ALLEN PARK, Mich. — Trying to right a sinking ship, the Detroit Lions are making more changes coming out of the bye.
Not surprisingly, coach Dan Campbell isn't willing to share any of the schematic or personnel adjustments ahead of Sunday's game against the Dallas Cowboys, but the coach revealed a key change to the team's practice routine he's hoping will improve the team's performance.
"We’re going to go back and do a lot of things we did in camp, just to prepare," Campbell said. "That was one of the things that came out of (the bye), be much more competitive in practice. We’ll get back to some pads, one-on-ones, things of that nature."
Once the regular season starts, most teams shift gears with their practice routine. After more than a month of having the offensive and defensive starters battle head-to-head, they switch to those groups working against the backups, also known as the scout team, which do their best to simulate the upcoming opponent's schemes.
That makes plenty of sense, but it carries a marked decrease from the intensity of those offseason practices, something Campbell is hoping to reincorporate to relight the team's competitive fire during the week of preparation.
As for the one-on-one periods of practice, where teams can still get some of that best-on-best competition, Campbell said the Lions had to dial it back in recent weeks due to the flood of injuries that has plagued the roster through the first month and a half of the season. Yet, after losing four of the first five games, the urgency that comes from the season slipping away has the coach reversing course after the bye.
"We had a number of injuries and so you dial back a number of things to feel like so you can get through what you need to get through in practice, but yet, still prepare them," Campbell said. "...We’re a young team, you may put a strain on other groups because you’re light in that area, but man, the rest of your team needs that work. And so I just felt like we’ve got to get back to those things we were doing in camp."
Within the changes, Campbell still has his team's teetering health on his mind. While he wants them to rediscover the intensity, he has no intention of driving them into the ground, unnecessarily leaving his roster with anything less than a full tank heading into Sunday.
"We’re going to get more intensity and less volume," Campbell said. That’s one little tweak that I hope helps us a little bit. We won’t be out there for two hours, but yet, man, the time that we are out there, we should be flying around and see if that helps us a little bit."
Wide receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown, arguably the roster's most competitive player, agrees with his coach's mindset.
"I think he's right," St. Brown said. "Everything starts on the practice field — the plays that they draw for us, the execution, just envisioning making those plays on Sundays starts out there on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. He tweaked a couple of things for practice, which I'm all for. I love one-on-ones. That's going to be in practice Wednesdays and Thursdays now for us, so I'm excited. Get to work on your craft. Get better, compete and that's what I'm about.
"I think it's going to help us as a team," St. Brown continued. "Sundays, it's all about winning your matchups, winning your one-on-ones. When you're out there on the practice field, sometimes if you feel like going against a scout team, you don't always get that intensity that you always want that you do during camp or whenever things are tough. To get that intensity back, I think it's going to be huge for us as a team. I think that's the type of team we are. We're gritty. We compete. We love to compete. I think adding that to the practice is going to be a huge plus for us."
While everyone stands to benefit from these changes, Detroit's defense likely stands to gain more. The team's offense has been one of the league's most productive units, while the defense is giving up more points than anyone. That unit is a dull blade in desperate need of being sharpened by the starting offense's iron.
Additionally, Campbell said he and the defensive coaches, led by coordinator Aaron Glenn, met extensively about making adjustments to the unit that's been allowing more yards and points per game than anyone in the league. Some of those tweaks started the game before the bye, when the team altered its starting personnel in the secondary. And Campbell has noted he was pleased with the progress made by the defense in the loss to the Patriots, a game where they held the opponent to 364 yards and 22 points — when you deduct a touchdown scored via a fumble recovery — while limiting the opposition to 3-of-9 on third down and 0-of-4 in the red zone.
"We calmed some things down," Campbell said. "That’ll still be kind of what we do there, but we won’t be totally vanilla. We’re not going to be sitting ducks. Look man, there again, I’m not discouraged. I’m not happy with where we’re at. I mean, I don’t think anybody is, but when you really look at it, you’re one or two plays away here, and all of a sudden, you’re sitting here with three wins. But the reality is we only have one. So, that’s where we’re at.”
