Street to compete: Lions have no choice but to throw incoming vets into the fire
Allen Park — Did you ever change schools as a kid? Math might be math, no matter the classroom, but it’s never easy looking around and finding yourself surrounded by unfamiliar faces, or having a teacher who takes a different approach than what you’ve previously known.
Even that comparison doesn’t quite encompass the challenge of joining an NFL team at the start of or a few days into training camp. Not only is the environment foreign, but you’re thrust into a competition for a job with guys who have been there for weeks, months and sometimes years. Hell, you might still be trying to figure out where the bathroom is at.
“It can be very overwhelming,” new Detroit Lions linebacker Malik Jefferson said. “I'm going to be honest, the first couple days, and even now, I still feel kind of overwhelmed because the need to catch up and learn is important, but there are a lot of things that I can control and there are a lot of things I can't control. I just focus and pray on the things in my control.”
Faith plays a huge role for Jefferson, who joined the Lions a few days into camp. But he also subscribes to the idea that God helps those who help themselves. After not being re-signed by the Dallas Cowboys at the end of the season, he’s never stopped working out, preparing for his next opportunity. And after the longest stretch of his professional career without a job, the former third-round pick jumped at the opportunity to join the Lions when they called.
Honestly, he’s not afraid to admit he would have jumped at any offer, but there is fortune in coming to Detroit. Under the current leadership of general manager Brad Holmes and Dan Campbell, the players the team drafts and signs are given ample time to prove they have value.
The previous regime churned through the bottom of the roster in a way that almost felt callous, but almost all the changes made under Holmes and Campbell are the result of injuries necessitating an addition. Even during the regular season, many practice squad players will stick the entire year.
Still, the fact remains the team will have to trim its roster from 90 to 53 players in less than a month. Some of the group that doesn’t make the cut will end up on a 16-man practice squad, but none of that changes that it’s not a lot of time to make an impression. And the Lions can’t hold the hands of these recent signings while they figure things out.
“Man, they get thrown to the fire,” Lions coach Dan Campbell said. “I mean, that’s the only way you can do it, and really that’s kind of the only way to be fair to them because if you just wait until, ‘OK, you good? You’re totally good? OK, good,’ well now it’s time to move to the next guy. So, there’s nothing easy about it, but those guys understand that when they sign here.
“…Now, that being said, we try to be smart with them, too, don’t put so many reps on these guys that they’re not ready for (them),” Campbell said. “But we’ll give them a crash course on what we do, and we try to be smart. We let them know, ‘Hey listen, we understand you just walked in here, but at least you can function, and you can help us a little bit here.’ And that’s the best you can do with it. I mean, you try to help them, and you’ve just got to see if they can take what they get and do something with it.”
Jefferson certainly helped himself his first full week when he undercut an underthrown pass at the goal line for an interception to end a practice. Big plays never hurt, but the Lions want consistency over flash. Jefferson, who has been in the league six years, understands that.
“Football is about staying consistent,” Jefferson said. “Being in position to make those plays is my job. That's what I should be doing.”
Jefferson isn’t the only newcomer for training camp. Following injuries to John Cominsky and Netane Muti last week, the team brought back 2017 draft pick Pat O’Connor — who might as well be new after spending the past six seasons in Tampa — and guard Jake Burton. And just before the start of camp, the team added kicker Jake Bates and guard Ike Boettger.
The Boettger addition was likely tied to rookie Christian Mahogany landing on the non-football injury list with an illness that continues to keep him sidelined. And injuries to Muti and, more recently, Kayode Awosika, have quickly pushed Boettger up the depth chart to taking reps with the second-team offense.
Unlike Jefferson, who knew almost no one on Detroit’s roster and coaching staff, Boettger played collegiately at Iowa. He has several former teammates in the building, including linebacker Jack Campbell, who he worked out with just days before the Lions made the call.
Boettger has been around the league a bit, too, and his experience has been valuable to accelerating his acclimation. To get the playbook down, he’s leaned on a note card system, where he quizzes himself two or three times per day on the team’s play calls and his assignments, only completing the task once he’s gotten every question correct.
He’s reluctant to say it’s been easy, but Boettger has adjusted more quickly than he could have imagined because of the early support of his teammates and coaches. What’s been more reassuring for him is how his body is feeling a little more than two years removed from a second Achilles repair.
“The last couple years, I've really struggled physically, and a couple times wondered if this is the end of the road for me,” Boettger said. “Honestly, the Lord brought me back, physically. One day at a time, I just kept working and kept working, and felt at peace with giving this one more shot. I knew an opportunity would come. Before my injury, I put out a lot of good film.
“Physically, it's like I'm playing in a new body I haven't had in a while,” Boettger said. “So it's much better. Every day has been better than the last.”
Jefferson, Boettger and the other recent additions will have an important opportunity to bolster their roster cases with a strong showing this week in joint practices and preseason action against the New York Giants.
A roster is gonna need to churn when you take fliers on injured,albeit talented, aged players. Holmes penchant for injury history players forces diversity to hide unavailability.
Great article. Showing the reality of joining a team mid camp and having to pick things up on the fly was eye opening for me. It really let's you know how hard it is make a team from the outside.
It also show the importance of drafting well and keeping your own players (you know what you have).
We talk about player consistency but keeping the same coaching staff is a major reason the Lions are contenders withbyear.