Wednesday recap: Hutchinson's immeasurable value, Jamo's unselfishness and roster moves

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Allen Park — Detroit Lions coach Dan Campbell, assistant head coach and wide receiver coach Scottie Montgomery and defensive line coach Kacy Rodgers met with the media on Wednesday. Here are the highlights from those sessions.

Limitless impact

A year ago, Aidan Hutchinson was well on his way to winning Defensive Player of the Year. After rehabbing his way back from a broken leg, he’s back in that mix to start this season.

Through five games, Hutchinson ranks top five in sacks, quarterback hits, total pressures and forced fumbles. That’s with having two sacks, a forced fumble and a safety wiped out by penalties.

Campbell was asked if he could capture Hutchinson’s importance to Detroit’s defense.

“I don’t know if I can really put a value on that, because I don’t know if there’s a big enough number,” Campbell said. “I mean, he’s extremely valuable. The number of things that he’s able to do for us in the run and the pass game, man, he pulls a lot of slack, man. You talk about pulling your weight, he pulls his weight and then some.

“He requires a lot of resources, offensively, which helps everybody else out,” Campbell continued. “Guys like him, he’s in that rare world of man, you don’t get the easy way out. He’s got to beat the nudges, he’s got to beat the back chip, then the tackle’s on him. Or he’s got to beat the nudge, sometimes the back, the tackle, and the slide is coming to him with the guard also. So, sometimes you may have to beat three, sometimes four. …He is a complete football player, he does it all. And he’s disruptive, he’s violent, he’s high motor, he’s crafty, he’s explosive, he’s tough, he’s competitive.”

Campbell noted there’s nothing new about the way Hutchinson’s being attacked by opponents and vehemently rejected an ESPN report from last month that the team complained to the league about opponents using cut blocks, which are legal as long as the defender isn’t already engaged by a blocker.

“That’s bogus,” Campbell said. “That’s a bogus report. I don’t know where that came from. Nobody from here ever did that. That’s bull. …Game’s played a certain way. That’s the way it goes, man. It doesn’t matter whether we’re doing it or someone else is doing it to our guys. We know that, and we play accordingly.”

Quiet, still impactful

It’s been a quiet stretch for Jameson Williams since catching two passes for 108 yards and a touchdown in a Week 2 win over Chicago.

Against Baltimore, the Lions looked Williams’ way early, netting two completions for 43 yards to the speedy receiver on the opening drive. But those wound up being his only receptions in the game.

The following week, against Cleveland, Williams was targeted early and often, but the connection with quarterback Jared Goff was a little off, including two drops, resulting in another two-catch outing.

And this past week, it was one catch on one target for 9 yards.

If Williams has been frustrated by the lack of production, position coach Scottie Montgomery can’t tell.

“If he’s not unselfish, he’s fooling the hell out of me,” Montgomery said. “When you do what he did in the run game, in this game — this was his best, cleanest, most physical run game — and it’s coming off a situation where it didn’t go the way that he wanted it to go (against Cleveland),” Montgomery said.

The coach said there’s little doubt Williams wants to make more plays. Heck, the team wants him to make more plays. But the silver linings are that the team is winning without them, plus he’s rounding out his overall skill set, making him more of a complete player like teammate Amon-Ra St. Brown.

“You’re a receiver, you better want the ball,” Montgomery said. “But on the sideline, every single play, he was so excited for everybody. I was a little shocked. But at the same time, listen, he knows why he’s here. We expect more plays to be made. …As we grow through this, what it’s helping him to do, though, is he’s becoming a more complete player in the midst of all this. So, hopefully, as we get rolling, we have the best pass catcher, we have the best blocker, and we have two of them on the field at one time.”

Staying the course

With Taylor Decker ailing from a nagging shoulder injury, which sidelined him Sunday against the Bengals, some have asked if the team has considered moving Penei Sewell to the left side to protect Goff’s blindside.

Campbell reiterated what he’s said previously about the team’s approach, noting it’s always a consideration, but hinges on that being the plan throughout the week of practice.

“We’ve talked about it,” Campbell said. “Sewell could easily go over there. He’d just want reps. He’d want reps for the week. …But he’d go over there and handle it just fine. It’s really more about if it’s not Decker, the other guys, and where are they most comfortable?”

If Decker were to be out for multiple games, potentially because of a stint on IR, it would seem more plausible for the Lions to consider a change. However, if the plan is to stick with Giovanni Manu as the primary backup, the developmental tackle has practiced far more on the left side and is better suited to remain at that spot.

