Our weekly check-in with the Detroit Lions’ coordinators covers a couple of defensive players who drew high praise from Kelvin Sheppard, a fearless John Morton, and Dave Fipp falling victim to the 6-7 meme talking about the Chicago Bears’ infamous double-doink.
Here are the six biggest takeaways from the Lions’ three coordinators.
Offensive coordinator John Morton
I ain’t afraid of your stacked box
According to NFL Pro, the Detroit Lions face a stacked box—defined as eight or more defenders—on rushing plays 32.2% of the time, third-highest of any team through five weeks. On those plays, the Lions have produced the sixth-highest EPA/rush, eighth in success rate, and second in rushing attempts (49).
It makes sense that defenses are trying to stack the box against Detroit’s dynamic running game. But why are the Lions still running—and being successful—when the numbers may not favor them? As Morton explained, they simply aren’t afraid of stacked boxes.
“This is who we are. You know that,” Morton said. “I mean, we’re going to pound it no matter what. 10-man box, it doesn’t matter. So, we’ll just keep doing it until they stop it.”
Obviously, a strong offensive line gives Morton that faith, but he credits his wide receivers, too. They aren’t just blocking on the perimeter; they’re getting their nose dirty right there at the line of scrimmage early and often.
“We block it up, man, because we’ve got wideouts that can block,” Morton said. “Now, if you don’t have wideouts who can block, that’s a different story. But our wideouts block. They’re the best in football, and a lot of teams, they see a loaded box like that, they’re just throwing it. But not with our guys. It’s pretty impressive what our wideouts do. That’s the reason why we’re one of the tops in the run game, because of what they do.”
Tate Ratledge is coming along
After a tough opener, it’s easy to see the progress the Lions are getting in second-round pick Tate Ratledge. As Detroit’s offensive line settles in, Ratledge’s job at right guard is getting less and less noticeable—a good thing for an offensive lineman. Morton has been impressed with Ratledge’s improved communication.
“I just think he keeps getting better and better and better with the RCE [Recognize, Communicate, Execute] as I say,” Morton said. “And when you do that, the game kind of slows down for you a little. You just have to make sure your technique is sound. It’s just a couple things with his technique, whether it’s a twist here and there, and the communication. So, I think that’s where he’s grown. Again, I think he’s got a bright future.”
Defensive coordinator Kelvin Sheppard
Jack Campbell sees the defense like Shep does
It’s fair to say Lions linebacker Jack Campbell is in the midst of his year-three jump. He’s currently third among linebackers in PFF grade (90.7), t-fourth in tackles to go along with his two forced fumbles.
Sheppard could not have spoken more highly of Campbell during his Thursday press conference.
“This guy was built and born to be a middle linebacker, and it’s been an absolute joy and honor to watch him,” Sheppard said.
Specifically, he’s impressed with the mental jump Campbell has made. While Sheppard has seen the football IQ in Campbell since they talked at the NFL Combine over two years ago, he’s seen the young linebacker take the initiative to continue to learn this defense back-to-front, including weekly one-on-one meetings with Sheppard.
“He meets with me every week. That’s something that he does not have to do, but he wants to because he wants to understand, ‘Why are you calling that, Shepp, on second-and-five? Well, why do you call that? Why do you tell the nickel that he needs to do this?’” Sheppard said. “He’s asking me this so then he can in turn go back player to player and hold these players accountable. And he wants to be able to—if the green dot, if it (helmet communication) goes out, he believes he’s supposed to call the game, and he takes pride in that.”
Amik Robertson, shutdown corner
Sheppard gushed over Lions cornerback Amik Robertson and his performance against the Bengals. He lamented the fact that Robertson got a little greedy on Ja’Marr Chase’s 64-yard touchdown, because it overshadowed what he believed to be an excellent game from the Lions’ versatile corner.
“Everybody sees that play, and they see Amik Robertson. And he’s an aggressive player, the exact reason why and how we assigned him to Ja’Marr in that game is what kind of came back to bite him late in the game,” Sheppard said. “He was making a lot of plays on the ball, so he got greedy in the situation that he didn’t. I’ll share with y’all like I told the team and like I told the unit, it’s just a shame because this guy is going out and completely strapped up and eliminated two of the best receivers in football, and he doesn’t get the credit because Chase left that game with 110 yards. But the real ball guys know and Chase knows, he had I think 50 yards before that 64-yarder.”
While not outright saying it, it appears when Sheppard is talking about two of the best receivers, he’s referencing Robertson’s game against the Vikings last year, when he followed Justin Jefferson.
Sheppard knew he had a good one in Robertson when a friend at LSU shared a story about trying to recruit him.
“He said, ‘You just got a dog,” Sheppard recalled. “He said, ‘I stood on the table at LSU years ago when they said he was too small. I watched him put on a knee brace and go out at LSU camp and ask for Justin Jefferson in one-on-ones.’
Special teams coordinator Dave Fipp
Why team believes in Dominic Lovett as a returner
Last week, after Kalif Raymond left the game with a neck injury, the Lions put rookie receiver Dominic Lovett back to return. Lovett ended up letting two punts bounce behind him—the right play—as both bounced into the end zone. But Lovett had never played returner in college at Missouri or Georgia. So Fipp explained why they believe in him at that position, should Raymond continue to be sidelined:
“He’s kind of a make-you-miss, short areas spaces, start stop, redirect. And so, anytime you see a player like that, you naturally think, ‘Well, I wonder if he can be a punt returner,’” Fipp said.
So they made sure to give Lovett a full load of reps in training camp. But Fipp noted being a punt returner is just as much about the mental aspect of the position—knowing the game situation, seeing the rotation of the punt and anticipating the trajectory of the bounce, and even making sure you’re communicating with the jammers to avoid an errant bounce. While that will take some time to develop for Lovett, he has a pretty darn good resource in Raymond.
Fipp denies double-doink story
Last week, former Philadelphia Eagles head coach Doug Pederson went on the “Pardon My Take” podcast and talked about the infamous “double doink” game between the Eagles and Bears in the 2018 NFC Wild Card game. Pederson credited Fipp, who was the Eagles’ special teams coordinator at the time, for telling him before Cody Parkey’s game-deciding kick that the Bears kicker’s accuracy drops significantly after a timeout to ice him. Pederson ended up calling the timeout, and Parkey’s kick iconically bounced off two uprights, missing the kick and sealing the win for the Eagles.
I asked for Fipp’s side of the story, and he has no recollection of the moment Pederson described. Fipp took it a step further, noting that the kick from Parkey—who Fipp coached a few years earlier when the kicker was with the Eagles—was actually tipped at the line, and no one ever seems to acknowledge or remember that.
“No one ever talks about the fact that the ball was technically blocked,” Fipp said. “Now it was barely, the guy just nicked it. And they didn’t catch it at first, and so then replay ended up seeing it later on. But it just never got told in that whole storyline.”
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