Category: Lions News

Justin Fields now expected to start at QB for Bears vs. Lions

Fields has been out with a thumb injury since Week 6, with Tyson Bagent taking his place

Prepping for the Chicago Bears and their visit to Ford Field in Week 11 has been a little tricky for the Detroit Lions. Dan Campbell’s team has been forced to prepare for two different potential starting quarterbacks for Chicago.

Justin Fields, the Bears starter for the last two-plus seasons, has been out with a hand injury. Fields dislocated the thumb on his throwing hand and has not played since Week 6.

Undrafted rookie Tyson Bagent has filled in for Fields and offers a different style in the Bear offense. He’s more of a checkdown passer and a lot less of a running threat than Fields.

It now appears that Fields will be the starter. The NFL Network reported that Fields will get the nod as long as he progresses through the rest of the week without complications to the thumb injury.

Detroit has had a lot of success against Fields, holding him to a completion percentage of just 51.7, with three TDs and also three INTs in three starts. Fields has run for 288 yards in those trio of starts, but the Lions have won two of those three meetings.

Lions place Halapoulivaati Vaitai on I.R. among Week 11 roster moves

Vaitai started just 3 games before knee and back injuries sidelined him this year

Halapoulivaati Vaitai’s time with the Detroit Lions could effectively be over. The Lions placed the veteran offensive guard on injured reserve on Tuesday.

Vaitai missed several weeks earlier in the season with a knee injury, but “Big V” sat out the last two Detroit games with a back injury. That’s an extension of the same issue that kept him out of the entire 2022 season. The 30-year-old made just three starts in 2023.

Detroit was also busy on the practice squad. Prior to the reported signing of EDGE Bruce Irvin, the Lions released RB Devine Ozigbo and CB Anthony Averett from the practice squad. In their place are new signees, OL Michael Schofield and CB Kindle Vildor.

Schofield is a veteran with starting experience at both right guard and right tackle. He started five games for the Chicago Bears in 2022, his fourth NFL team in seven years. Schofield played collegiately at nearby Michigan and turns 33 on Wednesday.

Vildor is a four-year vet who played his first three seasons in Chicago. The Tennessee Titans waived him after two games this year, and he was most recently on the Philadelphia Eagles practice squad.

Detroit has one spot open on the 53-man roster. Expect that to go to long snapper Jake McQuaide, who played in Week 10 as a practice squad elevation.

Lions are signing veteran EDGE Bruce Irvin to the practice squad

Irvin bagged 3.5 sacks for the Seahawks in 2022

In search of more potential help on the pass rush, the Detroit Lions are bringing in veteran Bruce Irvin. Per numerous reports, Irvin is signing with the Lions practice squad.

Detroit opened the space on the practice squad earlier in the day by releasing running back Devine Ozigbo. By adding Irvin, the Lions should remain hopeful that Irvin has plenty left in the tank as the 36-year old veteran is playing for his 5th team in as many seasons.

Irvin was the 15th overall pick in the 2012 NFL Draft to the Seattle Seahawks. During that time it was surprising to see Irvin selected that high as the national media didn’t have him predicted to be a first round pick. However, he had become a top draft pick due to his strong Scouting Combine performance where he ran a 4.50 second 40-yard dash and 6.70 second time in the 3-cone drill.

Overall, he spent six seasons with the Seattle Seahawks where he posted 25.5 sacks and 31 tackles-for-loss. In addition to that, he spent three seasons with the Raiders and spent time with the Bears, Falcons and Panthers. Last season, Irvin played for the Seahawks and he posted 3.5 sacks with 10 games started.

This move might not necessarily move the needle to give the Lions an elite edge rusher opposite of Aidan Hutchinson. However, it does give them another body to try and add into their rotation as they await the return of James Houston. Head coach Dan Campbell said to the media today that “late December” seems like the ideal timeline for a potential return from Houston.

Time will tell on James Houston. For now, the Lions move forward with Bruce Irvin. They’ll hope he’ll be able to get up to speed as the Lions push for their first division championship since 1993. To capture that, they’ll need help with their pass rush. Maybe Irvin can provide a spark down the stretch for Detroit.

Lions release RB Devine Ozigbo from the practice squad

It’s the 10th time Ozigbo has been on the Lions transaction wire since July

The Detroit Lions made an interesting move at the bottom of the roster on Tuesday. Per Aaron Wilson of KPRC-2 and quickly confirmed by another source, the Lions have released running back Devine Ozigbo from the team’s practice squad.

Ozigbo has bounced between the Lions active roster and practice squad for several weeks while Detroit dealt with several injuries at running back. He appeared in three games, getting three carries and one reception in the Week 6 win over the Buccaneers.

Now that the team is healthy, Ozigbo’s services were not as in demand in Detroit. The Lions also have Jermar Jefferson on the practice squad behind David Montgomery, Jahmyr Gibbs and Craig Reynolds.

Ozigbo is now free to sign with any team. It opens up a practice squad spot for the Lions, who were at the player limit, too.

Dan Campbell advises Lions fans to ‘wear a diaper’ on risky 4th downs

Head coach Dan Campbell advises Lions fans to ‘wear a diaper’ on risky 4th down attempts

Dan Campbell’s aggressive approach to going for it on fourth downs has not always been easy to watch. In fact, it can scare the crap out of fans at times — even when it works, which it often does. Campbell is aware of the situation and offered up some age advice on handling the nervous excitement.

In his weekly interview with Stoney and Jansen on Detroit radio station 97.1, Campbell dropped quite the quip about how to handle his fourth down strategy.

