Offensive coordinator Drew Petzing, defensive coordinator Kelvin Sheppard and special teams coordinator Dave Fipp spoke to the media Thursday as they do every week during the regular season. Here are my 10 biggest takeaways from those media sessions:
1. Sheppard said the defense through four games has looked nothing like what he thought it would coming out of camp. He said the back seven have been doing a disservice to the defensive line. Detroit ranks second in sacks, third in pressure rate and first in non-blitz pressure rate. He added the D-line is the best they have been in his six years in Detroit. The issue has been the back seven and Sheppard is focused on fixing the issues there.
2. Detroit's offense ranks 20th in rushing offense this season averaging 102.0 yards per game. Part of that has been being down by double digits and having to throw their way back into the game against Buffalo and Carolina. Petzing said Thursday that they must be better running the football. He wants to see two things improve moving forward:
- More explosive runs. Detroit's 12 runs of 10-plus yards rank eighth, but they are 22nd in 20-plus yard runs (one) and do not have a run of 50-plus yards in four games.
- More consistency drive-to-drive and game-to-game with the run game.
3. Fipp put the blame squarely on his shoulders for the Lions having to use a timeout because they only had 10 men on the field on a field goal try last week.
"We had a guy run off, which ultimately I should have seen that," he said. "So, I should have caught that. We should never burn a time out for a guy not being on the field. Totally my fault."
4. Rookie defensive back Keith Abney II has played just 25 snaps on defense this season, but we could see a lot more of him Sunday in Arizona. Sheppard said Abney is one of the smartest rookies he's ever been around and he views him as a player with three-position flexibility (outside corner, nickel corner and safety). Abney playing more safety Sunday could allow Christian Izien to play more nickel, and those could be a couple of the personnel shakeups the Lions are looking to make against the Cardinals.
5. The offense hit on a couple deep passes to wide receivers Jameson Williams and Isaac TeSlaa last week. Petzing said those were huge to put on tape because they can affect how the defense plays them moving forward in order to potentially open some things up in other areas, specifically the run game.
6. Fipp is a very statistical and analytical coach. He often jokes he'll have a special teams podcast after he's done coaching. Asked about the kickoff return game, he said he doesn't care much about return average. So many things can factor into that number. Detroit averages 25.1 yards per return to rank 20th in the league. Their average starting position after a kickoff is the 31.1-yard line, which ranks 11th best.
7. What will getting defensive back Brian Branch into the lineup mean for the defense?
"I don't even know the word for it. I don't," Sheppard said. "But I mean, how many positions can he play and how fast? I mean, he's a dynamic player. That is an elite player in this league, which we all know guys."
Shepard said they must pick and choose how much, how soon and where Branch plays initially as he works his way back. Sheppard also said Branch looked terrific during Wednesday's practice. Reinforcements for the secondary are on the way.
8. This is the best special teams rush group Fipp said he's had in his tenure in Detroit, which started with head coach Dan Campbell in 2021. They've been close to blocking a punt and field goal and he thinks that could be coming. He loves the speed and get-off from the collective group trying to pressure those kicks.
9. Petzing spent three years in Arizona as the offensive coordinator and got a first-hand look at Cardinals safety Budda Baker every year in training camp. Baker is one of the best in the business. Petzing said what makes him special is his ability to get the ball on the ground, play with violence, and when he has to go off script outside of the scheme, he finds a way to make plays.
10. Sheppard said the biggest correction the defense has to make right now is their trust. When one player feels like another isn't in his gap, he tries to peek over and cover that gap. Then the ball hits his gap and he's not in position to make the play. Sheppard said it's happening too much.
"We've got to make sure the guys you don't trust aren't out there or you guys get it corrected and you get it corrected in a hurry," he said. "Everybody needs to be doing their one-eleventh."
