DFN Mailbag: Late-season roster moves, ideal playoff paths, Bridgewater's coaching future and more

Allen Park — Mail’s in

Question: With injured players returning, what is the feeling around the locker room about saying goodbye to the players who helped out? — Michael Murphy

Justin: It sounds callous, but it’s part of the business. Any player who has been in the league for more than a couple of seasons is accustomed to guys coming and going during the season. At the very least, given what I’ve experienced in more than a decade covering this team, it has to be reassuring these Lions tend to only churn the roster when necessary.

It doesn’t mean it doesn’t suck, and there isn’t empathy from locker mates for the revolving door the team’s injury situation has created, but you have no choice but to move forward.

I asked coach Dan Campbell about it Friday afternoon.

“Yeah, it’s hard," Campbell said. "That’s the hard, cold, truth of this league and that’s the hard stuff because it’s what you just said. You’re relying on these guys to come in and help you and then you get some guys that get healthy and then you have to make a move. So, no, that’s not easy. We have a lot of respect for those guys."

Question: I don’t want to put the cart before the horse, but how do teams handle playoff bye weeks? Are they still in the building? — Adam Gladwish

Justin: The team will almost certainly conduct a typical week of practice, Wednesday-Friday, but won’t invest much time in opponent-specific game-planning. That will keep their minds and bodies on schedule for the week of prep once an opponent is determined.

Question: What's the life of a practice squad player? What do they get paid if they are elevated? What's their role in practice? Do they travel with the team on game day? How do other teams scout them to poach them? — Aaron Sturgill

Justin: A practice squad player has the same schedule as the rest of the roster with meetings, practice, weight lifting and treatment, if necessary.

When they practice, they typically work on the scout team, helping the offense and defense prepare for the upcoming opponent. That means they’ll run the opposing schemes with some imitating a specific player. The exception is when a practice squader knows, early in the week, they’ll be promoted to the active roster and have a role. In those instances, they’ll practice with the rest of the projected game-day roster.

Practice squad players don’t typically travel. They regularly watch the road games at the team’s practice facility together.

If promoted as a temporary elevation, they get veteran minimum pay for the game. That's a significant bump to their weekly salary.

In terms of opposing teams scouting them, they are limited to using tape from the preseason. And it's worth noting, the act of poaching a player is a two-way street. A practice squad player doesn’t have to sign with another team, but it’s difficult to pass up the pay bump and opportunity to contribute on a 53-man roster.

Question: What’s with the Lions players covering their mouths and waving? — JW

Justin: Despite my best efforts (read: five minutes of Googling) to discover the meaning of the celebration, I fell short. What I did learn is it started at Western Kentucky in 2022, the celebration is nicknamed Zombieland, and it’s caught fire through the college ranks, most notably with Miami quarterback Cam Ward.

Ward previously played at Washington State, where his offensive coordinator there, Ben Arbuckle, came from Western Kentucky. Dots connected.

Like most of Detroit’s celebrations, they probably saw it popping on TikTok.

Question: I expected Jamal Adams to make some sort of positive impact. Did he even play the last couple of weeks? — Andrew Fronk

Justin: Adams remains on the practice squad, but wasn’t elevated for last week’s game. The biggest reason is the massive overlap between the schematic usage for him and Ifeatu Melifonwu.

And while Adams has an impressive resume, there’s no question Melfonwu has the massive edge in schematic understanding, allowing him to play a much larger and more versatile role.

Question: It seems like Tim Patrick’s usage in the passing game has gone down in the last couple of weeks. From your tape review is that situational, who they were playing, or a schematic shift on the Lions' part? — Mark Roden

Justin: The dip was only one week. He had back-to-back games with season-high targets against Green Bay and Buffalo.

Last week, it was one target and zero catches. Obviously, so many things can go into a single-game anomaly, but at the top of the list is the Lions have a massive arsenal. Generally speaking, Patrick sits behind Amon-Ra St. Brown, Jameson Williams, Sam LaPorta and Jahmyr Gibbs on the priority chart when it comes to touches.

