Tag: Aaron Glenn

Aaron Glenn says Lions EDGE James Houston ‘is very close’ to playing

Detroit DC Aaron Glenn says Lions EDGE James Houston ‘is very close’ to playing in the NFC Championship game

James Houston hasn’t been active for a Detroit Lions game since Week 2. In the loss to the Seahawks back in September, the second-year pass rusher suffered a serious ankle injury.

The Lions activated Houston from the injured reserve prior to the NFC Divisional round game against the Buccaneers, but he was inactive for Sunday’s game. The prolonged absence has many Lions fans crying foul over how the team has handled the 2022 rookie sack phenom.

“I think he’s very close,” Glenn said of Houston. “The thing we want to do is protect that player from himself for the most part.”

Glenn continued,

“I do NOT take injuries lightly. Especially to make sure we listen to the medical department to make sure we bring that player along exactly how he needs to come along.”

Houston was a full participant in Wednesday’s practice, though it was a walkthrough. Given how poorly Romeo Okwara and John Cominsky fared at the EDGE role opposite Aidan Hutchinson in the Buccaneers game, it seems safe to say that if Glenn, the medical staff and the Lions coaches think Houston is capable of playing, he’ll be on the field in San Francisco for the NFC Championship game.

Will Commanders GM Adam Peters attend the Senior Bowl?

The Senior Bowl begins next week. The Commanders will have a busy week.

The Reese’s Senior Bowl is the official kickoff to draft season. That’s where NFL scouts, coaches and others gather for one week to watch practice and put draft-eligible players through drills in preparation for the actual game.

Each team is coached by numerous NFL assistant coaches, a departure from the past, where each side would be coached by an entire NFL team’s coaching staff.

With the NFL world convening in Mobile, Alabama, it’s also a bit of a job fair for coaches and executives looking to land their next gig. Practices begin on Monday, Jan. 29, with the game being played on Saturday, Feb. 3.

The Washington Commanders hold the No. 2 overall pick in the 2024 NFL draft. The Commanders also have three of the top 40 picks and six selections among the first 102. Washington has had a lot of success in selecting players from the Senior Bowl over the years, with Terry McLaurin, Antonio Gibson, Brian Robinson Jr. and Sam Howell among current Commanders who’ve stood out during Senior Bowl week.

Washington also has a new general manager. So, certainly, Adam Peters will be in Mobile, right?

A longtime scout who made his name as a scout with the Patriots before moving into different roles with more responsibility with the Broncos and 49ers, Peters is considered by many to be the NFL’s top talent evaluator. Executives like Peters are made for Senior Bowl week.

Of course, Peters just started his new job with Washington. He also hasn’t hired a head coach yet. Remember, the Commanders are traveling to Detroit to meet Lions offensive coordinator Ben Johnson for a second interview next week. Washington will also likely interview defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn, too. The Commanders could also interview Ravens defensive coordinator Mike Macdonald and associate head coach/defensive line coach Anthony Weaver again, too.

Additionally, Peters has plenty of decisions to make regarding the makeup of his front office. Will he keep current Martin Mayhew on in a different role? What about Marty Hurney? Eric Stokes?

It will be interesting to see if Peters travels with Washington’s contingent to Mobile next week. The front office/scouting staff has a different season than the coaches. They will likely stay on until after the draft, and then Peters would likely make moves to bring in some of his own people.

In a normal year, Peters would be at the Senior Bowl, watching every snap, every drill, but this time around, he may rely on Washington’s current staff to handle those details while he lines up the next head coach.

Don’t be surprised if Peters makes an appearance in Alabama next week. Regardless, he’ll be a busy man.

Lions vs. Buccaneers: What I learned from film study of Detroit’s playoff win

Lions vs. Buccaneers: What I learned from film study of Detroit’s playoff win from Lions Wire’s Jeff Risdon

Fresh off the first Detroit Lions postseason victory since the 1991 season, the team decided that one win wasn’t enough. The Lions beat the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, 31-23, in Ford Field in Sunday’s NFC Divisional Round matchup to advance to the NFC Championship in San Francisco.

Just like the win over the Rams a week earlier, this was a stressful game decided in the fourth quarter. The first three quarters all ended with the score tied. The tension of such a closely-played, high-stakes contest shone through even on the silent All-22 game film.

This week’s film rewatch of the game, both of the broadcast feed and the All-22, revealed a lot about the Lions and where they win and lose games. Here’s some of what I took away from the rewatch.

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Falcons request in-person interviews with 2 Detroit Lions coordinators

REPORT: Falcons have requested in-person interviews with Detroit Lions OC Ben Johnson and DC Aaron Glenn

The Atlanta Falcons have interviewed most of the top available candidates for their head coach vacancy, but a handful of coaches are getting a second look.

According to ESPN’s Michael Rothstein, the team has requested in-person interviews with Detroit Lions offensive coordinator Ben Johnson and defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn.

Both coaches previously took virtual interviews with the Falcons and are among the most sought-after candidates this coaching cycle. Aside from Taylor Swift dating Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce, Detroit’s emergence has been arguably the biggest story in the NFL this season.

