literally affected the game, causing Bears players to be penalized nine times (yes, nine) for false starts, unable to hear the signals over the din.
There’s nothing false about this start. The Lions have stars in key places, and each one did something big, from Stafford to Calvin Johnson to defensive menace Ndamukong Suh to speedy back Jahvid Best. They’re hitting from all directions, upstaging even playoff baseball. Shortly after the Tigers dropped a crushing, 7-3, 11-inning game in Texas, the Lions launched their whomping, and they whomped hard.
The comeback team in a comeback city, tied together by talent and toughness? It may be trite, but if it fits, go for it.
It fits the Lions, that’s obvious. They trailed at halftime again and took off in the second half again. When Best sprinted 88 yards for the clinching touchdown, and defenders then took turns flattening poor Bears quarterback Jay Cutler, the physical punishment was complete.
“We need to get used to playing in games like this, in prime time,” coach Jim Schwartz said. “It was a big step for this team and a big step for this city.”
You can’t say the Lions shocked anyone this time because they were favored, and probably will be favored in their next three games, at least. You do the math and you realize this is a playoff team, arriving ahead of schedule.
There were ghosts in the building, a convergence of past, present and future, stirred in a cauldron. Barry Sanders was here, the Lions’ preeminent symbol of lonesome glory. On the Bears’ side were Rod Marinelli, the beleaguered former Lions coach, Mike Martz, the former Lions assistant, and Roy Williams, the former Lions receiver. At some point, all were symbols of fake swagger, slowly reduced to footnotes.
“Imported From Detroit” is the auto theme and it’s just a coincidence the car companies are rebounding along with the Lions and the Tigers. But it sure adds to the depth of the pride, and you didn’t have to be wedged into Ford Field to feel it.
If this wasn’t the biggest day in Detroit sports history, it was one of the busiest. In droves, people swarmed in and around Ford Field, clamoring to see first-hand what was going on. In many ways, this was an unveiling for the Lions — to the nation and to their own fans.
The Lions had played at home only once so far, returning after huge road comebacks at Dallas and Minnesota. For hours beforehand, the streets filled, and as the Lions warmed up on the field, fans watched the Tigers on the stadium scoreboards. When Jose Valverde escaped a bases-loaded jam in the ninth, the crowd erupted. It was the last roar for the Tigers on this night, but it was only the start of the noise.
“There was so much energy in the building, I’ve never felt anything like it,” tight end Brandon Pettigrew said. “You could physically feel it on you.”
This was it, the chance for the hungriest fan base in the NFL to release the beast within. It was almost, dare I say, too much racket and rancor, as the Lions came out determined to prove they’re one of the feistiest, nastiest teams around.
It’s a badge of honor and they’re happy to shove it in the opposing quarterback’s face. The Bears were rattled, no doubt. On their first possession alone, they committed three false-start penalties.
The energy was incredible and the Lions feasted on it — and initially, gorged a bit too much. They had six penalties in the first half, most for committing general acts of mayhem upon Cutler.
The Lions were hitting with impunity (which is still permitted, I believe), and officials tried to keep things under control. Cutler was getting up slowly but he was getting up, and the Bears hung in.
For the Lions these days, it goes back to their stars, and in one stunning sequence, they all made their mark. Facing fourth-and-inches at the Lions’ 25 in the first quarter, Bears coach Lovie Smith inexplicably disdained the field goal and went for it. Running back Matt Forte was crushed by Suh in the backfield, killing the drive.
Three plays later, Stafford lofted a perfect pass to Johnson, who caught it in stride for a 73-yard touchdown. After Johnson leaped atop the end zone wall to celebrate, the Lions had a 7-0 lead and “Megatron” had his ninth touchdown of the season.
But this is the NFL and the Bears are defending division champs, and a team can only ride raw emotion for so long. Somehow, the Lions were outscored 40-3 in the first halves of their last two games, and won both. And when Cutler hit Kellen Davis for a 9-yard touchdown, the Bears were on top at the half, 10-7.
Not for long, of course. Remember, if you can, the last time the Lions lost a game. It was last Dec. 5, 24-20 to Chicago. That was the Bears’ sixth straight victory in the series, so the Lions still had demons to address here.
They addressed them head on, without ambiguity, with everyone watching. The stage was theirs, and they took it like they absolutely meant it.
Bob.wojnowski@detnews.com
Twitter.com/bobwojnowski
Allen Park— Five of the six Lions starters who missed practice on Wednesday returned Thursday.
Tight end Brandon Pettigrew is the only one still sidelined. He is nursing a sore shoulder, which coach Jim Schwartz characterized as “in-season bumps and bruises.” At this point, he is expected to play Sunday in Minnesota.
