Monday recap: More trade talk, youngsters getting rare but valuable reps, and some praise for Fipp

Allen Park — The Detroit Lions’ pass rush was better in the team’s second game without Aidan Hutchinson, but still wasn’t as impactful as coach Dan Campbell would like.

According to Pro Football Focus, the Lions affected Titans quarterback Mason Rudolph on 16 of his 42 dropbacks, but the team only tallied five QB hits and one sack, which belonged to linebacker Alex Anzalone. He dumped Rudolph as an unblocked blitzer in the second quarter of the contest.

With the trade deadline looming next Tuesday, Campbell faced a fresh batch of questions about Detroit feeling pressure to make a move.

“We know when the deadline is,” Campbell said. “We’re still talking about it and we're still working through it. I’m not concerned, there’re other ways of creating pressure and, yeah, would you like a little more? Yeah, we’d like a little bit more, but there were a number of plays in there, too, where they got the ball out of their hand (quickly).

Campbell reiterated the team won’t be able to replace Hutchinson’s impact, no matter what they do, and it’s up to the rest of the roster to step up to fill the void.

That doesn’t just mean the pass rush.

“You put a bigger burden on your back end is what you’ve got to do,” Campbell said. “We’ve done that, and they’ve risen to the challenge. Has it been perfect? No, but we are getting takeaways, which is huge.”

On Monday, the defending champions, the Kansas City Chiefs, made their second trade in the past week, sending a sixth-round draft pick to the New England Patriots for outside linebacker Josh Uche.

The former Michigan standout wasn’t a schematic fit for the Lions, but it only raises the anxiety of fans who are watching other Super Bowl contenders make deals while the Lions remain patient.

Asked if the Lions could make a move in the next 24 hours, Campbell started getting silly in response to the line of questioning, smiling, jumping up and down and saying, “Yeah, it could be.”

Feel free to dissect the body language attached to that answer.

A boost off the edge

Al-Quadin Muhammad didn’t put a dent in the boxscore, failing to record a tackle, let alone a sack, but he did generate some pressure. Pro Football Focus had him hurrying Rudolph on six occasions.

“Man, he did some things for us,” Campbell said. “He was active, he played aggressive, he was physical. He went in there and really gave us a good day’s work, which is exactly what we talked about. Now there were a couple of things we’ve got to clean up mentally with him.”

Barring a trade, and maybe even with one, Muhammad will likely be elevated off the practice squad again for next Sunday’s game against Green Bay.

Valuable reps

For the second time in three weeks, backup quarterback Hendon Hooker got into a game, finishing out the late stages of a blowout.

Hooker wasn’t the only young player getting some extra work in those wins over Dallas and Tennessee. Others who saw more work than usual included rookies Ennis Rakestraw and Mekhi Wingo.

Despite the circumstances, I asked Campbell how valuable those snaps can be for a player who wouldn’t otherwise see the field.

“They’re very valuable and they’re so rare,” Campbell said. “It’s a rarity to be able to do that, and the fact that we’ve been able to do that now two games — they’re valuable reps and you want those players to understand (that). I think most of them do,

“For Hooker these are real, big-time reps,” Campbell said. “(Offensive lineman Michael) Niese goes in there and plays center, one of the first things he had, he’s got to block (Titans defensive tackle Jeffery) Simmons. Man, those things, that’s how you really grow, is to get those real-time reps against really good football players.”

Campbell noted the obvious next step would be executing within that workload. Hooker, for example, went three-and-out with his two possessions under center.

“Certainly, we want to be better,” Campbell said. “You need to be able to convert there and keep moving the ball.”

Special teams, special people

Special teams coordinator Dave Fipp was awarded one of two game balls in the locker room after yesterday’s victory, with the other going to one of the coach’s star pupils, return man Kalif Raymond.

Fipp doesn’t get the attention of Detroit’s other coordinators, Ben Johnson and Aaron Glenn, who have been popular head-coaching candidates the past couple of cycles. Still, Campbell was happy to have an opportunity to rave about what Fipp means to him and the program.

“Fipp is every bit as important as those guys (Johnson and Glenn) are,” Campbell said. “From the time that I was able to get him here, and get him signed out of Philly, I mean, I was fortunate. It just happened to work out, everything aligned right, because Fipp’s a hell of a coach.

“The guy loves football and he coaches it with passion,” Campbell said. “He’s always got a damn good plan for the opponent. He’s crystal clear with what he’s looking for, what he thinks is going to work. Those guys believe it, they buy in, and they put all-out effort into it. So he’s inspiring and he’s just another one of the reasons why we win around here.”

Tight end usage explained

For the past two weeks, the Lions have elevated Shane Zylstra off the practice squad and used him on game day ahead of Parker Hesse. Campbell was asked what went into the decision to swap tight ends and whether it was matchup-based.

“Well, it was, (but) I would say the biggest reason is because Zylstra has really improved over the last, call it month, three or four weeks,” Campbell said. “He was hard to ignore in practice. We felt like he’s a pretty good athlete and every week he was giving our defense fits on the scout team.

“That’s what we were looking for through camp (from him),” Campbell said. “I told him the week before we elevated him, I said, ‘I see you and you’re getting better and better and better, (in) the run game and pass game.’ So we felt like it’s time to give him another opportunity and he’s been good for us.”

Undrafted out of Minnesota State in 2020, Zylstra has spent most of his career in Detroit, splitting time between the practice squad and the main roster.

He missed last season with a knee injury, but appeared in 13 games in 2022, catching 11 passes for 60 yards and four touchdowns.