Pressers and scrums: CB Davis loving how hard Lions' pass-catchers are pushing him

Allen Park — Holding the Detroit Lions offense in check can be a nightmare for opposing defenses. The unit has averaged nearly 27 points per game in the two season since Ben Johnson has taken over as offensive coordinator.

Now imagine trying to stop that group every day? That’s the new reality Carlton Davis III is facing this offseason. Acquired in a March trade to serve as the team’s No. 1 cornerback in 2024, the physical veteran has been getting a workout from, and occasionally worked over by, Detroit’s wealth of ultra-talented pass-game weapons.

“I mean, shoot, they all causing me problems,” Davis III said Friday morning, drawing the intended laugh from the group of gathered reporters. “God damn. I'm stressing out out there. It's great competition. I love it. I need to be pushed. I need that competition level, man. I would be lying if I said that I wasn't out there trying to be the best version of myself against those guys. If I wasn't, they would kind of kick my ass. So I'm out there pushing them and they're pushing me. It's been great.”

Davis dug a little deeper with some individual shooting reports, highlighting Amon-Ra St. Brown’s intensity, Jameson Williams’ second-to-none speed and tight end Sam LaPorta’s sneakiness in his route-running.

“Amon-Ra, he just has so much intensity, every day,” Davis said. “He doesn't drop off. And Jamo is just a special guy with his speed and his quickness. There are so many things he can do to beat you. Those guys have been getting me better and I've been getting them better. It's been great competition.”

● Davis’ media session was entertaining, and that went to another level when Terrion Arnold crashed the party. Prior to Arnold popping by to play reporter, Davis had already been raving about what the rookie cornerbacks — Arnold and Ennis Rakestraw — are bringing to the roster.

“You see, the one thing that stands out about those rookies, is they come from the SEC,” Davis said. “We are different. I'm going to be honest with you, the competition is different, the level of play is different. So these guys are coming in, (it’s) maybe like (a) Year 2 (player) — in my opinion. This is how I feel about SEC guys; we just breed the best athletes. It's no surprise to me that they came in and they're ready to go. They're not scared of any big names or anything like that. 

Arnold’s confidence is off the charts, and was further demonstrated by his comfort level interrupting an established veteran’s interview. There’s a playfulness to Arnold, but he’s not immature. He’s the little brother you know is going places.

The personalities of both the laid-back veteran and high-energy, chatty Arnold led to some playful banter, with Davis acknowledging he repeatedly has to tell the rookie to shut up.

"Oh, yeah, all the time,” Davis said. “But at the same time, he is so just persistent. This guy doesn't go away and I think even affects his game on how resilient he is. He doesn't care about what people say about him. He's just gonna be himself. He's gonna go hard, he's gonna have that confidence and you gotta love that in the guy. You can only respect that. So, even when I tell him to shut up, two seconds later he's saying something else. So it's like, man, just do yo thing, bro. Just stay poised, baby."

● Arnold isn’t the only player with a big, loud personality in Detroit’s secondary. Long before he arrived, safety Kerby Joseph was the one who was annoying everyone in the room with his class clown antics. Of course, those are pretty easy to tolerate when you’re racking up eight interceptions your first two seasons.

That’s all well and good, but Lions coach Dan Campbell is looking for Kerby to step up and be even more productive entering his third season.

“Man, every year he’s grown a little bit and I think this year it’s, ‘All right man, it’s time to become a staple in this defense and become a very consistent player every week,’” Campbell said. “One of the things that I’m really excited about with Kerby — I mean, even when we’re doing some of these tackling drills, you see, man, one of the emphases was keeping your head up, man. You see him working on it. He’s working on keeping his head up. He had one of the prettiest tackles of all practice yesterday in that tackling drill. So that’s improvement.

Campbell said he’s also seeing Kerby play the safety position with more intelligence, particularly his ability to disguise his assignment and manipulate the quarterback.

“He’s evolving and that’s good to see because that’s kind of the next step in his growth, because he’s got the ability, he can track the ball, but he can understand what (defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn) AG wants in this defense and how he’s able to mess with those guys a little bit,” Campbell said. “Man, the sky is the limit for him.”

● It’s easy to think about Brodric Martin and Giovanni Manu as developmental projects, but running back Sione Vaki also fits firmly into that category. Drafted as a running back, there’s little doubt he’ll contribute on special teams as a rookie, but it might be a minute before the converted safety is ready for a backfield role.

“Look, he is growing and he’s learning,” Campbell said. “I just bring it up again, he is new to the position.”

Campbell said the team is feeling good about how well Vaki is picking up the various responsibilities of the running back position, including pass protection assignments, but they’re eager to get him as many carries as possible the remainder of camp and during the preseason.

“He’s got a huge ceiling to grow (into),” Campbell said. “(We need to see him) carrying the football and reading off blocks and understand where we want it to go. …The kid’s putting in the work. He’s young and he’s raw.”