Receiver Calvin Johnson (ankle), linebacker DeAndre Levy (knee), safety Louis Delmas (hip) and defensive ends Cliff Avril (knee) and Kyle Vanden Bosch (rest) were back on the practice field.
Still not practicing are receiver Rashied Davis (hamstring), offensive tackle Jason Fox (foot) and defensive tackle Nick Fairley (foot).
Receiver Maurice Stovall is still limited by a hand injury. He is still not working in on the special-teams drills, so there is a good chance he will be inactive again on Sunday.
Right tackle Gosder Cherilus was, for the second straight day, taking reps with the first team offense.
Detroit — Oh my, how things have changed. At times in Ford Field on Sunday, the crowd was so loud, the Lions’ offense had to plead for calm. At times, the quarterback was so jacked up, he looked capable of firing the ball all the way across the street to Comerica Park.
Something startling is starting to happen at this hot little corner in downtown Detroit, and for their part, the Lions are determined to make it happen. That should be their theme this season, because it sure is Matthew Stafford’s theme — make something happen.
The gamblin’, gunslingin’, gosh-darnin’ quarterback was dominant in the home opener, throwing four touchdown passes in the Lions’ 48-3 blasting of the Chiefs. The Lions spent the offseason collecting players and plaudits, and though it was just one game, they showed it all in the biggest blowout in franchise history.
This is about talent, and the 2-0 Lions definitely have some. It’s also about attitude, and they’re certainly developing some, from the noise in the building to Kid Rock and Bob Seger in the postgame locker room. Going back to last season, this is six straight victories, and it’s happening with aggressiveness on offense and defense, and even with a cutthroat edge.
Jim Schwartz and his coaching staff are letting the fellas loose, and that’s partly because the Lions finally, finally have the quarterback capable of doing it. Stafford threw soft passes, feathered strikes and absolute lasers. His 36-yard pass down the middle to tight end Tony Scheffler in the second quarter was a thing of beauty — almost as audacious as Scheffler’s touchdown dance.
The Lions are having fun and they should. In an amusing pantomime, Scheffler pretended he was making a fire and sending smoke signals. (They were playing the Chiefs, get it?) Actually, the Lions are using more conventional means to send their signals, and it begins with a franchise quarterback who’s healthy and happy to fling.
“Your radar’s gotta be on high alert when Matt’s got the ball in his hands,” Scheffler said. “On my touchdown, he put some velocity on it and stuck it on my helmet. But we have a lot of stuff that needs to be fixed if we want to be the team we think we can be in January.”
The playoffs in January are a long way off, but not as long as they were two weeks ago. The Lions just hammered a team that was 10-6 last season, one week after handling another 10-6 team in Tampa. Granted, the Chiefs look positively awful, committing six turnovers.
But Stafford is growing rapidly, as he searches for the line between making something happen and needlessly forcing something to happen. Early in the game, the Lions were a bit sluggish. Stafford threw a bad interception instead of taking a sack, although the Chiefs fumbled it right back.
Stafford has shown he can scramble, and he and offensive coordinator Scott Linehan are finding ways to make teams pay. When the Chiefs’ defense loaded up to stuff the run, Stafford hit star Calvin Johnson for two touchdowns. When they adjusted, he found Nate Burleson, Jahvid Best, emerging rookie Titus Young and others.
“The big thing was, Matt took some hits and kept making the throws,” center Dominic Raiola said. “When teams leave Calvin out there one-on-one, that’s disrespectful to me. That’s what happens — you get dunked on. We got an aggressive coaching staff. We’re gonna stay fangs out.”
Fangs out, everyone in. Yep, you can feel something building here, after all the years of misery.
People wonder what spawns confidence. I’ll tell you what does: Talent. Stafford has the smarts, the arm and the leadership, and Johnson has become an amazing weapon.
Here were the Lions, up 20-3 late in the third quarter, facing a fourth down at Kansas City’s 1. Field goal by the ever-dependable Jason Hanson? Aw, boring. As the crowd momentarily quieted, Stafford dropped back, zipped a quick pass to Johnson, and the fans erupted again.
“We’ve been doing it for a while now and Calvin kind of knows what I’m thinking, and I’m the same way with him,” said Stafford, 23-for-39 for 294 yards. “It’s a good start, that’s the way we look at it.”
It’s only a start, but the Lions attacked with stunning ferocity. This is who they’re trying to become — an explosive passing team that runs to keep the opponent honest. There also was some animosity in this one because defensive coordinator Gunther Cunningham was accused in the offseason of tampering with Kansas City players, a charge that really ticked the Lions off.