Rookie doing the little things

Rodgers offered praise for two techniques that first-round draft pick Tyleik Williams has been successfully utilizing to begin his career.

First, Williams has shown a penchant for getting his hands in the quarterback’s passing lane, batting down three throws on the young season.

“It’s funny, we (practice) it every Friday in individual,” Rodgers said. “He just kind of has a knack for getting into that lane and getting the hand up just right. It’s unbelievable, man. I just hope he keeps doing it.”

Then, against the run, Williams has carried over a unique trait he regularly deployed in college, dropping to a knee to better anchor against double-teams.

“When you watch a lot of people defending the run, and they get displaced, there you go, you open up a seam,” Williams said. “So we just want to try to be as firm as we can in our gaps. His athleticism, he’s a big man, he’s dropping down low, and he can hold a point. That’s a skill set that he’s really good at.”

“…The concept is just making it hard for them to move him,” Rodgers said. “The play isn’t lasting that long. If that can keep him up there, now our linebackers are going to be gone.”

Building back up

It’s been a strange year for Mekhi Wingo. After a longer-than-anticipated rehab from last year’s knee injury, he made his season debut in Week 2, logging 37 defensive snaps in the win over Chicago. Since then, he’s been a healthy scratch for the past three games.

Campbell was asked what the second-year defender needs to do to reclaim a spot in the rotation. And even though Wingo hasn’t appeared on the injury report, the team has opted to dial things back and take a more conservative approach with his reacclimation.

“It was good to get him in there for a game,” Campbell said. “Then, we just felt like, ‘Hey man, let’s give this guy some more time just to get his legs under him, get him a little more seasoned. I mean, he’d only had really a week of practice, if that, coming off of that (rehab). Had no training camp.

But we do feel like, man, he’s getting better and better every week,” Campbell continued. “Look, we like where he’s at. We’re fortunate. We’ve got pretty good depth in that room right now. (General Manager) Brad (Holmes)’s done an unbelievable job. We’ve got some length, we’ve got size, we’ve got a little speed. We’ve got some versatility.”

It’s worth noting, the Lions have gone big up front the past few weeks, particularly against run-heavy offenses like Baltimore and Cleveland. That’s counter to what Wingo offers. He is a smaller, quicker defensive lineman. Even on the edges, the Lions have leaned more heavily on Pat O’Connor and Tyler Lacy, two 300-pounders, since Marcus Davenport went on injured reserve.

Roster moves

The Lions announced three roster moves ahead of Wednesday’s practice, moving cornerback Khalil Dorsey to injured reserve, promoting Dan Skipper from the practice squad, and adding veteran cornerback Arthur Maulet to that unit to provide needed depth at the position.

Dorsey suffered a wrist injury during last week’s practice, and coach Dan Campbell noted on Monday that the key special teams player would be out for “a while.” Placing Dorsey on IR means he must miss at least the next four games, making him eligible to return on Nov. 16 against the Eagles.

Skipper, a longtime backup tackle for Detroit, has spent the entire season on the practice squad, in part due to nursing a case of severe tendonitis in his knee. He gives the Lions a fourth tackle on the main roster for the first time since Jamarco Jones suffered a season-ending Achilles injury just days before the opener.

Maulet provides added experience with Terrion Arnold, DJ Reed and Dorsey out with injury. The 5-foot-9, 190-pounder started his career with New Orleans in 2016 and has appeared in 85 games, including 23 starts for the Saints, Colts, Jets, Steelers and Ravens.

Scouting the next man up

With the team’s cornerback depth depleted, the Lions are expected to lean more heavily on Rock Ya-Sin this week. I asked Montgomery for his scouting report of the defender after his group spent the past few months battling him on the practice field.

“What he does is he provides a tremendous amount of conflict at the line of scrimmage,” Montgomery said. “Not only there, but at the top of the route. …He’s done a really, really good job of staying close, staying sticky.

“Then he has an understanding of safety play and corner play,” Montgomery continued. “He knows exactly where he can take some of these chances, where safety’s going to be, where safety’s supposed to be, where sometimes you can be out of place at corners, just seeing the whole thing.

“And then in the one-on-one settings, what I really, really liked about him is the way he plays through the hands,” Montgomery said. “He’s done a really good job in the offseason. We may get the start of the catch, but between the process of the catch and the tuck, he’s done a good job of strong playing through the hands.”

How do you not love that kind of detail? It makes you excited for the opportunity Ya-Sin has to contribute for the next few weeks.