Defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn, offensive coordinator Ben Johnson and special teams coordinator Dave Fipp spoke to the media on Friday ahead of Detroit's Monday Night Football showdown with the undefeated Seattle Seahawks. Here are my 10 biggest takeaways from those media sessions:
1. Maybe it's the football nerd in me, but I love when coaches explain strategy. Last week the Lions called a timeout on 4th & 1 after trying to draw Arizona offside near midfield. Why call the timeout and not just let the play clock run out and gain the extra five yards for Jack Fox to punt? By calling the timeout the Cardinals didn't know if the Lions would come back out and go for it on fourth down, so they brought their defense out. When the Lions opted to punt, they had the advantage of their coverage units against defenders who don't usually play teams and aren't set up to return. Advantage Lions. It's the little things sometimes that can make a difference.
2. Glenn has lost a couple starters in defensive lineman Marcus Davenport and linebacker Derrick Barnes and will ask backups to step in and fill the void. One name Glenn talked about Friday pretty extensively was third-year defensive lineman Josh Paschal. Expect Paschal to play a lot Monday night.
3. Johnson is already seeing the Jameson Williams effect on opposing defenses. The Cardinals really made a concerted effort not to get beat over the top and because of that, Johnson and the offense took a patient approach and ran the football to the tune of 188 yards against two-high safety looks. Johnson is just fine with that approach. He said they'll play the 'death by paper cut' game all day if that's how defenses want to prevent Williams and the big play in the passing game.
4. We all know Fox can boom the football with the best of them, but one area he's put a lot of time and effort into improving has been in the situational and fringe area at the middle of the field, where pinning an opponent deep is the name of the game. It's an area Fipp admitted wasn't always a strength with Fox early in his career, and he really gave Fox a lot of credit for improving that and becoming as complete a punter as there is in this league.
5. Glenn seems really excited about how the secondary is playing right now. That unit didn't get a lot of time on task together in training camp because of injuries and now that they've had some weeks under their belt, Glenn really likes how that unit is coming together - particularly the communication and comfort level of Brian Branch and Kerby Joseph at safety.
6. The Lions rank just 16th in the NFL in scoring (20.7 ppg) through three weeks but Johnson doesn't seem too concerned about it. He believes they are just too talented offensively to not have more production coming their way sooner rather than later.
7. The Lions rank in the top 10 in the NFL in net punting average. Fipp credits having great players on teams with that stat, but he also mentioned how Dan Campbell's aggressiveness to fake punt, and the success the Lions have had doing it over the years, has started to play into that as well. Fipp said the Lions are seeing safe coverage with teams weary of the fake.
8. Glenn was really proud of the way his front seven rushed with discipline and contained Cardinals quarterback Kyler Murray for the most part last week. Murray made a few plays, as all great players in this league do, but the Lions limited them and won the football game. Glenn sees that as a positive moving forward. The defense gets another test this week in Seattle's Geno Smith, who can get out of the pocket and extend plays.
9. Graham Glasgow has started 38 games at center in the NFL and is expected to make start No. 39 Monday in place of the injured Frank Ragnow. Johnson said he has all the confidence in the world in Glasgow filling in for Ragnow, which is why he and offensive line coach Hank Fraley pounded the table to re-sign Glasgow this offseason.
10. Cornerback Khalil Dorsey has been a really good gunner for the Lions early in the season. Fipp said there's two things that make a great gunner in this league. The first is speed. Dorsey has a track background and is one of the fastest players on the team. The second is relentless competitiveness, and Fipp said Dorsey has a ton of that too. Fox wouldn't be top 10 in the NFL in punt average without gunners like Dorsey playing really good football too.
