Normally at this time of the year, undrafted rookies and local tryout players are giving everything they’ve got to try and latch onto an NFL team. But this year’s pandemic has changed everything, and that includes denying those athletes a chance to compete for jobs. It’s something that bothers Lions head coach Matt Patricia.
Coach Patricia lamented the loss of opportunity to check out these players and the ability to unearth some diamonds in the rough because of the modified protocols regarding the coronavirus pandemic. He talked about the missed opportunity for those players, and for the team to find them, in his media teleconference this week.
“There are definitely guys out there that, because of the situation we’re in, maybe are missing those opportunities that normally would be available to them, and certainly the easiest one to just throw off the top of my head is Malcolm Butler,” Patricia said, citing the Super Bowl hero for the Patriots who was an undrafted tryout player. “I mean having an opportunity to bring a guy like that into a rookie mini-camp or rookie tryout and letting that player perform and produce and give him that opportunity to show us what they can do, it’s unfortunate that that’s the situation we’re in.”
Patricia continued, noting how it forced the team to approach building the team differently this year.
“It’s also something from the standpoint of roster building, we really tried to take into account this year before we got into the Draft and through free agency, knowing that this wasn’t going to be one of those years where you sign 20 free agents after the Draft and you bring them in for a mini-camp for a weekend and you might find – usually we find three or five guys that we want to keep around and work with for the rest of the spring and then bring back to training camp,” Patricia said.
Last year the Lions found DL Kevin Strong and LB Anthony Pittman, both of whom were on the 53-man roster at points in the season after being undrafted and underexposed to the league. It will be more difficult for players like that to latch on in 2020.