The Lions are headed to the NFC championship game after defeating the Buccaneers in the divisional round. Prior to this season, the team had gone over 30 years without a division title or playoff win. The offense has been a powerhouse under Johnson while the defense has rallied around the leadership of Glenn.

The Falcons are also expected to hold additional interviews with Texans offensive coordinator Bobby Slowik, Rams defensive coordinator Raheem Morris and Panthers defensive coordinator Ejiro Evero.

In other news, Falcons defensive coordinator Ryan Nielsen took a job with the Jacksonville Jaguars on Monday. Here’s an updated list of every coach that Atlanta has interviewed thus far.

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Titans to hire Bengals OC Brian Callahan as head coach

Titans hire Bengals OC Brian Callahan as head coach, which means Tennessee didn’t hire Aaron Glenn or Ben Johnson

The Tennessee Titans have themselves a new head coach. Tennessee has decided on Bengals offensive coordinator Brian Callahan as the new head coach, succeeding Mike Vrabel.

The Titans opening was one that Lions defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn interviewed for over the weekend, and Glenn was considered by some as one of the favorites to land the position. Cross that one off the list.

There are still five head coaching vacancies after Callahan’s hiring, and also the Raiders option to keep interim head coach Antonio Pierce for their gig. Both Glenn and Lions OC Ben Johnson have interviewed for the openings with the Chargers and Commanders.

Callahan, 39, had been the Bengals offensive coordinator for the last three seasons. He’s known for his work with QB Joe Burrow and also the surprising development of Burrow’s backup, Jake Browning. He is the son of longtime NFL offensive line coach Bill Callahan, who currently serves in that role for the Browns.

Saints’ Michael Hodges is a key figure in Patriots DC search

The Patriots interviewed Saints linebackers coach Michael Hodges for their DC opening. Even if he doesn’t get the job, they might have a role for him:

The New Orleans Saints could lose yet another assistant to a promotion elsewhere around the league. ESPN’s Mike Reiss reports that linebackers coach Michael Hodges has interviewed for the New England Patriots defensive coordinator opening, along with several other candidates. Head coach Jerod Mayo will likely still call plays defensively, just like Dennis Allen has done, but there’s plenty of room for additions to his staff.

And Hodges is a key figure in the search. An internal option for the job, Patriots defensive line coach DeMarcus Covington, is expected to interview soon — but he’s worked with Hodges before. Here’s what Reiss had to say about the connection:

Some close to the situation say Covington, who attended Mayo’s introduction as coach Wednesday, is well-positioned to elevate to a defensive coordinator role. The interview with Hodges, who was co-defensive coordinator with Covington at Eastern Illinois in 2016, could be a tipoff that it might be headed in that direction.

That suggests there could be room for Hodges in New England even if he doesn’t get the job, possibly working with Covington again as co-defensive coordinators. That strategy didn’t work for the Saints in 2022 with Ryan Nielsen and Kris Richard sharing the title, but it’s worked for other teams, and maybe that’s a situation Mayo could navigate more effectively than Allen did. Hodges and Covington doing well together in the past lends credence to the idea.

If Hodges believes this gives him a better path to advancement and calling his own plays than his current role in New Orleans, he owes it to himself to explore it. Former coworkers like Nielsen and Aaron Glenn have found success after leaving the Saints and getting out of Allen’s shadow. We’ll see if anything comes of this interest.

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Baker Mayfield must calm his rogue tendencies to have a chance against the Lions

If Baker Mayfield and the Buccaneers are going to beat the Lions, Mayfield will have to stay within himself as he didn’t in Week 6.

Baker Mayfield is on his fourth NFL team since 2021, which is an odd place for a former No. 1 overall NFL pick to find himself just seven seasons into his NFL career. One reason Mayfield has traveled an arduous road from the Cleveland Browns to the Carolina Panthers to the Los Angeles Rams to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers is the randomness of his play that can show up too often at the worst possible time. As great as Mayfield can be in the right situation with a coaching staff who can control his rogue tendencies, he’s a finely-tuned machine with a couple of oddly-placed springs, and you just have to live with it.

Buccaneers offensive coordinator Dave Canales has done an outstanding job with that this season, which is a primary reason that the Bucs are in Detroit to play the Lions in the NFC divisional round. Canales has a lot

In that 20-6 Detroit win, Mayfield completed 19 of 37 passes for 206 yards, no touchdowns, one interception, and a passer rating of 56.8. It was probably his worst game of the season. Mayfield was frequently speeding up in the pocket whether he was hurried or not. He didn’t throw with good base fundamentals, and he threw off-platform more than he needed to, which led to a lot of incompletions against tight coverage. More worrisome were the incompletions in which his receivers had scalded Detroit’s defense. 

Mayfield had a wide-open shot to Trey Palmer with 2:00 left in the first half that he overthrew by a couple yards and would have been a touchdown if he’d stayed within himself. This was a deep over from the slot against Cover-4, and Palmer beat safety Kerby Joseph over the top. 

