Lions Insider

There's one piece of advice former Raiders owner Al Davis gave Lions defensive coordinator Gunther Cunningham that's always stuck with him.

"Give them three years before you decide to move on," Cunningham recalled of the conversation with Davis. "And I think he's right."

The Lions have a few players with a lot to prove heading into their third season in the NFL. Cornerback Aaron Berry is certainly one of those.

Berry is perhaps the strongest candidate to fill the one open starting spot on defense left by the departure of Eric Wright in free agency.

Berry had offseason shoulder surgery and has added nearly 10 pounds to his frame in an attempt to stay on the field and be a reliable playmaker in the Lions' secondary.

Berry missed 15 games as a rookie because of a shoulder injury and five more last season because of the shoulder and other ailments.

First and foremost, Berry has to prove he can stay on the field. If he can do that, though, Cunningham thinks the rest will take care of itself.

"This guy can play," he said of Berry. "He's one of the finest cover guys I've seen in a long time."

Berry won the starting nickel cornerback job as a rookie and played the same role last season. There's a good chance the Lions think he can handle one of the starting cornerback spots and fellow starting corner Chris Houston says he likes the fact that a lot of people are underestimating Berry's talents.

"I think they are underrating him," Houston said of Berry. "That's the best way to be, going into the game being underrated, the ball is coming to him a little bit more and he can make plays.

"I used to be like that. I made plays that came to me and he'll do the same thing. He isn't going to be underrated too much longer."

Lions receiver Nate Burleson recently commented on how physical Berry is at the line of scrimmage and how well he's looked this offseason.

"When I'm healthy, I feel like I'm the best player out there and that's the attitude you're supposed to have," Berry said. "The biggest thing for me is just staying healthy and staying on the field and out of that trainers' room.

"I'm ready. Being an undrafted free agent, I've been through everything. That's why there's no pressure for me, I'm just going to go continue what I'm doing."

There is a lot of pressure on this secondary to stay healthy and make plays and and all eyes will be on Berry early on.

It's time to take that leap in year three.