Detroit Lions second-year safety Brian Branch had a feeling he was going to play well last Sunday in Dallas.
"It's crazy because the night before I dreamed about just having a close to damn perfect game," Branch said Thursday.
Detroit's talented young safety ended up picking off Dallas quarterback Dak Prescott twice, nearly returning one for a touchdown. He also forced a fumble, had a quarterback hit and a tackle for loss in Detroit's 47-9 win over the Cowboys last week. The performance earned Branch NFC Defensive Player of the Week honors.
The standard is pretty high for Branch these days.
"I had a missed tackle, so it wasn't perfect," he said.
Branch has recorded 28 tackles (21 solo), nine passes defended, three interceptions, two tackles for loss, one quarterback hit and one forced fumble in only four games played. He missed the Seattle game due to an illness.
The Lions moved Branch from nickel cornerback to safety because they didn't want to have to take him off the field when they played base defense. He's played in 92 percent of the snaps in the four games he's played.
His instincts and ball skills are perfect for the safety position in Aaron Glenn's defense. Glenn plays a multitude of different coverages in the back end, and that requires safeties who can communicate at a high level. The position also requires safeties that can play man coverage and who are highly instinctive and can understand where the ball is going to go and make plays on the ball.
"As you can see, our guys are doing a really good job of that," Glenn said. "And that's just how the system is built and that's – I love safeties that can play that way. I think it allows you to allow your corners to play with leverage, they allow your safeties to have a little freedom within the defense to go make plays, and we have one of the better ones in Brian Branch that's highly instinctive, that can play down, that can play back."
Branch has loved the move to safety and the Lions' defense is so much better for it with both Branch and fellow safety Kerby Joseph (four interceptions) on a Pro Bowl trajectory early in the year.
"This scheme puts me in the right positions where I'm able to get more picks," Branch said. "That's what I like more about safety than nickel. I've got more eyes on quarterback instead of just playing in man. There's more stuff I can do at safety."
INJURY UPDATES
After missing practice Wednesday and Thursday with a quad injury, cornerback Carlton Davis III was back on the practice field Friday and head coach Dan Campbell said Davis is trending in the right direction for Sunday in Minnesota. That's good news for a Lions secondary facing arguably the best wide receiver in the NFL in Justin Jefferson, who in eight career games against Detroit has 62 receptions for 1,073 yards and three touchdowns.
Campbell wasn't as optimistic about right guard Kevin Zeitler, who injured his groin in practice Thursday. Campbell didn't go as far as to completely rule Zeitler out for Sunday, but said, "I think it'll be hard to say he's playing."
If Zeitler can't go Sunday, expect Kayode Awosika to step in like he did Week 4 when center Frank Ragnow was out and left guard Graham Glasgow moved to center. Awosika allowed just one pressure all game in that Week 4 win against the Seahawks.
GREAT OPPORTUNITY
Defensive line coach Terrell Williams isn't expecting anyone to step in and fill the exact production void left by Aidan Hutchinson's absence. Williams' message to the other players in the room tasked with taking on those reps was simply to be themselves and that'll be good enough.
One of the players who'll be tasked with playing more is third-year defensive lineman Josh Paschal, who had already been playing a bigger role since Marcus Davenport was lost for the season Week 3.
"Josh Paschal has been unbelievable," Williams said. "The way he's worked and competed. I know sometimes we look at the numbers, but Josh Paschal has been one of our most impactful players the last couple weeks when you look at it overall."
Williams and the Lions will be looking for that to continue Sunday in Minnesota. The expectation is also that Levi Onwuzurike and Isaac Ukwu will play more, and we could also see James Houston get some more reps after he's kind of fallen out of the rotation early in the season.
"We have a lot of guys that will kind of play a role," Williams said. "Really, that's all we are asking them to do. Just be a star in your world. Don't be Hutch. Don't be (Kyle) Peko. Be Paschal. Be (DJ) Reader. Be Mac (Alim McNeill). That will be more than enough for us going forward."
