Tag: Jerry Jacobs

Lions injury report: Penei Sewell is back as a full practice participant

Sewell and Levi Onwuzurike both returned to being full participants after being limited a day earlier

There was a welcome sight at Detroit Lions practice on Thursday. Right tackle Penei Sewell was a full participant in the practice session, a day after he was limited with a shoulder issue.

Sewell and defensive lineman Levi Onwuzurike were both fully active after being limited on Wednesday. Onwuzurike was back from a knee malady.

The only player currently active who carried a limited participant status on Thursday is LB Derrick Barnes, who injured his shoulder during the win over the Broncos but did play in that game after suffering the injury.

Both CB Jerry Jacobs and TE Brock Wright remained out for a second straight day. Jacobs is dealing with a hamstring issue while Wright is sidelined with a hip. Center Frank Ragnow took his customary veteran’s day of rest on Thursday, too.

 

Lions injury update: 2 players sit out 1st practice of Week 16

Lions injury update: 2 players sit out 1st practice of Week 16 while 2 players on IR returned to practice action

The Lions have begun practices for the Week 16 matchup with the Minnesota Vikings. Two players who have not been on the injured list recently sat out the Wednesday practice session.

Cornerback Jerry Jacobs (hamstring) and tight end Brock Wright (hip) were listed as out with their injuries. Jacobs only appeared on special teams in the Week 15 win over the Broncos.

Two players currently on the injured reserve list were practicing. Defensive back C.J. Gardner-Johnson (pec) and fullback Jason Cabinda (knee) have both had their return clocks started. Both players are now eligible to be activated anytime in the next 21 days.

Three players were limited participants:

LB Derrick Barnes (shoulder)

DL Levi Onwuzurike (knee)

RT Penei Sewell (shoulder)

The Lions practice again on Thursday and Friday.

Film room: Lions aggressive defense against the Broncos helps set the tone

Film room: Lions aggressive defense against the Broncos helps set the tone

Over the last several weeks, I’ve had some criticism towards the Detroit Lions defense. It was all warranted. They weren’t playing up to par and were getting torched on just about every possession. To fix it, the Lions had to make some tough decisions. They had to bench veteran players such as Jerry Jacobs and Tracy Walker.

This opened the door for players such as Khalil Dorsey, Ifeatu Melifonwu and Kindle Vildor. Love it or hate it, the defensive moves were needed. It appears to have provided a spark and hopefully, it’s one that wakes up other defenders that tend to sleep walk through some of these games.

One of the key adjustments the Lions needed to make on defense was to become more aggressive. Against the Broncos, they did just that. Russell Wilson went 18-for-32 with 223 passing yards and a touchdown.

But the pressure got to him as he was sacked twice and he was marked with four bad throws, per Pro Football Reference. In addition to that, Wilson was blitzed 15 times in this game and it led to 22 total pressures for the Lions defense. Let’s jump into the tape and take a look at some of the blitzes the Lions dialed up against the Broncos on Saturday night.

Starting with one of the biggest plays of the game, we direct our attention to the play above. The Broncos come out with their ’12’ personnel (one running back and two tight ends). To respond to it, the Lions defense have a single-high safety over the top of their defense and they’ve got a safety down in the box.

The safety down in the box is Ifeatu Melifonwu and the moment the ball is snapped, he fires up-field on a blitz. As quarterback Russell Wilson fakes the hand-off to the running back, he begins to roll to his right. Before he can even get his eyes downfield to try and find a receiver, he’s met by Melifonwu.

This blitz was designed perfectly and not only did Melifonwu hit Wilson for the sack, he also knocked hte ball out. This led to a fumble that was recovered by defensive tackle Isaiah Buggs. Even though the Lions offense weren’t able to put up any points after this turnover, it was a much needed play for the Lions defense. They needed to make a stop with the Broncos threatening to score. Additionally, this was a play that I’m sure helped build confidence for the Lions defense.

Next, I want to highlight another blitz made by safety Ifeatu Melifonwu. The Broncos come out in their ’11’ personnel (one running back and one tight end) but they’re in a condensed set with a slot receiver and tight end aligned near the tackles.

Once the ball is snapped, you can see how the Lions defensive backs rotate into what appears to be a Cover-2 look defensively. This gives them a two-high shell on both sides of the field but the key is Melifonwu. Once the ball is snapped, he flies towards the quarterback and his pressure forces Wilson out of the pocket. With good coverage by the Lions secondary, Wilson is forced to throw this ball away and the Broncos have to punt the ball away.

