Ifeatu Melifonwu is in line to get his second straight start at safety for the Detroit Lions. Head coach Dan Campbell all but ruled out regular starter DeShon Elliott with a shoulder injury on Friday for Sunday’s game against the Chicago Bears.
Melifonwu’s starting debut against the Carolina Panthers did not go well. While the second-year DB led the Lions in tackles, he also missed several opportunities and was consistently out of position in run defense.
Campbell expressed some confidence in Melifonwu heading into the Week 17 matchup with Chicago.
“Well, I would anticipate we’d see him react quicker,” Campbell said of Melifonwu. “I think we’re going to see a player that sees it faster and triggers faster, and he knows what we’re looking for just from what we talked about, the intensity, the aggressiveness. So, yeah, I anticipate we’ll see a better version of Iffy.”
Campbell was also asked if reserve safety C.J. Moore would take on a bigger role, but the head coach downplayed that potential.
“Yeah, I think the plan would be to stay with Iffy more this week – to go that route and here’s why and a lot of that came back to – here’s some of the plus and minus with C.J. is, it would be great, but also man, he’s such a vital part of what we do on teams. He’s a four-core player and the more strain you put on him defensively it takes away from the core and that’s really where he – where he really excels.”
Campbell continued,
“And so, I think it’s – that’s why we want to give Iffy more of a go and we feel like that gives us our best chance as a team to keep Moore there. Let Iffy get another week under his belt here and see where it goes.”
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