I’m not saying they ran up the score. The Chiefs were so incompetent, the score practically ran itself up.
I am saying, when Stafford is flinging like this, the Lions are capable of running up points quickly. Through two games, he has thrown for 599 yards and seven touchdowns, with only two interceptions.
“Until we get some playoffs and championships, I’m not gonna walk around with my chest pumped out,” Burleson said. “But I don’t think people truly realize how many weapons we got. That’s the one thing that makes us so powerful. Matt makes throws that a lot of quarterbacks wouldn’t even attempt. We’re a good team, but our goal is to be great.”
They have a good quarterback who’s striving to be great. Nothing really has changed and everything has changed. The Lions’ goals are still the same, but now, early evidence suggests they’re legitimately attainable.
bob.wojnowski@detnews.com
twitter.com/bobwojnowski
Tampa, Fla. — It’s probably a good sign for the Lions they started the season on the road, against a team with playoff aspirations and were almost apologizing for not beating them worse than they did.
“We were very lucky to win this game,” coach Jim Schwartz said, after the Lions held on to beat the Buccaneers 27-20 at Raymond James Stadium on Sunday.
Lucky?
The Lions scored on five of their first seven possessions and finished with 431 total yards. Quarterback Matthew Stafford had the second-most productive performance of his career, completing 24 of 33 passes for 305 yards and three touchdowns.
His 36-yard touchdown pass to Calvin Johnson on fourth-and-2 in the second quarter was laser precise. He threw an 11-yard touchdown pass to tight end Tony Scheffler and the eventual winner, a 1-yarder to Johnson.
Johnson had six catches for 88 yards, secured an onside kick and was on the field in the prevent defense on the last play of the game.
Lucky?
The defense didn’t allow the Bucs a first down in the first and third quarters. Until the middle of the fourth quarter, after the Lions had built a 27-13, the Bucs had amassed just 209 yards and the only touchdown was a 28-yard interception return off a tipped pass by Aqib Talib.
What did luck have to do with any of that?
“Really, we should have blown them out,” said cornerback Chris Houston, who had seven tackles and limited Bucs big-play receiver Mike Williams to four catches. “There were a couple of plays on offense, the interception return, and a couple of plays we missed on defense — just some mistakes we made that kept them in the game. We need to get back to the film and get those corrected.”
The Lions had the 14-point lead late in the third quarter and seemed content on running out the clock.
“We were in command of the game, so at that point we wanted to control the clock,” said receiver Nate Burleson, who caught five passes for 60 yards and ran a reverse for 20. “There were seven minutes left and I was saying, ‘Let’s get it to four.’ We tried to get it over with, but it was some good execution by them to get in position to tie the game.”
With 1:35 left, Bucs quarterback Josh Freeman hit Williams in the back of the end zone on fourth-and-3 from the 5. Williams caught the ball over cornerback Aaron Berry.
The Bucs went for the onside kick. Schwartz inserted Johnson on the hands team, and Johnson leaped and grabbed the high bounding kick.
The Lions couldn’t move the ball on three running plays, but they forced the Bucs to use their final two timeouts. Had things gone the way they were supposed to, the Bucs would have gotten the ball back deep in their own zone with 30 seconds left.
Instead, the clock was stopped with 1:24 left when Lions right tackle Gosder Cherilus got entangled with a defensive player and was slapped with an unnecessary roughness penalty.
“I don’t consider that about discipline, I consider that stupid,” Schwartz said. “The opponent has no timeouts left and we get a penalty? That’s a situation we talk about and we work on. That’s stupid football, and it almost put us in a situation — the defense should have been in where there were 30 seconds left and they would have to defend two plays.”
As it was, the Bucs had the ball on the 20 with 1:07 left. Freeman moved them to the Lions 42 before the clock expired on a wild play where the Bucs kept fumbling the ball to keep from getting tackled.
Lions safety Louis Delmas banged his hip on the play but said later he wasn’t injured.
“I am not going to discount the value of a win, particularly a win on the road,” Schwartz said. “But we definitely have to play a lot better than we played today. We made too many mistakes that kept Tampa in the game.
“I guess it’s the sign of a good football team that we made those mistakes and still came out with the win. But there are things that happened in this game that are inexcusable and they will not continue.”
At one point in the first quarter, the Lions had a 147-1 edge in total yards and were trailing 10-6. The Bucs first field goal — a 38-yarder by Connor Barth — was set up by a 78-yard kickoff return by Sammie Stroughter.