Patrick has been targeted two or fewer times in seven games this season. He ran 24 routes against the Bears, which isn't even in the bottom half of his single-game season ranks. He's just more susceptible to games like this because of the talent surrounding him.

Question: If you were a Lions-benevolent super being, how would you architect the NFC playoff bracket? Who should we root for this weekend? — Patrick

Justin: It starts with the one seed and the bye. From there, a Divisional Round game against the No. 4 seed Atlanta Falcons is probably the best-case scenario. That would require an upset over the Vikings, but a home playoff game against an inexperienced rookie quarterback would be welcomed.

In the NFC Championship, the NFC West champ would be a much better draw than the Eagles. The rosters are different than last season, or even this year’s opener, but there’s no question the Rams are inferior opponents.

Question: I’m thinking about coaching trees this morning. The Shanahan, McVey, LaFleur, O’Connell branches get the most love and attention from the national media. Why do you think that is?

I think I read Campbell is part of Parcells' lineage. Is there anyone similar to him in that line or is he one of one? In other words, do you think he’s doing something completely unique? — Jacob Schans

Justin: Mike Shanahan’s coaching tree is ridiculous and gets attention because there are many active branches that are highly successful.

His son, Kyle, has led the 49ers to two Super Bowl appearances. Sean McVay has won at least nine games in seven of eight seasons, has a Super Bowl win and a second appearance. LaFleur has a top-10 winning percentage all-time. Even Mike McDaniel and Raheem Morris have also had above-average success.

But Parcells' tree might be better. Hell, it spawned Bill Belichick and Nick Saban (as a branch of Belichick), two of the greatest to ever do it at the pro and college levels.

Additionally, you’ve got Super Bowl winners in Sean Payton and Tom Coughlin, and a Super Bowl participant in Jim Fassel from that tree.

Campbell is kind of a branch of a branch with Parcells, playing for the coach and then working under two coaches who were his assistants, Tony Sparano and Payton.

Question: Can we expect to see more touches for Sione Vaki this week? — @DetroitDenPod

Justin: I wouldn’t expect that. There are situations where he’s a good fit, like the two-minute drill as we saw last week. Still, I firmly believe the Lions trust Craig Reynolds and Jermar Jefferson to handle the full array of backfield responsibilities more than the rookie at this stage in his development.

Question: Any concern about LaPorta’s development? — Jason Pevitt

Justin: Nope.

This goes back to the answer about Patrick. The Lions have too many weapons for us to have expected the young tight end to have repeated the record-breaking production of his rookie season. That’s not even factoring in a soft tissue issue from training camp contributing to a slow start.

LaPorta is averaging around 10 yards fewer per game than 2023, but more per reception. In terms of where the production has gone, much went to the running back tandem of Jahmyr Gibbs and David Montgomery, but also Jameson Williams, who is on the cusp of topping 1,000 yards on the season.

But back to the backs, it has to be acknowledged that Goff hasn’t had to throw as much this season. He’s on pace for 70 fewer completions despite completing a career-best percentage of his throws.

Question: If the Lions clinch the No. 1 seed on Monday night, will the team rest the starters for the final game against Minnesota? — Chris Knight

Justin: It’s a valid question that’s difficult to answer without a sample size, but my guess would be no. You don’t have the depth with a 53-man roster to hold 10-15 guys from playing.

Could I see a select few such as Goff or Gibbs having a truncated day? Absolutely. But not dressing them doesn’t strike me as to how Dan Campbell would approach things.

Question: Could Ben Johnson really leave for Chicago? — @DirtyJerzFinest

Justin: Johnson has always played his future close to the vest, but I’ve long gotten the sense he values control. So when you hear some national reporters talk about him wanting the “right situation,” that's the lens I view that generic analysis.

More than not wanting to compete against Campbell, or Caleb Williams not being the timing passer Johnson covets as others have suggested, Chicago’s instability at the top of the organization, particularly negative perceptions of team president Kevin Warren, would be the No. 1 factor I could see dissuading Johnson from that job.

