Coordinator recap: Prepping for Richardson's mobility, Jamo and Gibbs are 'fixers,' and Glenn on Ford Field impersonators

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Allen Park — Here are the greatest hits from Thursday’s media sessions with the Detroit Lions’ three coordinators.

This feels familiar

The absence of evidence is not evidence of absence.

In parts of two pro seasons, Indianapolis Colts quarterback Anthony Richardson has yet to have a monster performance with his legs. In 11 starts, he’s peaked at 56 rushing yards, hitting the plateau three times.

But a look back at Richardson’s college numbers illustrates how dangerous he can be if he turns to his feet. He racked up 160 yards against Florida Atlantic in 2021, 115 on just four carries against South Florida that same season, and 106 yards and three touchdowns against Utah the following year.

Richardson is a freakish athlete. He’s as big as an economy car, measuring in at 6-foot-4, 245 pounds, and he ran a blazing 4.46-yard 40-yard dash at the scouting combine in 2023.

The Lions understand the challenge of keeping Richardson contained, and they have a level of experience against a QB with a similar skill set in Justin Fields, who averaged 110 rushing yards in four games against the Lions in 2022 and 2023, while still the quarterback of the Chicago Bears.

I asked defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn how valuable those games could be in preparing his unit to contain Richardson.

“Well, the number one thing that we talked about as a defensive staff and with the players is discipline has to be on high alert this week,” Glenn said. “Because of the nature of their offense, every play has a run-pass option in it, so our eyes have to be in the right place on every snap. And then our ability to get the ball down has to be important. One thing they do a good job of is, they get a hat for a hat for the most part, so we have to do the little things better than they do. When I say that, it means once they get a hat for a hat, we’ve got to get off blocks and we’ve got to finish on the ball.”

I followed up by asking Glenn if a mobile quarterback with Richardson’s abilities calls for more zone coverage calls, considering the benefits of having defensive backs keeping an eye in the backfield. Not surprisingly, the coach wasn’t interested in divulging any specifics about the game plan.

Speed saves

The Lions' offense goes as its line goes, but it certainly doesn’t hurt to have speedsters like Jameson Williams and Jahmyr Gibbs to make something out of nothing when the blocking or the play call isn’t perfect.

“Yeah, I think a great example was his touchdown there last week,” offensive coordinator Ben Johnson said, referencing Williams’ 64-yard score on a crossing pattern against Jacksonville. “I’ve got this bad habit right now of calling that particular pass concept into Cover-2. It’s usually a dead play when I do that, and he makes it work.

“It’s certainly him, but there’s a number of other players,” Johnson continued. “Gibby’s another one, where they are erasers, they’re fixers. If things aren’t quite right, they make it right and he is certainly giving us that element in the passing game and I think defenses take notice of that.”

Asked which player was faster, Johnson quipped, “Depends on who you ask.”

Street FA fills critical role

The Lions don’t often add a plug-and-play option to the roster mid-season, preferring to promote from their practice squad to fill holes, but the team has made an exception with Ezekiel Turner.

The veteran linebacker was added to the practice squad on Nov. 6 and debuted against the Texans four days later. Last week, his role expanded from exclusively special teams to a handful of defensive snaps.

Make no mistake about it, Turner is a special teams performer first and foremost. He thrived in those roles for Arizona from 2018-23 and he serves as a natural replacement for Jalen Reeves-Maybin, who recently landed on injured reserve with a neck injury.

“He really has a very similar game to Jalen Reeves-Maybin and they both play personal protector, they’ve actually both played in the same punt system,” special teams coordinator Dave Fipp explained. “Us and Arizona kind of use the same terminology, system, very similar in that regard.

“They are also very aggressive with the fakes and all that stuff, so he has experience doing all that for them,” Fipp continued. “Just the way he covers, the way he plays the game is very similar to Jalen Reeves-Maybin, so it was like just a natural slide in and fit. So, it was an easy decision for us. He’s super smart and intelligent. I've got a lot of confidence and faith and trust in him already, in a very short period of time. The special teams coach from Arizona sent me a text message and said, ‘I don’t know if I trust another guy more than I trust him,’ and that’s a guy I respect quite a bit.”

