In perpetual survival mode, Pat O'Connor always looking for new ways to help the Lions

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Allen Park — Defensive lineman Pat O’Connor wears plenty of hats for the Detroit Lions. Still, he likes to let coach Dan Campbell know there’s untapped potential in his 6-foot-4, 300-pound frame.

“As he’s running by me yesterday, he wanted to make sure I knew he could play blocking tight end,” Campbell said.

It’s a bit, but one rooted in purpose. A seventh-round draft pick for the Lions out of Eastern Michigan in 2017, O’Connor thought his career might be over when he was cut after his first training camp.

“I was like, damn, I didn't even get a chance,” he said.

Eight years later, he’s entering his ninth season. Regardless, he’s never gotten comfortable. He’s been in perpetual survival mode, scrapping to ensure he still has a job. And when you’re hovering around the bottom of the 53-man roster, one of the best ways to accomplish that is by being versatile.

Could O’Connor play blocking tight end? Who knows, but you can be damn certain he would put everything into figuring it out if Campbell asked him to do it.

Landing back in Detroit last year after seven seasons with Tampa Bay, O’Connor started the campaign on the practice squad. But as attrition decimated Detroit’s depth chart, he earned an early-season promotion. He ended up appearing in 12 games and logging 236 defensive snaps, nearly doubling his career total. He also showcased unconventional versatility, carving out a special teams role that included more than 100 snaps on kickoff and kickoff coverage.

Frankly, there aren’t many 300-pounders around the league working with those groups.

O'Connor was at the forefront of the defensive reinforcements the Lions required last season, a group that was affectionately known as the "Northern Savages." His contributions earned him another contract with the Lions this offseason, a one-year offer that includes $300,000 in guarantees. It’s not enough to declare him a roster lock, but it at least suggests the team expected him to earn a job and have a role in 2025.

Not that O’Connor would ever allow himself to feel anything resembling security.

“I never think of that, no,” he said. “My dad always tells me, you start as this totem pole and you're all the way at the bottom. I don't want to think of that, ever want to put that in the back of my head, because if you think you've made the team — I've been in positions where I damn near led the preseason in sacks and still got cut. You always want to think about the worst-case scenario, you know? I would love to be a lock, but I never think of that.

“I've just been around so long,” O’Connor continued. “You see people thinking that, that they don't have to do too much more, too little, and then you get cut. I never want to be that guy. I always want to be all feet down running at the wall rather than jogging through, getting cut. If I gave it my all and I get cut, I'm cool. But if I'm bullshitting, doing the bare minimum and get cut, that's a problem. I'd rather get cut full force.”

He might want to block out the suggestion, but it’s difficult to argue that O’Connor isn’t more important to the Lions now than he was three months ago. The team was already preparing to begin the season without Alim McNeill, who is still working his way back from last year's torn ACL. More recently, the team has lost Levi Onwuzurike for the season, while Josh Paschal and Mekhi Wingo are also on the shelf with injuries that could carry into the start of the season.

The Lions need interior depth. They need O’Connor’s versatility. And they could use the pass-rush potential the veteran defender flashed last season. Probably not coincidentally, that's been a focal point of O'Connor's offseason preparation, and has been showing up in camp. That includes a would-be sack late in the team’s first padded practice Friday afternoon.

“I always thought of myself as a very good or decently to good run stopper,” O’Connor said. “But obviously you don't wanna be one-dimensional. Like I always say, the more you can do, the more you play. So the point of emphasis this year was to kind of focus on pass rush, get off blocks more, convert on the run to pass, heavy play-action. And then, just watch (Aidan Hutchinson) Hutch. Watch him and (Marcus) Davenport practice how they do it, and just kind of dissect what they do and try to formulate it.”

O’Connor, who turns 32 in November, loves playing in Detroit, specifically for Campbell. The coach clearly has an affinity for the player, as well.

Furthering O'Connor's comfort level is the unique opportunity he gets to play for his former defensive line coach Kacy Rodgers, who came to Detroit from Tampa this offseason.

"It's great," O'Connor said. "I know how he coaches. I know what he wants, so he doesn't have to ask me for much. I know when I mess up. I don't need to go up and ask him what's going on. He knows I know. So it's good, being on the same wavelength, to be able to do whatever he tells me. Play nose, play d tackle, play end, play rush, play whatever he wants me to do. He knows I can do it, and hopefully, he can keep trusting me to do it throughout the season."