In this game, Melifonwu played a season-high 62 defensive snaps. He had one of the most productive days of his career. He had 9 total tackles, one sack and two pass deflections for a Lions defense that desperately needed a spark.

The last play I want to focus on is a blitz from defensive back Brian Branch. On the play above, the Broncos come out in a 2×2 set out of a shotgun formation. Aligned in the slot at the bottom of the screen is Brian Branch and he’s going to get a good pressure on this play.

Once the ball is snapped, the Lions send a 6-man pressure with Branch and Anzalone blitzing. Meanwhile, the Lions play man coverage on this and despite a miscue in the secondary (see the WR 17 on the bottom), the pressure from Detroit is real and it causes a bad throw.

As Branch blitzes, Wilson locks onto Jerry Jeudy on his right and is intending on taking a shot downfield. However, Branch delivers a shot to the back of Wilson and it causes this ball to float into the air and ultimately land incomplete. This forces the Broncos into a 3rd down but it’s good to see that despite being up 25 points, the Lions defense still has their foot on the gas.

With the Lions pushing for a division title and a shot at the playoffs, this defense will need to continue to be aggressive. Blitzing and putting trust in having good coverage downfield is one of the key ways this defense can keep the opposition at bay. It’ll be interesting to see what changes the defense continues to make with three games left in the regular season. One thing is for sure, they took a step in the right direction against the Broncos and hopefully soon, we’ll see Gardner-Johnson and McNeill back in the lineup too.

Expect more Kindle Vildor in the Lions secondary

Expect more Kindle Vildor in the Lions secondary after a solid Detroit debut against his old team, the Bears

Kindle Vildor made his Detroit Lions debut in Week 14. The cornerback, freshly signed off the practice squad, saw some action at outside cornerback against one of his old teams, the Chicago Bears.

Both his head coach and coordinator indicated they want to see more of the 26-year-old after his solid outing. He outplayed starter Jerry Jacobs, who has been struggling with his coverage assignments of late.

Head coach Dan Campbell isn’t ready to bench Jacobs in favor of Vildor, but Campbell did say to expect to see both of them in the Week 15 game against the Denver Broncos and their talented receiving corps.

“I still see him and Jerry kind of working in there a little bit together,” Campbell said this week.

Defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn mentioned Vildor’s experience and intelligence in also reinforcing that both players are set to get action going forward.

“Well, I would say this about him, he’s played a good amount of football. In Chicago, actually, he played, I think he started there a couple of years, so he’s a common presence,” Glenn said. “He’s very smart and he understands exactly what we’re doing. So, we want to continue to try to utilize that.”

Vildor spent his first three NFL seasons in Chicago, playing over 1,500 snaps primarily as an outside cornerback. He’s been a player who allows completions but tends to terminate them quickly and not get burned for big plays, qualities which were on display in Week 14.

In the next breath, Glenn took up for Jacobs

“Listen, Jerry’s not a guy that we’re throwing away and I don’t want anybody to think that. Listen, there’s still skins on the wall with that player also, alright? And he’s done some good things for us, but the thing is, man, we’ve got to do everything we can to play at a high level and we’re going to continue to find the guy that’s going to do that for us.”

Saints fans can’t believe Jameis Winston got away with this wild pass

Saints fans can’t believe Jameis Winston got away with this wild pass against the Lions

You never know what you’re going to get with Jameis Winston at quarterback, but he’ll always be entertaining. The New Orleans Saints quarterback has the arm strength and devil-may-care willingness to try all sorts of dangerous passes.

And that was the case on Sunday when he stepped in for an injured Derek Carr to throw what should have been a pick-six to Lions defensive back Jerry Jacobs. But rookie safety Brian Branch broke up the pass before it could reach him, resulting in a tip drill: and Saints receiver Chris Olave came down with it to sprint into the red zone.

But that’s how it goes with Winston. He’s as liable to throw a game-winning touchdown pass as a game-losing interception. And Saints fans couldn’t believe it, judging by their social media reactions:

Lions players reveal they’re really bad about answering texts

Amon-Ra St. Brown, Jerry Jacobs and several other Lions players have thousands of unread texts on their phones

We’ve all been there. You get a text message that you’re not interested in, or just can’t answer in thr moment. It gets back-burnered and sometimes forgotten.

It happens. It also happens to happen a great deal more if you’re a Detroit Lions player. Several Lions players revealed they’re inattentive on keeping up with messages or just downright ignore them all.