“Here’s what I would say, because I tell my family this — just wear a diaper before some of these games,” Campbell said. “I’ll give them an alert and say, ‘Put them on and be ready to roll.'”

That’s a new way to watch a football game. Perhaps Campbell is borrowing from a strategy concertgoers often use when seeing Metallica?

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Dan Campbell explains what went wrong with the Lions pass rush in win over Chargers

The Lions failed to record a sack and Dan Campbell wasn’t happy with the lack of a pass rush

The Detroit Lions won the Week 10 matchup against the Los Angeles Chargers, but the 41-38 triumph wasn’t easy. Detroit’s defense got gashed for five straight touchdowns after starting out well.

The lack of a pass rush was a primary factor. Other than Aidan Hutchinson, who logged three QB pressures and three other hits on Justin Herbert, the rush was nearly nonexistent. Detroit did not sack Herbert once.

Head coach Dan Campbell was asked about the ineffective work from the defensive front. Campbell zeroed in on the technique and coordination of the rush and coverage.

“Yeah, look, I go back to some of this is, we’ve got to really hone in on our technique with where we’re at. We’ve got a lot of things that are schemed up that we can be better at, the execution of it,” Campbell said of the pass rush.

Blitzing linebacker Alex Anzalone worked early, but the Lions got away from that later. The lack of success clearly frustrated Campbell.

“We had a number of different pressures and games that we had lined up in the second down, third down, that we just weren’t getting there fast enough and it was,” Campbell said. “We talk about all the time, the rush into coverage, and it was we’re covering pretty good and then man, we’re just not quite getting there and so (Chargers WR Keenan Allen) 13, we’ve got him doubled, well, he’s able to run through the double because we’re not getting there fast enough.”

That has ripple effects, as Campbell noted,

“And then on the flip side, we’re getting there, but we’re not tight enough in coverage. So, we’ve just got to get them to mirror up and we’re got to keep working our technique, man. We’ve got to win our one-on-ones when they show up upfront, and really, even in the backend, too. When those times present themselves, we have to win a one-on-one. Certainly, more than we did yesterday.”

Campbell seems confident the Lions pass rush will bounce back against the Bears in Week 11.

“It’s been something we’ve been pretty good at,” Campbell told reporters. “We played – we bounced back, played pretty good against the Raiders, played damn good. So, we will bounce back from this and we’ll get it right.”

Dan Campbell’s press conference lacked one key thing

Lions head coach Dan Campbell’s press conference on Monday after the Week 10 win lacked one key thing

Monday afternoon’s press conference at Detroit Lions headquarters was a fairly nondescript one for head coach Dan Campbell. Obviously still a little behind on sleep after flying home following the team’s Sunday evening win in Los Angeles, Campbell hit on nearly all the common next-day themes.

Nearly all. There was one notable, happy omission: an injury update.

Campbell didn’t bring up any new injuries from the Lions’ Week 10 win. Nor was coach Campbell asked about them, and for good reason.

The Lions exited Los Angeles without losing any players to injury. Cornerback Jerry Jacobs sat out a play after getting hit in the back of the ribs, but he returned.

No other Lions needed on-field attention by the team’s training staff, or required an in-game status update. That makes the road win even sweeter.

 

Jared Goff and David Montgomery nominated for FedEx Player of the Week honors

The award is decided via fan voting, so vote for Goff and Montgomery (link included)

Sunday’s offensive eruption by the Detroit Lions has two players in line for some weekly honors. Lions QB Jared Goff and RB David Montgomery are nominees for the FedEx Air and Ground Players of the Week, respectively.

It’s the second nomination for each of them in 2023 and the first time Lions players are up for the awards in the same week in at least four years.

Goff is up against Geno Smith of the Seahawks and Dak Prescott of the Cowboys. Montgomery and his 116 rushing yards face off against Houston’s Devin Singletary and Jaylen Warren of the Steelers.

The award is decided via fan voting. You can vote for Montgomery and Goff here.

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Lions RB duo achieved a feat not done in Detroit in 87 years

Lions RB duo of Jahmyr Gibbs and David Montgomery achieved a feat not done in Detroit since 1936

Not since the days of Ace Gutowsky and Dutch Clark have the Lions done things that the current offense is pulling off.

When David Montgomery exploded through the Chargers defense for a 75-yard touchdown, it was his second TD run of at least 20 yards this season. Fellow RB Jahmyr Gibbs also has two TDs on runs of 20 yards or more.

That doesn’t happen very often, having two RBs each score on runs of 20-plus yards. In Detroit, it hadn’t happened in 87 years. From the Lions PR team:

The last Lions RB duo to pull off what Gibbs and Montgomery have done in the first nine games of 2023 was Clark and Gutowsky back in 1936. They were keys to an offense that ran for nearly 2,900 yards in a 12-game season, back when the forward pass wasn’t used often; the ’36 Lions passed for just 818 yards on 61 completions on the season.

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Jahmyr Gibbs shines as Lions rookies continue to contribute

The rookies of this 2023 NFL Draft class continues to shine for the Detroit Lions as they continue their magical season.

The Detroit Lions continued their magical season on Sunday with a last-minute win against the Chargers. The team improved to 7-2 on the year and 4-1 on the road. Winning in the NFL is one thing but winning on the road is something only special teams often do.

What makes this team special, beyond the road record, is the way they get the most out of their rookie class.

The 2023 Detroit Lions rookie class is arguably the best for what it has done for their team. Other teams found key pieces of course but for a team that was on the up, they hit the mark perfectly.

Several rookies made important impacts on Sunday’s game, no one more than Jahmyr Gibbs who we highlight first.