Pressers and scrums: Unlocking Gibbs' receiving potential, another problematic Baker and new injury up front

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Allen Park — Detroit Lions running back Jahmyr Gibbs is off to a strong start to his sophomore season, but he continues to be inefficient in the pass game compared to some of the league’s better dual-threats rushers.

Gibbs ranks third among running backs with 11 receptions through two weeks, but ninth in receiving yards and 24th in yards per catch at his position.

Running backs coach Scottie Montgomery said the team has to do a better job, schematically, to unleash Gibbs’ potential as a pass-catcher.

"One of the things about him, I do think that he is a great space player,” Montgomery said. “But because of who he is, now he is getting a little bit of a different coverage. There were some details on (Tampa’s) coverage on the exterior that we saw; guys playing with a little bit more width than normal.

“A lot of it probably has a lot to do with him, but there's some other things that we can of course do better,” Montgomery continued. “...It's all about space with Jah (Gibbs). If we can get him into situations where it's truly one-on-one, with his face to the opponent versus his back to the opponent, it gives us a little bit better of an opportunity to create a little bit more explosives."

● The Lions were missing several key pieces during the portion of Wednesday's practice open to the media: Guard Graham Glasgow, Linebacker Alex Anzalone, safety Ifeatu Melifonwu and rookie cornerbacks Terrion Arnold and Ennis Rakestraw.

All but Glasgow were dealing with known issues coming into the day. The veteran lineman played all 85 (!) offensive snaps against Tampa, but was listed with a knee injury on the practice report. Additionally, safety Kerby Joseph was limited with a back injury.

Anzalone’s status this week remains in doubt as he works his way through concussion protocol. If he can’t get medically cleared ahead of this weekend’s trip to Arizona, expect second-year linebacker Jack Campbell to play a larger role than he has the first two weeks.

“Jack’s proven himself,” Campbell said. “I mean, Jack continues to get better, he understands the defense, he communicates well, he’s gotten better in the pass game, he’s aggressive on the run game, runs coast-to-coast, all-out effort, goes after the football, so I’m confident.

“Anytime you lose somebody like Alex — if he’s not able to go — that’s going to hurt,” Campbell continued. “I mean, Alex is a hell of a player for us. And so, we’ll just take it as it comes with that, but I’ve got all the confidence in the world with Jack and really all of those guys.”

Two positives with Detroit’s injury situation are wide receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown and defensive end Marcus Davenport were both practicing without restriction.

● It’s been unusual to see the Lions utilizing 213-pound rookie running back Sione Vaki as a lead blocker in some I-formation looks early this season, but  Montgomery highlighted how Vaki's ability to handle it revealed itself during training camp.

Montgomery said he asks linebackers coach Kelvin Sheppard to help “baptize” rookies to the physicality of the league by having the linebackers ditch jukes and try to run through the younger running backs in one-on-one blocking drills.

“(Vaki) is a little more stouter, a little bit bigger body type (than Gibbs), but he handled it really well,” Montgomery said. “Then we progressed to the drills. You see drills, whether it's special teams drills, whether they're offensive or defensive drills, where we're seeing guys in one-on-one blocking situations, and he did really well. Then we put him in on 11-on-11 ball against some of our guys, even defensive ends and outside backers, where he was responsible for cut blocking or going back to block guys, and he stayed up a lot.

“We just really like his ability to strike on the move,” Montgomery said. “He targets well. And because of his leverage and power in his lower quarters, he's just always striking on the move, which is timing. It's like a boxer's timing, at times. He knows how to get to that point, maybe take that extra step and go in and engage. We've seen a lot of good things out of him.”

● Detroit is typically a good screen team, but struggled with some of those concepts in last week’s loss to Tampa. It most notably showed up during a red zone throw to Gibbs late in the game, where both Frank Ragnow and Glasgow tried to block the same defender, resulting in the play getting stopped after a minimal gain.

Offensive line coach Hank Fraley noted those miscues aren’t uncommon on those plays, especially early in the season.

“Stuff like that happens all over, all the time,” Fraley said. “If you broke down the league (with) screens, you’re sorting things out on the run, and sometimes you can put blinders on and not realize your buddy is next to you. You would love to sort that out better.”

● The Lions lost Greg Joseph off the practice squad this week when the veteran kicker was poached by the New York Giants. To backfill the spot, the team signed Matthew McCrane.

McCrane has been around for a bit, going undrafted out of Kansas State back in 2018 after making better than 86% of his field goal tries across four seasons.

He’s struggled to find a permanent home in the NFL, kicking for three different teams as a rookie, and hasn't appeared in a regular season game since. Playing for the DC Defenders the past two seasons, first in the XFL then the UFL, McCrane went 28-for-36 (77.8%) on field goals with a long of 58 yards.

● Almost unbelievably, Aidan Hutchinson was not named the NFC’s defensive player of the week after his 4.5-sack effort against the Buccaneers. Instead, the honor went to Falcons safety Jessie Bates. He racked up 12 tackles, two pass defenses and a game-sealing interception in Monday night’s win over the Eagles.

● Budda Baker is a problem. The Arizona Cardinals safety, who has topped 100 tackles four times in his career, is currently pacing this week’s opponent with 18 stops through two games, including three for a loss.

As the Lions look to get their ground game on track, particularly in the red zone, every offensive coach has No. 3 circled this week.

“They do a really good job of understanding how to call (their defense) to place him in different locations, which creates a lot of issues for support blocking from the exterior of the receivers, the tight ends, the people that are responsible for that spot in support blocking,” Scottie Montgomery said. “He's one of those guys, you know that even when you think you got him targeted perfectly, he can get skinny on you and go make a play in the backfield.”

Baker was a menace in a win over the Rams last week, tallying eight tackles, two behind the line, to go with a pass breakup.

“I think there’s a number of things they do schematically where he comes from the sky in such a hurry,” Lions coach Dan Campbell said. “It’s an identification issue or it’s a, ‘Man, it got on me so fast. He’s mine, but I didn’t quite take the right angle, or I don’t want to take the angle because he’s coming downhill like a missile.’ He fits prefect into what they’re trying to do over there. I think they give him a lot of leeway and he’s really good at it.

● After a tough camp competition between the two rookie cornerbacks in 2023, the Lions opted to keep Steven Gilmore over Starling Thomas V. The latter was claimed off waivers by the Cardinals and went on to start seven games last season and the first two this year, showing impressive improvement in coverage to begin this campaign. 

“Yeah, good athlete,” Campbell said. “He was a worker. Grinder, crafty, physical, tough and you just felt this — he was very raw — but you felt this room to grow. We thought he’d be a heck of a special teams player while he grew into a corner, and you see what they’re doing with him out there, which I’m not surprised at all. So, he can run, he is a good athlete, he’s tough and he’s certainly a better player than when he left here. That’s what you see.”

● Sam LaPorta spoke briefly in the locker room and isn’t sweating his early lack of production …as long as the team is winning games.

"Of course it's awesome to be a part of the production,” LaPorta said. “Obviously, the biggest goal is to win games. It's great that we have a really creative offensive coordinator, and the offensive coaching staff in general, so I know they're going to find ways to spread the ball around.

“Some games targets might find you, sometimes they may not,” LaPorta said. “Like I said, the most important thing is to win. If I can help contribute with a couple of catches, it's great. If not and we still win, that's awesome."

LaPorta said he’s feeling at full-strength after missing time in training camp with a hamstring strain, and he hasn’t felt defenses are covering him differently to begin this season.