Thanks to the Lions media team, we learned that it’s pretty endemic in the locker room to ignore texts.

As Chade Lucas said in the clip, the best way to communicate with the players is old-fashionded calling.

Lions injury update: 2 defenders upgraded in Friday’s practice

Two Lions defenders upgraded in Friday’s practice but 3 offensive starters remain sidelined

There were a couple of notable items about the Detroit Lions practice participation report from Friday’s session in Allen Park.

First, two players who sat out on Thursday upgraded to limited participants on Friday. Defensive tackle Benito Jones (ankle) and linebacker Malcolm Rodriguez (ankle) moved up from not practicing at all into limited duty. That’s an important step for the defensive duo to play on Monday night against the Las Vegas Raiders.

Secondly, there were no new additions on Friday. After having some late-week additions to the practice injury report over the past few weeks, notably Jerry Jacobs in Week 7, that’s a welcome lack of news.

Jacobs was a full participant once again and is expected to be back in the starting lineup for the Raiders game.

Three Lions remained out on Friday:

LG Jonah Jackson (ankle)

RB David Montgomery (ribs)

C Frank Ragnow (toe/calf)

This is not the typical veteran rest for Ragnow. The Pro Bowl center typically takes one practice off per week to help his ailing toe. Now that he’s missed two in a row with the calf also being on the injury designation, it’s fair to question his availability for Monday night.

Lions CB Jerry Jacobs hilariously shares why he’s a fan of a Raiders running back

Jerry Jacobs and Josh Jacobs are not related, but Jerry is still a big fan of the Raiders RB

Jerry Jacobs will be back in the starting lineup for the Detroit Lions in Week 8. He missed the loss in Baltimore after suffering a knee injury in practice late in the week. So far, he’s been a full participant for the Lions this week as they get ready for the Las Vegas Raiders on Monday Night Football.

Jacobs is happy to be back and ready for a challenging assignment against the talented Raiders offense.

“The Raiders got a good team. Great receiver, one of the best in the game in Davante Adams. The quarterback going to try and get him the ball,” Jacobs said.

Then he got to the Las Vegas running back.

“Probably one of my favorite running backs, even growing up. I thought he was my cousin, Josh Jacobs, but he’s not,” Jerry said with a laugh.

He did get more into why he likes his non-related fellow Jacobs.

“He’s a great running back. Tough runner. Everybody’s got to pursue to the ball to get him down.”

The two Jacobs did face off once in college. In 2018, Jerry was a freshman cornerback at Arkansas State and Josh was a junior running back for Alabama. Jerry did have a tackle in the game but it was not on Josh Jacobs.

Lions inactives vs. Ravens includes injuries and a surprise

Lions inactives vs. Ravens includes several injuries and a surprise healthy scratch

The Detroit Lions released their inactive player list for Sunday’s matchup with the Baltimore Ravens. It’s a tale of injuries and one surprise healthy scratch.

The injuries wiped out starting LG Jonah Jackson, starting RB David Montgomery and starting CB Jerry Jacobs, who was a late scratch with a knee injury. Wideout Marvin Jones Jr. was ruled out on Saturday for non-injury reasons and did not make the trip to Baltimore.

That left three healthy scratches for Detroit. Defensive linemen Brodric Martin and Levi Onwuzurike repeat their status from a week ago as sitting out. The third healthy scratch is a surprise: EDGE Charles Harris.

Harris has played 60 percent of the defensive snaps over the first six games and is third on the team with 1.5 sacks. It appears the veteran is the odd man out with Josh Paschal returning to the lineup.

Jerry Jacobs ruled out with a knee injury vs. Ravens

Lions starting CB Jerry Jacobs ruled out with a knee injury vs. Ravens

Bad news on the Detroit Lions injury front, and it comes from the pre-game. Starting outside CB Jerry Jacobs will not play against the Baltimore Ravens due to a knee injury.

Jacobs was downgraded to questionable for the game on Saturday with a new knee injury, apparently suffered late in Friday’s practice. He worked out on the field in Baltimore with trainers in warm-ups on Sunday and was ruled out, per Jennifer Hammond of the Lions’ broadcast team.

With Jacobs out, the Lions have some options to fill his cleats. Rookie Steven Gilmore is one, with Khalil Dorsey a more experienced option. Chase Lucas did get some reps on the outside during the summer. Will Harris has experience playing everywhere in the secondary as well.