Coordinator recap: Lions defense handling fires, no worries about batted passes, McNeill's work on the edge and thoughts on Giants' rookies

Allen Park — Detroit Lions coordinators Kelvin Sheppard, John Morton and Dave Fipp met with the media on Thursday. Here are highlights from those sessions.

Detroit Fire Department

When talking about the Lions defense this week, there’s been a commonly repeated phrase about the unit following its stellar showing in last week’s loss to the Eagles: The group puts out fires.

Sheppard, who opens each week with a mix of praise and criticism for his group, said he struggled finding negatives this week. Often put in tough positions by the offense’s inability to convert fourth downs in the contest, as well as a turnover that set the Eagles up in the red zone, the Lions still managed to hold the opponent to 17 points.

“These guys did a lot of good things,” Sheppard said, noting they went into the game with a checklist. “…Those things, they almost checked every box. You talk about the red zone, that’s something that drastically needed to improve from the previous month you could say, and that’s something that they went out and did very well, I thought.

“But, probably, the most proud moment within that game was the sudden-change situations. The never-blink mentality, the run-to-the-fire-and-put-the-fire-out mentality, those guys never wavered at any point in that game, no matter what situation lies ahead. Was it third-and-1, fourth-and-1? Were we on the plus side of the field, minus side? Those guys didn’t care. They went out and they stood tall to those tasks. So, I definitely want to commend those guys.”

If Sheppard had to highlight one area needing improvement, it was the lack of a turnover. He didn’t even need to bring it up. That sentiment was shared by multiple defenders in the locker room immediately after the game.

“This is why it’s such a joy to coach this group,” Sheppard said. “That’s why it’s an honor to be the coordinator here, because I get to work with guys like that where they’re never satisfied, it’s never enough.”

Batted passes of no cornern

Prior to Philadelphia, Jared Goff had five passes deflected at the line of scrimmage through nine games. However, against the Eagles, the opposition knocked down five throws, proclaiming after the matchup to have identified a tendency on tape.

A decade into his career, it doesn’t seem like it’s an issue that would abruptly show up for Goff. Sure, he’s had other games where he’s had multiple passes batted down, but it’s a rare occurrence, and none were this season.

For that reason, he said on Wednesday that he’s shrugging off Sunday as an anomaly and something he won’t focus on correcting unless it starts happening with more regularity.

Offensive coordinator John Morton also noted there weren’t plans to address it, explaining how overthinking it could end up being a bigger negative.

“You do that, then it gets in your head and you’re going, ‘Oh, I’ve got to throw it like this,’” Morton said, simulating different throwing motions. “Just drop back. (It) hasn’t been a problem. The (offensive) line’s going to be more aggressive. That’s what we have to do. We’ve got to make sure we’re taking a proper drop and you can’t have that in his head. You just can’t do that. So, we really don’t even talk about it, because it isn’t an issue.”

Big man, quick feet

Defensive tackle Alim McNeill played four snaps as an edge rusher last season. In Sunday’s game against Philadelphia, a schematic tweak had him lining up outside the offensive tackle’s shoulder 17 times.

Defensive coordinator Kelvin Sheppard told McNeill not to get too comfortable out there, that he’s still an interior player first and foremost, but that doesn’t mean Sheppard didn’t like the results.

“I loved it,” Sheppard said. “I think Mac is an ultra-athlete. …“I believed (he could do) it his first, second year. We called him a dancing bear. He’s light on his feet, he’s explosive. His first step is just as fast as our defensive end room. Yeah, I said it. It’s just as fast.

“When you see a player like that, again, not trying to force anybody on the field, but if there is a why and a legit reason behind it, we’ll make it happen,” Sheppard said. “The whole plan is to put your best 11 out there.”

By using McNeill more on the edge, it allowed the Lions to boost rookie Tyleik Williams’ dwindling workload. The first-round draft pick logged 36 snaps on defense, his second most this season. He had played 41 reps the previous three games combined.

“I thought he played at a high level,” Sheppard said.

Explaining fake punt philosophy

Among Detroit’s five failed fourth-down tries against the Eagles, one of the most confusing and frustrating to watch was a fake punt.

On the play, the Eagles left their starting defense on the field. Detroit linebacker Grant Stuard took a direct snap and was stuffed at the line by Philadelphia defensive tackles Moro Ojomo and Jalen Carter, resulting in the turnover on downs.

On the outside looking in, it was a curious decision. Why would you run the play with a bunch of linebackers trying to block two dominant interior defenders? Special teams coordinator Dave Fipp explained why that was actually the look the Lions were seeking on the call.

“It doesn’t sound good, but sometimes what doesn’t sound good actually ends up being good,” Fipp said “If you look around the league through the years, you’ll see a handful of times where the defense has been on the field, and what happens with those guys is they don’t think that the ball is going to be run on them because they’re out there. Every time they’re out there, they just punt the ball. Then, all of a sudden, you get up underneath their pads and you roll them back for a yard, and it happens so quick on a guy that it ends up working out.”

The Lions were playing a psychological game. The problem is the Eagles’ defenders didn’t rest on the laurels of their presence being enough to force the Lions to punt. As Stuard explained after the game, the opponent played like they knew the fake was coming.

Fipp agreed.

“Yeah, I feel like they were definitely alert that we’re an aggressive team,” Fipp said. “So, they played maybe a little bit different or a little bit more aggressive, but not a ton. Maybe a little, which is fair. At the end of the day, for us, we could have executed better.”

Keeping Carter on lock

This weekend, Detroit will get its first look at New York Giants edge rusher Abdul Carter, the No. 3 pick in this year’s draft. The rookie’s stat line is ugly, just a half-sack in 11 games, but that’s not reflective of how disruptive he’s been.

Carter has nearly as many quarterback pressures and a better pass-rush win rate than teammate Brian Burns, who is second in the NFL with 13.0 sacks.

A quick glance at Carter’s pressures shows him a tick off, often having his arms wrapped around the quarterback as he’s firing passes. That would explain his nine recorded hits.

It feels like it’s only a matter of time before the tide turns for the Penn State product.

“Well, I hope not,” Lions offensive coordinator John Morton said. “All those guys up front, they do a really good job in the scheme of things.”

Burns and Carter are both speed rushers with an ability to bend the edge, but they’re also both dangerous looping inside on stunts, which is something the Lions have struggled to handle in recent weeks.

“No question,” Morton acknowledged. “We’ve been seeing a lot of that all year. So, we’ll practice against that, the line will make the proper calls, the adjustments and we’ll be on point with that.”

Lions expect rookie to stay true to nature

Detroit is planning on seeing rookie Jaxson Dart quarterbacking for the Giants this week. He’s still working his way through concussion protocol, but returned to practice on Wednesday.

The dynamic dual-threat has provided a spark in his seven starts, with big-play potential in his arm, while presenting a consistent threat to run, racking up more than 300 yards to go with seven scores on the ground.

That aggressive running style has led to Dart being checked for concussions four times this season, including his recently diagnosed head injury. Reports coming out of New York are that the team wants to see him curb the scrambling.

Sheppard isn’t sure the message will get home.

“Just watching, as a natural football fan, I saw some of him at Ole Miss, and then I saw him in the league now,” Sheppard said. “With the sample size that I’ve gotten on him, you can tell a player like that to run less, but within his competitive nature, if he’s out there, he’s going to run the football.”

Cornerback returns to practice

Not related to the coordinators talking, the Lions started cornerback Khalil Dorsey’s three-week practice clock. He’s been on injured reserve with a wrist injury and wore a club over that hand for his first practice.