Mayfield did have defensive tackle Benito Jones pressuring him right when he threw the ball, but that’s a throw you need to make. Mayfield was pressured on 13 of his 41 dropbacks in that game, and he completed two of 10 passes for 17 yards and a sack.

This deep incompleton to receiver Chris Godwin on third-and-10 with 1:04 left in the game was one such negative example. The Lions ran a zone exchange out of Cover-4, and Mayfield was in shotgun with a 2×2 formation. The backside flat/post combination was a great design against this coverage, and Joseph was beaten again. With edge defender Julian Okwara dropping into coverage, Detroit defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn sent linebacker Derek Barnes and cornerback Will Harris on an overload pressure to the other side. Harris got through, and Mayfield threw a worm-burner to his target.

For the season, Mayfield has completed 81 of 165 passes for 1,035 yards, seven touchdowns, two interceptions, and a passer rating of 78.2. So, it’s not as if he’s a complete disaster under pressure – this game was an oddity, but it presented most of the things about Mayfield that tend to give you pause. 

It’s now time for Mayfield to silence the doubters.

“When there are plays to be had, we have to take advantage of them,” Mayfield said this week. “It’s staying consistent – they play extremely hard. It just jumps out on film, obviously [with] the way [Lions head coach] Dan Campbell runs that team – everybody swarming to the ball, playing for each other, playing extremely hard with a lot of effort at all times. They’re a tough opponent and they make it hard on you.”

Mayfield will obviously have a better chance to advance to the NFC Championship round if he can avoid making it hard on himself.

In this week’s “Xs and Os with Greg Cosell and Doug Farrar,” the guys investigate the things that those around Mayfield have done to rein things in when necessary.

You can watch this week’s episode of “The Xs and Os,” featuring all the most important matchups of the divisional round, right here:

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You can also listen and subscribe to “The Xs and Os” podcast on Spotify…

…and on Apple Podcasts.

Titans completed 2 more head coach interviews on Friday

The Titans completed two more head coach interviews on Friday.

The Tennessee Titans continued going through their list of head coach interviews on Friday, with the team completing two.

The team announced it has completed interviews with both Philadelphia Eagles offensive coordinator Brian Johnson and Detroit Lions defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn.

It was previously reported by ESPN’s Dan Graziano that Glenn is considered “a strong candidate” for Tennessee’s vacancy. Graziano also predicted that Glenn would get the job.

With those two interviews in the books, the Titans now have two candidates they have yet to speak to: former Stanford head coach David Shaw and Detroit offensive coordinator Ben Johnson.

While there has yet to be an interview scheduled with Johnson, we do know Shawn is reportedly expected to get his this weekend.

The list of completed interviews are as follows:

  1. Raiders HC Antonio Pierce
  2. Bengals OC Brian Callahan
  3. Ravens DC Mike Macdonald
  4. Texans OC Bobby Slowik
  5. Giants OC Mike Kafka
  6. Cowboys DC Dan Quinn
  7. Panthers OC Thomas Brown
  8. Eagles OC Brian Johnson
  9. Lions DC Aaron Glenn

Pierce’s name has since been taken out of the running after he was hired for the Raiders’ full-time position. Callahan is the only candidate who has been asked for a second interview thus far.

Stay up to date with all the latest on Tennessee’s search with our head coach tracker.

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Falcons complete virtual interview with Lions DC Aaron Glenn

The Atlanta Falcons completed a virtual interview with Lions defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn on Friday, the team announced

The Atlanta Falcons have now completed nine interviews for their head coach vacancy. On Friday, they completed a virtual interview with Detroit Lions defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn, the team announced.

Glenn was the defensive backs coach in New Orleans for five seasons before joining Dan Campbell’s staff in Detroit in 2021 as the defensive coordinator.

Before starting his coaching career, Glenn was an NFL defensive back for 15 seasons. He was originally drafted in the first round by the New York Jets in 1994. Glenn helped turn the Lions defense around over the last three seasons and he’s considered one of the NFL’s brightest coordinators.

The Falcons are also in the process of an in-person interview with former Patriots head coach Bill Belichick. Stay up to date with each interview and interview request using our head coach tracker!

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Raiders hire Antonio Pierce as head coach

Pierce, a former Raiders LB, led the team to a 5-4 record after taking over following their Week 8 loss to the Lions

The Las Vegas Raiders were one of the teams that presented a threat to hire away one of the Detroit Lions coordinators this offseason. That threat is now over.

On Friday, the Raiders hired interim head coach Antonio Pierce to the full-time job. It’s a move that had been championed by the Raiders players, who finished 5-4 under Pierce after starting 3-5 with Josh McDaniels in charge. The Raiders fired McDaniels after a Week 8 loss to the Lions on Monday Night Football.

Pierce is a former NFL linebacker who meshed well and quickly earned respect in the locker room. In that regard, he’s a lot like Lions head coach Dan Campbell and Texans head coach DeMeco Ryans, both of whom are still competing in the postseason.

The Raiders had never formally requested permission to speak with either Lions coordinator, Ben Johnson or Aaron Glenn. They are conducting remote interviews during the scant free time this weekend before the Lions face the Buccaneers.