Offensive coordinator John Morton, defensive coordinator Kelvin Sheppard and special teams coordinator Dave Fipp spoke to the media Thursday ahead of Detroit's matchup with the Los Angeles Rams Sunday at SoFi Stadium.
Here are my 10 biggest takeaways from those media sessions:
1. One of the key points of emphasis this week for Sheppard is limiting the number of explosive plays in the passing game. Detroit gave up eight explosives in the pass game to Dallas last week and that's too many in Sheppard's book. This week the Lions play a Rams' offense that leads the NFL in 20-plus-yard completions with 50, so Sheppard knows the Rams are going to attack downfield. He's challenged his back seven to make more plays on the football at the point of attack.
2. One thing Morton talked about Thursday was Detroit's offensive line matching the physicality and intensity of the Rams' defensive front. LA's front causes havoc by applying pressure to the quarterback and creating turnovers. Morton said he's looking forward to that matchup because it will be one of the big keys to the game for both sides.
3. Tom Kennedy stepped in when Kalif Raymond missed a couple games with an ankle injury and has averaged 21.0 yards per punt return and 33.5 yards per kickoff return. Fipp said Kennedy has earned the right to keep returning kickoffs. The plan is for Raymond to return punts when he's back in the lineup.
4. Sheppard played against Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford in college and the NFL and he was once a teammate of Stafford's in Detroit. Sheppard is impressed at the way Stafford is playing at 37 years old being one of the favorites for MVP. One thing Sheppard said Stafford is especially good at is manipulating and moving defenders in zone coverage with his eyes. Sheppard had a simple message for his defenders playing Stafford this week: Don't trust Stafford's eyes because he'll lie to you.
5. Detroit's struggled some this season against good defenses that can pressure the quarterback with just their defensive front and drop seven into coverage behind it. Philadelphia and Green Bay are two teams that come to mind. Morton said they want to attack both in the run and pass games, but this could be a game where they have to dink and dunk a little bit and take what the defense gives them to sustain drives. It's why eliminating the pre-snap penalties and not playing behind the sticks is so important, per Morton.
6. It was interesting to hear Fipp talk about the pre-draft process and the emphasis teams are going to put on players who can return kicks now that kickoffs are being returned close to 80 percent of the time. Fipp thinks there's going to be an emphasis on No. 2 running backs and No. 3 receivers getting into the return game because it's becoming such an important play.
7. One thing Sheppard has noticed a lot on tape is the trust Stafford has in wide receivers Puka Nacua and Davante Adams to throw them 50-50 balls down the field and know they'll either make the catch or no one will. Sheppard has talked this week about finishing plays and getting hands on footballs when those opportunities arise because even if they're in good coverage, Stafford will give those receivers opportunities to still make plays.
8. The Lions are down to the reserves of the reserves at tight end and Morton admitted there's a challenge that comes with that. It's been big that Jahmyr Gibbs has stepped up in the pass game and Morton likes how wide receiver Isaac TeSlaa is developing and making more plays. The Lions love using their tight ends but have had to adjust a little bit. Morton said that will continue to evolve moving forward.
9. Trevor Nowaske and Tyrus Wheat lead the Lions in special teams tackles with 10 apiece. Wheat is a bigger body at 6-foot-2 and 260 pounds, but Fipp and the Lions like to use some of those bigger bodies on kickoff coverage because of their ability to shed blocks. Wheat is terrific at it and benefits from playing on the right side of the coverage formation. Kicker Jake Bates likes to kick the ball to his right, so Wheat gets a lot of opportunities to make plays and credit to him for making them.
10. The Rams run a lot of 13 personnel (one running back, three tight ends). Sheppard said Rams head coach Sean McVay does a great job dictating to the defense how they must play because they can pass and run out of it. Detroit plays more base with bigger personnel, more than any other defense in the league, so it will be interesting to see if that's a big part of Los Angeles' offensive game plan this week.