“We have a darn good kickoff team,” Schwartz said. “But we missed a tackle and the guy hit a gap and all of a sudden they are kicking a field goal.”
Kicker Jason Hanson, who contributed field goals of 23 and 28 yards, booted all of his other kicks to the back of the end zone.
On the Lions’ next possession, Stafford’s pass clanged off the hands of tight end Will Heller right into the waiting arms of Talib.
“You don’t want those mistakes to keep coming back,” Stafford said. “That’s the main thing. You’ve got to fix them, get them ironed out and not make them next week. We are going to need to get started a little earlier on offense.”
The game was played in oppressive 90-degree heat, and players on both sides were cramping up. Stafford didn’t miss a snap, but he limped off a couple of times. Freeman missed two series in the third quarter with cramps. Burleson also missed some time.
“That was the worst I’ve seen,” Burleson said. “I was hydrated, too, and I still cramped.”
But it was an all’s-well-that-ends-well kind of day for the Lions.
“We almost let this get away at the end,” said Johnson. “Had this been another year, who knows? We should have put it away. I didn’t feel like we were going to lose, but it shouldn’t have been as close as we made it to be.”
chrismccosky@detnews.com
Detroit
It looked so easy, almost too easy. Matthew Stafford was on the field for about five minutes Friday night, and still got to show just about everything.
Short pass, deep pass. Light touch, firm touch. Touchdown to Calvin Johnson. Touchdown to Nate Burleson.
Playing the first two series in the Lions’ 34-3 exhibition romp against the Bengals, Stafford did everything except the one thing nobody wants to see, but eventually has to see. He didn’t take a hit because, well, the Bengals barely got close enough to say hello.
I suppose that’s one way to squelch health concerns about your quarterback — don’t let him get touched. Stafford was quick and decisive with his throws, never coming close to danger. At some point, he will be touched, and his surgically repaired right shoulder will be tested, and then Detroit football fans will breathe better.
Until then, catch your breath, because against the sad-sack Bengals, Stafford and the first-team offense were brilliant.
In case you forgot, you saw why so much of the Lions’ rising expectations revolve around Stafford. He completed six of seven passes for 71 yards, and both touchdowns — a pump-faked 26-yarder to Johnson and a 7-yarder to Burleson on fourth down — were perfectly thrown, squeezed into the tightest spots along the sideline.
For starters, for a good five minutes, this went about as well as it could for the Lions.
“I definitely want to be out there and want to be healthy,” Stafford said. “I think we’re pretty exciting to watch when all the pieces are together. We just wanted to get the ball out quick and get it in some other guys’ hands to make plays.”
Stafford said the offensive line blocked so well, he didn’t once feel a hand on him.
And that’s pretty important, considering no one can begin a sentence about the Lions without adding the Stafford-must-stay-healthy caveat. He hears it, coach Jim Schwartz hears it, everyone in the dressing room hears it, but they’re done worrying about it.
The defense, of course, is in the good, grubby hands of defensive tackles Ndamukong Suh and Corey Williams, who were viciously aggressive against the Bengals’ poor rookie quarterback, Andy Dalton. The Lions’ menacing line can compensate for weaknesses elsewhere on the defense.
Stafford has the potential to change the offense just as dramatically. The paradox is no one wants to see him get hit, but everyone wants to see him get up.
The former No. 1 overall draft pick has played only 13 of 32 games in his career because of various injuries, but he was sharp in this one. He has his swagger back after missing the final six games in 2010. He has his weapons back, including Johnson and fleet running back Jahvid Best.
And there’s every indication Stafford has his strength back, and more. He’s bulkier in the upper body after an intense off-season regimen, and it has been evident during training camp. Against the Bengals, it was really evident.
“He’s bigger and stronger, and he’s still got that great head on his shoulders,” offensive coordinator Scott Linehan said this week. “I can tell he worked harder this offseason on his game and himself physically than he ever has.”
Stafford exited the game with the Lions up 14-0 and 9:44 still remaining in the first quarter. He left with a passer rating of 148.5, a gaudy number we’re more accustomed to seeing posted against the Lions.
The second TD drive covered a mere 16 yards after the Bengals fumbled the kickoff, but it was full of brashness. On fourth-and-1, Stafford heaved a pass to Burleson in the right corner of the end zone. Officials ruled him out of bounds, but Burleson got his toes in and Schwartz won the replay challenge.
There were a few acrobatics for the Lions, and Johnson exhibited his standard play-making, with two catches for 37 yards. He sat after suffering a mildly bruised shoulder that wasn’t considered serious.
The Lions didn’t run the ball well, but that’s not what this first night was about. This was about seeing their franchise quarterback on the field, tying all those pieces together.
