The special teams units have been in the line of some harsh criticism over the last week – and deservedly so.The Lions have given up four special teams scores over the last two weeks. The kickoff return and punt return given up Sunday were the only touchdowns the Vikings scored in a 20-13 victory.
Lions head coach Jim Schwartz said after Sunday’s game that special teams coordinator Danny Crossman was in no trouble of losing his job and that the mistakes he’s been seeing on special teams are a result of physical errors (guys getting beat), not schematic errors.
Lions kickoff and punt returner
“We're going to go out as a special teams unit, starting tomorrow, (and) watch the depth chart and see what they're going to do as far as moving guys around or whatever it is,” Logan said.
“I'm sure they're going to change some guys around and make some changes and make some corrections. The coaches are upstairs making those decisions so as of right now I have no idea. I'm not sure what's being said upstairs.”
Guys who are in position to make plays need to make plays. That’s what Schwartz was saying about his special teams on Monday.
“I mean, there’s a physical part of an execution,” he said. “Making a tackle, making a catch, you know, those kinds of things – making a block.
“When guys are in position as players, they need to make that. They need to be able to make a play.”
It’ll be interesting to see what kind of shakeup the Lions might have in store for their special teams to get more production from that unit.
“Everybody on the team has a job to do and whatever your job is you need to be able to accomplish it,” Schwartz said. “We haven’t done that the last couple weeks on special teams for a lot of different reasons. It hasn’t been one thing that’s continually come up. It’s been four different breakdowns that have led to four different scores.”
AVRIL NOT LONG-TERM
Lions fans held their collective breath Sunday when franchise defensive end
“Doesn’t look like it’s long-term,” Schwartz said of the injury.
