Tyleik Williams recorded 136 tackles, 28.0 tackles for loss, 11.5 sacks, 10 passes defended and a forced fumble in 51 games at Ohio State.

That production helped make him a first-round pick by the Lions in this year's NFL Draft. Williams got used to filling up the stat sheet in college and had the same expectation for himself coming into the NFL.

Lions defensive coordinator Kelvin Sheppard convinced Williams he doesn't have to fill up the stat sheet to impact the game in his defense.

"Leaving that mindset of, 'I have to make the play to have an impact on the game.'" Sheppard said Friday when asked about Williams. "Coming from being a college player and a dominant college player, to understanding his role and how we see him making plays, I think that's the biggest progress. And I appreciate the player because that's hard.

"You come in, these preconceived notions that you've got to be the difference maker. Well, this is what a three-technique, a nose tackle, this is the way you become a difference maker for us and it showed up."

It definitely showed up on the tape of last week's win over the Chicago Bears, from the way Williams handled double teams to the 3rd & 1 and 4th & 1 quarterback sneaks that were stuffed by Williams and others.

"Those are quarterback sneaks, the percentile is in the 90-something percentile in this league and that play got stopped largely due to that player," Sheppard said.

Williams also had a critical pass defended on a fourth down play later in the contest. Those are huge plays that altered the outcome of the game. Sheppard believes Williams is going to continue to show up more and more on the stat sheet because he's doing it within the framework of the scheme and not going out and seeking stats.

"Definitely at Ohio State I racked up a lot of tackles because we played a different style of defense," Williams said Friday. "In training camp, I was doing what I was doing at Ohio State and I was kind of creating gaps. Shep told me, 'If you hold your gap plays will come to you.' It's taken me a little while to get used to it because I'm so used to escaping off blocks, but it's better for the defense as a whole when I'm not creating big gaps. It's a learning process, but it's going to help me."

LITMUS TEST

Monday night is a measuring stick game for the Detroit Lions in Baltimore against the Ravens.

"Every year you're talking about the Ravens in the championship contention," Sheppard said Friday. "Every year, year in and year out. And over the last couple of years, you've talked about us in the same context.

"So, this is two teams, we know where this game stands. Now it's early in the year, this isn't a deciding factor of who's going to the Super Bowl or anything, but it is a litmus test for us and let us know where do you really stand against the big boys in the league."

It's Detroit's second road test of the season after not playing very well away from Ford Field Week 1 in a loss to the Green Bay Packers. Detroit's players and coaches didn't shy away from the fact that the last time the Lions played Baltimore at M&T Bank Stadium in 2023, the Ravens defeated them, 38-6.

"I want to see us improve on the road against a really good opponent," Lions head coach Dan Campbell said this week. "There's a lot of things I feel like are similar between us. It's not a mirror image necessarily, but yet, the principals I feel like are very much alike. And so you want to see us go in there and really improve under that environment against that team. I think that's the biggest thing."

Lions quarterback Jared Goff had a 68.4 passer rating with zero touchdowns and an interception in that loss in Baltimore. He said both he and the offense are eager to prove they're one of the league's best units.

"We've got to go in there and prove it and show them that we obviously can hang with them and we're a great team," Goff said. "And in that instance we didn't, so certainly have a little bit to prove this week."

It's a matchup Campbell has been itching for all week.

"We know it's going to be a challenge," he said. "But I'm telling you, we're looking forward to it. I mean, these are fun, man. These are as good as it gets."

BRANCH & HAMILTON

Detroit's Brian Branch and Baltimore's Kyle Hamilton are arguably the two most versatile and talented young safeties in the NFL.

Branch and Hall of Famer Ed Reed are the only NFL defensive backs since at least 1999 to accumulate at least 30 passes defended, 15 tackles for loss, five interceptions, 3.0 sacks and three forced fumbles through the first three seasons of a player's career.

Goff thinks practicing against Branch the last few years helps in his preparation for Hamilton Monday and all the different ways the Ravens might deploy him.

"Yeah, very similar players in the fact that will cover wide receivers in man coverage and not very many safeties will do that willingly and as a part of their defense," Goff said. "So, similar in that aspect, they're both really good man cover players, they both hit hard, they both can make plays on the ball, like I said, they both tackle well, they're both really good players. And, yeah, we're lucky to have BB and then got to play against Kyle (Hamilton) this week."

EXTRA POINT

Edge rusher Marcus Davenport was the only player not taking part in the open portion of Lions practice Friday as both linebacker Jack Campbell and left tackle Taylor Decker returned after sitting out Thursday.