record setting year
The Lions completed their first training camp practice Friday at the team’s practice facility in Allen Park with an afternoon workout in shorts and helmets. It was a light first day for the Lions and 5th year coach Jim Schwartz was pleased with the first practice. “It’s always fun the first day. Last couple of days we haven’t slept very well just because there’s been so much anticipation and so much excitement” said Schwartz. “I mean it certainly didn’t hurt that we had Pure Michigan Chamber of Commerce weather today. It was a great day to come out, players were excited. You know, it’s a little different. The NFL over the years, the first day of training camp is more of just an extension of your off season program, of your minicamps. We’re not really starting over, we did third down periods, we did team move periods, we did some fringe area stuff. Our players were in good shape and I think it showed.”
The Lions had a disappointing 4-12 season last year that was highlighted by Calvin “Megatron” Johnson breaking the single-season receiving yards record held by Jerry Rice. Quarterback Matthew Stafford attempted over 700 passes last year and this year the Lions are hoping to be much more balanced on offense.
The number of pass attempts doesn’t worry Schwartz as he has full confidence in his Quarterback. “He obviously has command of our offense and I think the step that he’s taken over the last couple of years is having command over what opponents’ defenses want to do against us. Like I said, what we’re doing in practice today may be a little different than what our offense would see on a normal game basis, but he’s good at recognizing different ways that people play us. People don’t always play us the way they play other people. And each year I think he’s taken another step with leadership. He’s always been a mature guy for his age, but I think he’s, you know, rounded off the field stuff, he’s spent the entire off season in Detroit. I think those things are all beneficial.”
a defensive end
Offensively the Lions look to continue to be dynamic in the passing game but on the defensive side of the ball they addressed a need for pass rushing as defensive end Ziggy Ansah was drafted 5th overall. Ansah joins Ndamukong Suh and Nick Fairley on a defensive line full of former first round picks. Ansah is a very raw athletic talent whose potential is limitless. His athleticism and size are great for the defensive end spot. Coach Schwartz expressed his excitement about Ansah. “Just like a rookie there’s a lot of things that he’s working on. He’s very skilled, he’s very talented, but I think that a lot of times those guys through OTA’s and mini-camp, you know feel like, “OK I got this,” and then first day of training camp comes and it’s like, “wow, that’s a big adjustment”. The next time that’ll happen is his first time he’ll have pads on and first preseason game, first regular season game, each of those times is going to be a step up in competition and I think that’s probably the biggest things. Those great athletes stay at that pretty quickly and we expect him to.”
The Lions will have to be much better this season on both sides of the ball to compete in the NFC North. But they seem to have the right idea by building through their defensive line. In a division that features Christian Ponder, Jay Cutler and Aaron Rodgers it will be important for them to be able to get pressure on opposing quarterbacks.
