Tag: Alex Meyers

Detroit Lions Week 15 Studs and Duds: D’Andre Swift scores twice

Identifying the Detroit Lions Week 15 Studs and Duds following their loss to the Tennesse Titans.

The Detroit Lions lost a tough one against the Tennessee Titans. In this high-scoring matchup, the Lions missed some opportunities and could not overcome Tennessee’s offense.

This was not a pretty game by Detroit’s defense by any means, but the offense sure did put their best effort into this one.

Sitting now at the bottom of their division, there’s not a lot to be optimistic about with the Lions and it feels like there’s plenty of blame to go around. Still, there were some stellar performances by some players in the 46-25 loss.

Stud: D’Andre Swift

Don’t let his goal-line fumble make you think that the rookie running back had a bad game. Swift more than made up for that error by punching in two other short-yard runs for touchdowns.

His vision and patience in the backfield was a nice change of pace for the offense and supplemented Stafford and the passing game well.

The rookie had 67 yards on the ground and another 15 in the air against Tennessee.

Dud: Duron Harmon

Harmon struggled in coverage and then failed on a horrendous tackle attempt, causing Tennessee’s Corey Davis to make a 75-yard catch-and-run for a touchdown on the first snap of the Titans’ second offensive drive.

The veteran safety looked lost pre-snap, and even after he got his footing, he still struggled to cover Davis.

Stud: Hunter Bryant

The undrafted rookie’s first career catch will be one to remember.

From the slot, the tight end out of Washington ran a beautiful route and made quite the catch over a Titans defender for a 44-yard gain and helped set up the Lions in good field position.

Dud: Alex Myres

The second-year cornerback was elevated from the practice squad for this matchup and struggled hard in the second quarter. Playing at the cornerback spot opposite Amani Oruwariye — after a Mike Ford injury –, the young defender committed a costly pass interference penalty that gave the Titans excellent field position. A few plays later, karma came his way when he took a brutal stiff arm from Derrick Henry.

His entire career has been spent on practice squads, and Myres did not have a nice welcome to the NFL in this game.

Stud: Romeo Okwara

After a heartbreaking fumble at the goal line by D’Andre Swift, the Titans had the ball up 21-7 with a few minutes before the half.

Ryan Tannehill took the snap and stepped back into the endzone, and defensive end Romeo Okwara was able to blow past the left tackle and take Tannehill down for Detroit’s first safety of the year.

It may have not been a game-saving play, but it sparked some new life into the defense and gave them some extra rest on the sidelines before halftime.

Dud: Matt Prater

Prater has not looked like himself this season, and his missed extra point following D’Andre Swift’s first-half touchdown added to his list of struggles in 2020.

Stud: Marvin Jones

Jones was the most impressive of Stafford’s weapons in this game. The 30-year-old receiver made some big plays throughout the first half, bringing in seven receptions for 75 yards and a touchdown.

Lions activate TE Hunter Bryant from I.R., sign DT Kevin Strong to active roster

The Detroit Lions announced that they have activated rookie tight end Hunter Bryant from injured reserve and signed defensive tackle Kevin Strong to the active roster.

The Detroit Lions made a series of roster moves on Wednesday, including placing defensive tackle Danny Shelton and cornerback Desmond Trufant on injured reserve.

That transaction opened up two spots on the active roster and in a corresponding move, the Lions activated rookie tight end Hunter Bryant from injured reserve and signed defensive tackle Kevin Strong off of the practice squad.

Strong was just re-signed to the practice squad yesterday, but after spending the majority of the last 18 months on the roster, he is very familiar with the Lions defensive scheme and should be an immediate contributor.

While switching out Shelton for Strong seems like a one-to-one swap, they play at different spots on the defensive line, with Shelton splitting time between the nose and 3T, while Strong is a 3T, with range to play at defensive end in big sets.

Instead, expect sixth-round rookie nose tackle John Penisini to be injected into the starting lineup.

Bryant was a favorite target of Matthew Stafford in training camp and that relationship, along with above-average athleticism, will give him a shot to contribute right away, if healthy.

Bryant’s health is still a bit in question, as he has not seen the field this season, and this promotion could have come, not because he was healthy, but because his 21-day evaluation window was coming to a close. Meaning if the Lions wanted to play him at some point this season, he needed to be placed on the active roster this week.

Like Bryant, Julian Okwara and Darryl Roberts have completed their stints on injured reserve. While Bryant began practicing three weeks ago, Okwara and Roberts are just beginning to practice today which will start the clock on their 21-day evaluation period.

One final housekeeping note, the promotion of Strong to the active roster opened up a spot on the practice squad and that was filled by cornerback Alex Meyers. Undrafted in 2019, Meyers spent his rookie season on the Pittsburgh Steelers practice squad before being released earlier this year.