Defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn, offensive coordinator Anthony Lynn and special teams coordinator Dave Fipp spoke to the media Thursday as they do every week. Here are my 10 biggest takeaways from those media sessions:
1. The four turnovers (three fumbles and an interception) in plus territory the last two weeks against Chicago and Minnesota have really bothered Lynn. He said he's got to do a better job with play calling in those situations. He also said the protection has to be better, as well as the decision making at quarterback.
2. Glenn always opens with the positives, and there were plenty of positives from his defense last week. Glenn said that unit continues to improve, and he likes how they've been able to pressure the quarterback and generate turnovers the last few weeks. He continues to really like the third-down defense, which ranks second in the NFL.
3. In talking about some of the last-second field goal attempts that have beaten the Lions this year, Fipp joked that the team can't catch a break. He said teams have the 11th worst percentage on field goals against the Lions this year, but in those last-second situations, opponents have been spot on.
4. Veteran left tackle Taylor Decker took walkthrough reps in practice Wednesday, but Lynn was hopeful Decker would mix into some more practice reps Thursday so the team could really start to evaluate his readiness for a return to the roster from IR. Decker's missed the first five games with a finger/hand injury.
5. Glenn talked about the strategy last week to rush three defenders on the Vikings' last drive. He said there are some young and inexperienced players in the secondary due to injury, and he didn't want to leave them more exposed by rushing four or five. He didn't seem to regret the decision.
6. Kicker Austin Seibert did a good job last week in Minnesota after missing two games while on the Reserve/COVID-19 list. He hit all three of his field goal attempts against the Vikings. Fipp said Seibert found a place locally to work out and kick while he was away from the team, and that really helped him not skip a beat upon his return.
7. Cincinnati quarterback Joe Burrow, wide receiver Ja'Marr Chase and the weapons the Bengals have on offense get a lot of the headlines, but their defense is pretty good too. They rank seventh in the NFL in points allowed and 11th in yards allowed per contest. They've got 13 sacks on the year. Lynn said they have one of the better front seven units in the league. He described them as a solid, blue-collar group.
8. Safety Tracy Walker is coming off what Glenn said was his best performance of the season in Minnesota. Glenn said he's really looking for Walker to stack those kind of performances on top of each other. Glenn wants to see the same consistency and execution from Walker this week.
9. Lynn and the Lions have worked a little bit this week to simplify and streamline some of their play calls. Lynn said it wasn't really a big deal, but they looked for opportunities to use a single word here or there to replace a long call just to streamline things a bit and help with communication.
10. The Bengals' offense can score quickly and in bunches with some of the weapons they have at the skill positions. Glenn said Burrow really sees the field well for a young quarterback. If the Lions give Burrow just the slightest opportunity to make a big play, he will see it and take a shot.