As for the defensive role, it was small, a handful of snaps in passing situations against Jacksonville, but the Lions like the coverage ability Turner has shown on the practice field, particularly during one-on-one work, according to Glenn.

Young players growing

Johnson offered some developmental insight on a couple of players, quarterback Hendon Hooker and rookie guard Christian Mahogany.

Hooker has had the unique opportunity to enter three of the past six games because the Lions have been so far ahead in those contests. It’s not the same as getting a start, but every live rep carries value for the second-year QB.

“I think it’s invaluable for him,” Johnson said. “Going out there, you’ve got the lights shining on you, you’ve got people looking at you, it’s not practice setting. He had a ton of reps there during training camp and the preseason games that you saw growth from game one to game three, and now we’re at a spot where he’s been able to get a few in games this year. The challenge for me is, I do want to get him some passes, but I also don’t want to be disrespectful to the opponent, as well,. I’s kind of a balancing act when it comes to that.”

As for Mahogany, he missed all of training camp and the start of the regular season while battling mono. He’s been practicing for several weeks, but with those sessions closed to the media, it’s tough to gauge how he’s been coming along.

“Yeah, I think the coolest thing that coach does for practice to help develop some of these guys is he still maintains one-on-ones over the course of the week,” Johnson said. “Good versus good, young guys versus young guys, whatever that is, and so you’ve really been able to see, since he’s come off of IR, you’ve seen Christian grow immensely.

“I really wish we, as a staff, really wish he would have been available there in the preseason because those would’ve been huge games to really get a gauge for where he’s at right now, and it’s a little bit harder in practice,” Johnson said. “Sometimes we have pads on, sometimes we don’t. But, from the one-on-one aspect, the pass-pro and run blocking, you see flashes of immense potential right there. So, we’ll continue to try to find where we can slip him in to get him more experience. He’s a guy that we have high hopes for.”

Not-so-dynamic kickoff

The Lions love to put stress on opponents, and that extends to special teams, but the team is not allowing nearly as many kickoff returns this season, despite the play being overhauled by the league to encourage more action.

Last year, Detroit’s kickoffs resulted in a touchback approximately two-thirds of the time. This year, it’s closer to 80%. I asked Fipp if the NFL’s effort to make the play relevant again is tracking toward being a failure.

The coordinator said he thought the league was on the right track with the adjustments, but there’s currently not enough reward to take the risk. Teams are finding the possibility of an opponent popping a big return isn’t worth the extra 2-3 yards they might get if they make a quick tackle.

Where there’s room to gain value is a bouncing kick, which hits in the landing zone before it’s fielded by the return man. But that’s proving to be challenging.

“I think when the ball is on the ground, it ends up being the best result for the cover team,” Fipp said. “The problem is getting it on the ground consistently is much harder than it looks, and not hitting it short of the landing zone is much harder than it looks for these guys. And doing it under pressure over and over, in the elements, weather, everything else that can be out there is not easy. But I think over time, you’re going to see all these guys start to develop more and more of that the more they practice it.”

Flattering imitation

Several Lions fans were shown on the big board during last week’s game cosplaying as Glenn. The coach became meme-worth after he was repeatedly shown on the broadcast a couple weeks back against Green Bay, calling the game with the play sheet covering his mouth and his glasses fogged over and covered in raindrops.

“Listen guys, this is getting out of hand again,” Glenn said. “My daughter sent that and I think it’s actually funny to be able to see that. I got a kick out of that.

“The one thing I did see, that my wife actually mentioned, is they have the yellow striping on the glasses,” Glenn said. “So they were very detailed.”

Next snapper up

The Lions have lost two emergency long snappers this season with Aidan Hutchinson and Alex Anzalone going down to injury. Fipp was asked who is the next man up.

“I wondered if that was going to come up,” Fipp said. “Yeah, probably (tight end Shane) Zylstra. Good question though, first thing I thought of, too.”