Question: Do you think Teddy Bridgewater is coming back to be more than a security blanket/mentor? Wonder if he has aspirations to coach at the NFL level, especially if Ben leaves this offseason. — @JamisonB56

Is Teddy a potential OC for the Lions if Ben Johnson leaves? — @johnrumery.bsky.social

Justin: Yeah, no.

But don’t take my word for it. Here’s what he said when asked about it in the locker room on Saturday.

"Nah, I love my sleep,” Bridgewater said. “In the NFL, these coaches be here at four in the morning and leave at one in the morning.”

Question: Are there any concerns about Alex Anzalone since his clock didn’t start this week? — @stevejbrown23

Justin: No, despite what Twitter analysts might be saying. Earlier this month, Campbell said the recovery timetable was the last week of the regular season on the early end and early stages of the playoffs on the longer side.

Anzalone’s recovery remains on track.

Question: Earlier this week, you mentioned coaches who could potentially leave with Johnson. Who do you think could leave with Aaron Glenn? — @bendarke97

Justin: Among the lower-level assistants who could be ready to take the next step and take over a room, assistant linebacker coach Shaun Dion Hamilton and assistant defensive line coach Cam Davis would be at the top of the list. And with veteran coaches who couldn’t be blocked, you have David Corrao and Jim O’Neil. Those are four off the top of my head, with Davis topping the list.

I’m less certain whether Glenn would look to take an assistant to be his defensive coordinator. Maybe Kelvin Sheppard if the Lions pass him over to backfill Glenn.

Question: Why hasn’t our offense drawn more defensive pass inferences penalties this year? — @tmantrev3

Justin: According to the NFL’s tracking data, Goff is one of the least aggressive quarterbacks, meaning he’s less likely than his peers to force a ball into tight coverage. And his top, non-backfield options — St. Brown, Williams and LaPorta — all have above-average separation on their targets.

Question: What is going on with Emmanuel Moseley? He’s been physically available for weeks and hasn’t been able to get on the field. — @oldbk.bsky.social

Justin: To be fair, he’s playing special teams.

The answer to why Moseley isn’t seeing defensive snaps points to the team feeling more comfortable with Amik Robertson, Ifeatu Melifonwu and Kindle Vildor. The accumulation of rust from a 2.5-season layoff is tough to shake.

Question: I noticed the 49ers have gained a lot of third-round comp picks for developing minority hires in the last few years. If Glenn becomes a head coach or Ray Agnew becomes a general manager, what would the Lions gain and when would they get those picks? — Erik J Maassen

Justin: For those who don’t know, the NFL implemented a system that rewards franchises for developing minority candidates who get hired to top-level positions.

If either Glenn or Agnew were to be hired for those respective positions, the Lions would receive a pair of third-round picks at the end of the third round in the next two drafts. If both were hired in the same offseason, the Lions would be a third third-round pick in 2027.

Question: With all of the injuries to the defensive line, I’m really surprised Broderic Martin hasn’t been able to crack the game-day roster. Has he been that bad? Is it too early to call him a “miss” by Brad Holmes? — Michael Martini

Justin: Martin’s game-day status is tied to the nose tackle alignments. It’s why when DJ Reader was out for a game with a shoulder injury, Martin earned the start and the biggest workload of his career.

When Reader is healthy, the team generally doesn’t need Martin. And given he offers almost no special teams value, it’s better to keep a more versatile option active.

As for labeling Martin a “miss” or a “bust,” yes, it’s probably premature. His rookie season was exactly what the team said it would be. On top of that, there’s a sentiment former defensive line coach John Scott didn’t maximize Martin’s first-year development.

Enter Terrell Williams, who seemingly had Martin on a better track this offseason before a hyperextended knee shelved the young lineman for the first half of the regular season. By the time he was healthy, he had lost some of his gains, while being passed by a veteran Pat O'Connor on the depth. Notably, he does contribute to special teams.

Talk to me closer to the end of the 2025 season before I’m willing to provide a more fair assessment of the Martin pick.