Detroit Lions want Kenny Golladay to be like DeAndre Hopkins

Detroit Lions coordinators Darrell Bevell, Cory Undlin and Brayden Coombs met reporters, practically, on Saturday for the first time at training camp.

All three had sessions filled with interesting football and personal nuggets. Here are the highlights:

• Undlin, the Lions first-year defensive coordinator, said Sunday would be the first time he meets his entire defense face-to-face since he was hired in January.

In a normal year, this reunion would have taken place three months ago, shortly after the recruit’s minicamp. Undlin, of course, has had regular Zoom meetings with players since the spring, but he’s still excited to finally be in front of his guys.

“To say excited would be an understatement, obviously,” he said. “I have a good impression on all of these guys and I think they all have a good impression on me. Whether we’re in the boardroom or virtual, however, there’s obviously a different feeling when you can do it. after six months. and now you’re physically in the same room. There is a difference. We know that. And yes, I can’t wait. I think they would say the same. “

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• Undlin again declined to say if he would call defensive games this fall, saying he “tries to get day one of training camp here first”. Lions coach Matt Patricia, as he has been doing for the past two years, is expected to play a big part in setting up and playing the Lions defense call this fall.

• Saturday marked the eighth day that players were allowed into the Allen Park training facility, but their work so far has been limited to strength and conditioning training, meetings and tours. . That will be the case for another week, and Bevell, in his second season as an offensive coordinator, said that was only then that he would be able to get a feel for how quickly the rookies From Andre Swift, Jonah Jackson and Logan Stenberg could contribute.

Swift is expected to share the fieldwork load with Kerryon Johnson this season, with Jackson and Stenberg vying for the starting guard positions.

“All of our rookies coming in, they’re definitely going to be a little behind the eight ball. I think the zoom meetings have helped. We’ve had more meeting time than we’ve ever had, so in terms of information, I think they’re going to be able to handle some of that, but you still have to have the science applied.

For Jackson and Stenberg, third and fourth round picks, it’s especially important.

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“In an offensive line you’ve always heard me talk about combinations and how your guy next to you comes out of a combination, how they communicate, how they get things done,” Bevell said. “So each position has just a little nuance to it that we really need to see these guys get on the pitch and how fast they can get there.”

• Eight different Lions have spent time on the COVID-19 reserve list so far this summer, but Bevell said players participate in virtual meetings even when they are not allowed to enter the building. Quarterback Matthew Stafford and wide receiver Kenny Golladay are among those who have been taken off the roster, while TJ Hockenson and Amani Oruwariye are among those still missing.

• Golladay led the NFL with 11 touchdowns last season and landed his first Pro Bowl, and Bevell said he can still take his game to another level.

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“Really you want him to be seen in these top guys with (DeAndre) Hopkins and (Michael) Thomas, those type of players, where he really dictates to defense how they have to cover him,” Bevell said. . “Sometimes (when) this guy has double coverage he worries about him all the time and you help your teammates, but when you have that opportunity and he’s the guy everyone knows Kenny Golladay has the ball. and everyone knows he’s going to play the game again, that’s really where we’re trying to bring him, to be that dominant level player. “

More: This season promises to test what has never been a Lions strong point: depth

• Two of the Lions’ three specialist jobs, as punter and long snapper, are up for grabs this summer, with Jake Fox and Arryn Siposs competing for the punting position and undrafted rookie Steve Wirtel fighting Don Muhlbach for the long snapper spot.

Asked about the punting competition, Coombs, in his first season with the Lions, said: “These two guys, they’re both very talented. I think they both have high ceilings. a matter of going out and doing it. Neither of them have done it in a game. Without a preseason it will definitely be a little different, but we’ll find ways to make it happen. make it hyper competitive in training and put them in competitive situations and we’ll see who comes up to. I’m really, really excited for these two guys.

• Fox and Siposs are essentially on a level playing field, neither having played against the Lions before (although Fox was on the practice squad at the end of last season). The dynamics are a little different at Long Snapper, where Muhlbach has a long CV of high-level playing and Wirtel comes straight from college.

Coombs said being able to work with Wirtel at the Senior Bowl comforted him knowing Wirtel’s abilities.

Learn more about Lions: 53-player roster prediction: is a long snapper change in the cards?

“It was really, in retrospect, it was probably even a bigger deal that we had that week together,” he said. “I was lucky to know him there and I would probably say the same way that Arryn was just drawn to his behavior, the way he went about his business, the way he was doing. I was fortunate enough to see him come closer in person. This whole stuff was awesome, it’s been awesome all spring and I’m so glad to have it here and take it along with the rest of these guys. “

• When you cover this sport long enough, you get a feel for which assistants are in the head coach’s path, and I certainly came up with that feeling about Coombs. He’s young at 33 and well educated as the son of Ohio State Assistant Kerry Coombs, but more than that he has some little details buttoned up like head coaches do. As an example, at the end of his videoconference on Saturday, Coombs thanked everyone in the Lions organization who made it possible for them to return to work, saying there are “a lot of people here in the building who have had to do a lot of things that I never really signed up for, was not part of their job description, when frankly I spent a good part of the summer on a boat. I am really grateful for these people. “

• Finally, Bevell still wears what he called his “midlife beard,” though he’s not sure if he’ll keep it for the regular season.

“I let it go, I see what’s going to happen and my wife ends up liking it,” he says. “I have a few comments like I look younger so I don’t know, maybe if I go back and it helps me then maybe I need to keep it.”

Contact Dave Birkett at [email protected]. Follow him on twitter @davebirkett. Learn more about the Detroit Lions and sign up for our Lions newsletter.