Locker room recap: Davis on facing former team, Hutchinson talks mental growth and Reader details rehab ahead of debut

Allen Park — Carlton Davis III hasn’t fully acclimated to his new surroundings quite yet. The Detroit Lions cornerback, acquired in a trade this offseason, joked that at one point during the season opener at Ford Field, he started jogging over to the visitors sideline.

This Sunday has the potential to be even more confusing as Davis’ former team, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, comes to town. On Wednesday, he confirmed he didn’t ask to be traded and was shocked when general manager Jason Licht informed him of the deal.

Players understand it’s business, it’s not personal. At least that’s what they tell themselves. As a veteran, Davis is trying to treat this like any other game. But the reality is it’s not like any other game. He spent six seasons with Tampa. It’s the only team he knew as a professional before unceremoniously getting shipped out. So he can’t even predict how he might feel when he comes out of the tunnel for warmups and sees a bunch of former teammates for the first time since the trade.

“I haven't experienced it yet, so I guess we'll see what happens when it happens,” Davis said. “For now, I'm not trying to feed into the emotions of it, or the personal relationships, or anything like that. At the end of the day, it's a business. We've got a game and somebody's got to win and somebody's got to lose. It's my job to make sure we win."

Davis should be an integral piece to helping Detroit stay hot against Tampa; a team they beat twice last season, including in the Divisional Round of the playoffs.

Still, despite Detroit's newfound success in 2023, it was clear they needed to upgrade at cornerback. Adding Davis was the first of several moves with that overhaul. The union might not be more than one year -- Davis is in the final year of his contract -- but for 2024, he’s the team’s No. 1 cornerback. That means he’ll often draw the opponent's top receiver.

Tampa happens to have two studs in Mike Evans and Chris Godwin. Evans, who is on a Hall of Fame trajectory after 10 consecutive 1,000-yard seasons, ripped the Lions for 147 yards and a touchdown in the playoffs last year.

Davis knows both receivers well, having battled them on the practice field for years.

"Going up against Mike for six years has definitely made me a better cornerback," Davis said. "I always loved going up against him and Chris. I'll forever respect those guys. Got a lot of respect for him, and forever thankful for him.

"…(Evan’s) just got good body control,” Davis said. “His mentality is different, the way he approaches the game. He's always been a big player, always been a playmaker, always been somebody you can depend on. I don't really want to talk too much about how good he is."

● Wide receivers have a reputation for being divas, but quarterback Jared Goff said All-Pro Amon-Ra St. Brown handled his lack of catches in the opener like a pro.

“He’s fine, man,” Goff said. “He’s incredible. He’s a captain on this team. He’s a leader. He knows he’s going to get his, it’s just a matter of time. It just wasn’t that game for whatever, a multitude of reasons.

“…He’s got the C on his chest for a reason,” Goff continued. “I know he still wants the ball. Of course he does, all those receivers want the ball. But I think he understands, when we’re able to win a game and he doesn’t get as involved as maybe he’d like, he’s good with it. We’re winning the game and we’re trying to win a Super Bowl this year.”

● Aidan Hutchinson had a strange game against the Rams, terrorizing the opposing offensive tackles to rack up 11 quarterback pressures. But it wasn’t until the final snap of regulation that Detroit’s productive rusher got home for a sack.

The moment he was able to bring Matthew Stafford to the ground was cathartic for Hutchinson, but he acknowledged he was in a better place mentally prior to that moment than he might have been the past two seasons.

"I feel like that's what last year taught me, a little bit,” Hutchinson said. “I feel like this year, my mentality has become a little bit different and I can deal with that kind of adversity better. …Last year helped, and every year you grow as a player. I feel like my mental growth has helped me in that aspect." 

Hutchinson could face frustration for a different reason this week when he’s set to see plenty of Tristan Wirfs, the outstanding, young offensive tackle for the Buccaneers. The three-time Pro Bowlers will present a far stiffer challenge than the third-string offensive linemen the Lions were beating up on in the second half against the Rams.

“I think he’s just a freak of a human being,” Hutchinson said. “You just look at him; he’s massive, he’s got these huge arms and he’s going to try to punch you. I’ve been going against Wirfs now since his Iowa days, so we’ve seen each other a lot. And it’s always, again, playing against good competition is fun, because I know he’s going to give me his best and I’m going to give him my best, and we’ll see where the cards fall.”

Professional athletes are conditioned to treat every matchup the same, but Hutchinson admitted facing an elite opponent like Wirfs has a way of helping you find another gear.

“Maybe a little bit, but every play if I know I have an opportunity to get a sack or something or to affect the play, it’s on,” Hutchinson said.

● You hear about an injury, you get updates on a timetable, but you don’t always appreciate what a player goes through to get back on the field. Assuming he doesn’t suffer an unexpected setback, defensive tackle DJ Reader is set to make his Detroit debut this week after suffering a torn quad last December. On Wednesday, he shared some of what he had to go through to reach this point.

“It’s a hell of a process, and at the beginning, you never know if it’s going to be the same,” Reader said.

For the first six weeks, Reader wasn’t supposed to move his leg. And at the beginning, the pain was so much, the only way he could cope was medication.

“It sounds crazy, but you’re in so much pain, you really just try to manage those pills to be able to go to sleep,” Reader said. “It’s really the only time you get to sleep is when you’re on the pain medicine, because other than that, it’s a lot. It’s a pretty painful injury.

“Then after about two weeks, that’s really the toughest part, because then you want to move your leg,” Reader continued. “At the beginning, you’re kind of like, ‘Ah, whatever.’ In and out of sleep for about a week and a half. Then at about two weeks, you really want to move your leg, but you can’t. So then it starts playing tricks on you where it’s fine, enough to move, and you don’t really have strength every day to hold it straight.”

Once Reader was allowed to move the leg, his rehab progressed slowly, starting with pedaling a bike. It's something that seems so easy, but is just another nightmare.

“The first time you can actually make the pedal go around is like the toughest part,” Reader said. “Then after that it kinda starts going together. But then you got to start loading weight, it’s even more tough. I see why a lot of guys don’t really come back from it. This is just one of those injuries. You’re fighting that wall every day.”

What makes Reader’s case crazier is this is the second time he’s made his way back from this injury, tearing his other quad in 2020. But just because he went through this once before won’t make his return to action this go-around any less sweet.

“I’m excited about where I’m at,” Reader said. “I’m excited just to get out there with the guys, get out there and play around. The crowd was amazing last week. The energy was great.”

Injury report

The Lions were without a handful of key cogs for Wednesday’s practice, starting with offensive tackle Penei Sewell, who suffered an ankle injury in the first half of the season opener, but was able to play through the sprain in the victory.

Also not practicing for the Lions were defensive end Marcus Davenport (groin) and safeties Kerby Joseph (hamstring) and Ifeatu Melifonwu (ankle). Additionally, wide receiver Jameson Williams was limited by an ankle injury.