Carmen Vitali
NFL Reporter
The Detroit Lions aren’t taking the step back most think they are.
Sure, they’ve seen two coordinators and multiple assistants move on and no one is fully immune from that kind of attrition.
But the Lions have something under head coach Dan Campbell that can’t and won’t leave the building as long as he’s at the helm: they have belief.
They also have a lot more motivation now that they have doubters again.
Last year’s early exit from the postseason was already enough to keep the sour taste in the mouths of players and coaches alike. It was enough to chip their shoulders and inspire the defiant spirit that has become so synonymous with this team.
Now that they have built-in rivals that were once so familiar, now that the narrative around the league is one of question rather than confidence, Detroit is fully ready to prove everyone wrong.
Amon-Ra St. Brown has marked his calendar for the Lions’ two games against the Bears this season after the division rival hired away Ben Johnson in the offseason. (Photo by Allan Dranberg/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
People within the building at Allen Park already have Week 2 circled, when former offensive coordinator and current head coach of the Chicago Bears Ben Johnson and his new team come to town. They’ll get two cracks at Johnson — and boy do they want to beat him.
Wide receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown hasn’t been shy about his desire to win against his former coach. He said so on his podcast this offseason.
“I told him, ‘For two times a year, Ben, we’re gonna f— you up,'” St. Brown said, smiling. “He goes, ‘I’m gonna f— you up.'”
It was the first thing multiple staffers and coaches told me upon visiting practice last week. Sure, the offensive wunderkind left, but they love the guy who took his place, too.
According to one coach I spoke with, new offensive coordinator John Morton is even more of a tape guy than Johnson was. Spoiler alert: that’s hard to do.
Morton is also familiar with the Lions having been an offensive assistant for them in 2022. He’s been coaching in the NFL since 1998, save for four seasons with USC in the late 2000s.
Defensively, the Lions have elevated Kelvin Sheppard, who had been prepped for this role by Aaron Glenn for years. But while Shep came up under Glenn, their approaches couldn’t be more different.
In a team scrimmage, there were multiple times Shep could be seen chirping at the offense, yelling at his own players or even being told to stop creeping into the field of play. Where Glenn was the strong, silent type who could discipline with a look, Shep is going to let you hear it and that energy and enthusiasm infects the entire defense.
Speaking of that side of the ball, defensive end Aidan Hutchinson is back. Like … back back. Hutchinson suffered a season-ending leg injury in Week 6 last year. It was a gruesome injury with a grueling recovery process. Even after the healing process is complete, the mental process of trusting yourself and your body again lingers. That can take months, if not a year for some athletes.
Apparently, Hutchinson had that mental breakthrough this spring. He went down on his leg in practice, but he popped right back up unscathed. It was that moment that Hutchinson knew he could trust himself to play the game the way he always has. And while that’s tremendous news for him, that’s bad news for the rest of the league.
The Lions ranked 24th in sacks per pass attempt last season on defense. They just weren’t getting home as much as they needed to, despite Glenn blitzing at an ever-increasing rate as the season went on without Hutch in the lineup. It put more stress on the secondary, a unit that would ultimately be their undoing thanks to the injury bug biting hard late in the year and into the postseason.
Detroit is still dealing with some lingering defensive injuries. Defensive tackle Alim McNeill won’t be quite ready to go. But overall, the health of the club has greatly improved.
And while the Lions had a coaching exodus this offseason, they’ve backfilled with familiar talent that is ready to finish what they’ve started.
Carmen Vitali is an NFL Reporter for FOX Sports. Carmen had previous stops with The Draft Network and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. She spent six seasons with the Bucs, including 2020, which added the title of Super Bowl Champion (and boat-parade participant) to her résumé. You can follow Carmen on Twitter at @CarmieV.
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