Focus and finish.
Those were the two words rookie running back D’Andre Swift used when talking Thursday about how he plans to make sure what happened at the end of his first NFL game never happens again.
Swift let a potential game-winning 16-yard touchdown catch slip through his hands with just six seconds left in Detroit's eventual 27-23 loss to the Chicago Bears. The crazy thing about that play is Swift never dropped a ball in college.
"I just have to do my part to make sure nothing like that happens again," Swift said in a Zoom call Thursday. "Just have to finish better, and I will."
Swift, Detroit's second-round pick this year, played 34 snaps in the game, rushing three times for eight yards and catching three passes for 15 yards. He also recorded his first career touchdown, a 1-yard run in the second quarter that gave the Lions a 13-6 lead at the time.
But it was the drop late in the game that most people unfortunately remember from his NFL debut. Swift was hard on himself after the game, but appreciated the outpouring of support from teammates and coaches. He said Thursday he thinks everyone in his contact list reached out to him at some point this week offering support and encouragement.
Swift says he's using that mistake at the end of the game as fuel moving forward.
"I know who I am as a player," he said. "I know that's not me. Just keep my confidence up high and know who I am as a player and get back to the fundamentals, that's all. I just have to do a better job of focusing and finishing."
COLLINS ON HIS EJECTION
Veteran linebacker Jamie Collins Sr. was ejected from last week's game early in the second quarter after contacting an official with his helmet.
Collins was trying to demonstrate to official Alex Kemp how he thought Bears running back David Montgomery lowered his helmet and used the crown of his helmet to contact him on the previous play, and in doing so, made contact with Kemp with his helmet, which is not allowed. The NFL rules state that a player who contacts an official is subject to ejection.
Collins said Thursday there was nothing malicious about it, and he inadvertently bumped the referee. He said the hardest part about the ejection was watching the fourth quarter in the locker room as the Bears scored 17 unanswered points to secure a come-from-behind injury.
"That's what I was thinking about, just me being selfish being in the locker room and those guys out there battling," Collins said. "We bleed and sweat together every day and I just couldn't be out there with them to finish the game and that's on me. That was the main thing going through my head, man. Knowing I couldn't be out there with those guys just trying to fight through it. Watching it on TV, watching those guys battle, knowing I'm right there and I couldn't do nothing about it."
Collins had three tackles, a quarterback hit and a pass defended at the time of his ejection. He said he planned to appeal any fine he might incur. Like Swift, he said he was going to use the incident as extra motivation to play well this week.
GOLLADAY PROGRESSING
Pro Bowl wide receiver Kenny Golladay missed practice again Thursday, but Patricia said they are seeing some progress on the injured hamstring that prevented Golladay from suiting up against Chicago last week.
"We'll just take it day-by-day from that standpoint, see how it goes," Patricia said of Golladay's potential of playing Sunday in Green Bay. "But just like I said yesterday, you don't want to push something into a bad spot either."