“We were pretty methodical, and Matt had great command,” Schwartz said. “When you have confidence you can just take one step and throw it up to 81 (Johnson), or an outlet pass to 44 (Best), that makes it easier to protect.”
This was an easy one, mainly because Stafford and the offense made it that way. The hits will come, and all you can say is, Stafford looks ready for them.
Bob.wojnowski@detnews.com
Twitter.com/bobwojnowski
Allen Park — Can’t imagine what’s going on inside of rookie receiver Titus Young these days, but the phrase all revved up with no place to go comes to mind.
He has to stand aside and watch while the other 11 wide receivers go through position drills. During seven-on-seven and team drills, all he can do pop his head into the huddle, hear the play and then get out of the way.
During special team drills, he is off to the side catching passes with one of the ball boys.
This isn’t at all how Titus Demetrius “TD” Young — as he announced himself to Detroit on draft day — envisioned his first NFL training camp. But then again, he didn’t figure on injuring his right leg on the first day of practice, either.
The Lions aren’t saying much about the injury. Leg stiffness is what they are calling it. Young, a very personable and outgoing guy, isn’t saying much about it either.
“I will talk to you guys when I get back,” he said Saturday. “It should be next week some time.”
He said he wasn’t frustrated. He said it would all be for the best. That’s faith speaking — his spiritual faith and faith in himself.
But you don’t have to be a shrink to feel his anxiety. He wants to show the coaches and his teammates that he was worthy of that second round pick. He wants to show everybody that he is the guy who can fill the void at the third receiver spot, that he is the speedy, field-stretching playmaker that might be able to open some space for Calvin Johnson, Nate Burleson and Brandon Pettigrew.
He desperately wants to be the guy making catches and thrilling the fans during these long, hot practice sessions.
Instead, all he can do watch, wait and sign autographs when he’s asked.
Young is not in danger of being cut; let’s be clear about that. But with each passing day, with each missed rep, it starts to feel like the team is moving on without him.
“It’s still way early in camp,” coach Jim Schwartz said, diffusing any undue stress Young might be feeling. “We haven’t even played a preseason game yet. He’s done a very, very good job of staying involved and staying active with things he can do. When he’s out there he just needs to take advantage of his opportunity.
“How far behind is he? That’s really yet to be seen.”
No, he is behind. He was behind before he was injured. The lockout wiped out a rookie mini-camp and OTAs. He did get a crash course in the offense from Burleson and quarterback Matthew Stafford during the team’s voluntary workouts, but that’s grossly insufficient.
The Lions are in a tough spot, too. Because he practiced that first day, they can’t put him on the physically unable to perform list. There is no such thing as a short-term injury list. If they were to put him on the injured list – his injury isn’t believed to be that extensive – he’d have to miss the entire season.
They just have to wait for him to get healthy and get on the field and see how quickly he can make up for lost time.
But something general manager Martin Mayhew said on Friday resonated regarding players like Young and first-round pick, defensive tackle Nick Fairley, who is going to miss all of training camp with a broken foot.
“With the rookies (across the league), you are going to see a lot of those guys not make an immediate impact who would have had the ability to make an immediate impact with an offseason,” he said. “It’s going to be a different year for rookies.”
The more time Young misses, the harder it will be to catch up enough to make the kind of impact the Lions were hoping he’d make this season. That’s partly why the Lions have 11 other receivers in camp and that’s why Mayhew will continue to scour the waiver wires looking to upgrade the position.
As it is now, eight of the 11 receivers (not counting Young) are fighting for what probably will be one roster spot.
The Lions typically keep five receivers, with one of them being return specialist Stefan Logan. Johnson and Burleson are the starters. Young has been penciled in as the third receiver.
That would leave the following players fighting for one spot – veterans Derrick Williams, Rashied Davis and Maurice Stovall, second-year players Tim Toone and Nate Hughes, and rookies Demario Ballard, Marcus Harris and Dominique Barnes.
If the season started tomorrow, Williams would be the third receiver. The former third-round pick is having the best camp of his career. But Davis has value, too, as an elite special teams player. Stovall is 6-foot-5 and has shown well early on. Ballard is raw, but his size (6-foot-6, 220 pounds) and speed (4.45 seconds in the 40-yard dash) have raised some eyebrows.
So put yourself in Young’s shoes, having to sit idly by as this competition burns day after day — not necessarily the competition for the roster spot, but the competition to be the third receiver.
It can’t be easy.
“We assume he will get back on the field and be able to make plays,” Schwartz said. “If he does, then he won’t be behind at all.”
If it were only that simple.