The Detroit Lions defense has incurred a ton of injuries this season, but no position has been hurt more than the linebacker room. This is what the depth chart looked like in Week 1:
SLB: Derrick Barnes
MLB: Jack Campbell
WLB: Alex Anzalone
Reserve: Malcolm Rodriguez
Reserve: Jalen Reeves-Maybin
Reserve: Ben Niemann
Reserve: Trevor Nowaske
Four out of those top five players are now on injured reserve: Barnes, Anzalone, Rodriguez, and Reeves-Maybin. As a result, when the Lions faced the Packers last week, they had to play four different linebackers who were added to the roster in the month of November (or later): Ezekiel Turner (17 defensive snaps vs. GB), David Long (16), Kwon Alexander (17), and DB/LB hybrid Jamal Adams (8).
Despite the high overturn, the Lions managed to keep their head above water. On the first three possessions of Thursday night, they were terrorizing Packers quarterback Jordan Love, forcing his offense to punt, punt, and then turn the ball over on the third possession. By halftime, the Lions had held Green Bay to just seven points and a mere 104 net yards of offense. And while they didn’t hold up as well in the second half, a key red-zone stop at the end of the game gave Detroit’s offense all the room they needed to close out the game.
So how has the linebacking unit managed to keep its head above water, and produce solid play despite having players who have been in the building just a couple of weeks?
Deep coaching staff
Linebackers coach Kelvin Sheppard is one of the more beloved coaches in the building, but he was quick to credit his staff of assistants for helping get the newbies aboard as quickly as possible.
“When you have guys, when I look to my right, and I got a guy like (assistant LB coach) Shaun Dion Hamilton, who’s fully ready to run his own room as a linebacker coach,” Sheppard said. “I look to my left, I got (defensive assistant/outside linebackers coach) Dave Corrao, who helps me with the edge guys, the OLB guys, and then I look in front of me, and I got Aaron Glenn, I’m all good.”
The trickle-down effect
Sheppard believes one reason players are catching on quickly is the standard defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn has set, and the buy-in that has followed from all the players in Detroit.
“I’ve had guys tell me this in my room that, ‘Man, guys talk about this, but the way that y’all practice here, the way we prepare, this is different, man,’” Sheppard said. “So when they see the belief, when they see us living these things, I think it’s a trickle-down and these guys buy-in, and it’s almost like without knowing.”
That unwavering buy-in helps motivate guys like Anzalone—who remains on injured reserve—to get in on the onboarding process, whispering tips to guys like Alexander and Long in the linebacker meeting room.
Jack Campbell’s improvement
The lone remaining starter from the beginning of the season, Campbell has certainly taken the Year 2 jump many were anticipating. The 2023 first-round pick is now the ninth-highest graded linebacker by PFF with the sixth-highest run defense grade among linebackers with at least 200 run defense snaps.
“He’s playing at, if not the highest level, one of the highest levels, at that position in the league the last month,” Sheppard said.
Beyond that, Campbell has taken up a leadership role. With Anzalone out, Campbell has taken over the green-dot responsibilities, communicating the play calls with all levels of the defense. He’s become such a natural middle linebacker, that Turner—despite knowing Campbell’s only in his second year—said he feels the presence of a veteran player.
“Not a special teams player”
Speaking of Turner, when the Lions signed him to their practice squad, we were quick to point out his vast experience playing special teams—and that was not meant to be any disrespect to Turner. Up until landing in Detroit, he had 1,769 special teams snaps in the NFL compared to just 190 on defense.
Even Sheppard admitted he didn’t know anything about Turner when he landed on the roster. But in the month that followed—when Turner was forced into the lineup and has now played three straight games with at least 11 defensive snaps—Sheppard learned one very clear thing about him.
“I learned that he’s not a special teams linebacker, and I want that said to the entire league,” Sheppard said. “I believe this is his seventh year, and he was almost in tears after the last game, just because of the opportunity.”
Turner had one of the most important plays of the entire game Thursday night. Love, facing a third-and-goal from the 14-yard line, had an opportunity to re-take the lead with under four minutes remaining. After the pocket started to close, Love tucked the ball to try and scramble for the score. Turner, who had coverage on the running back, had to make a split-second decision: stay with the back or get to Love. He dashed toward the quarterback and stopped him for just a 2-yard gain. The Packers had to settle for a game-tying field goal, and Green Bay would never get the ball back again.
“I knew I was trusted with a big role and in that critical situation,” Turner told Detroit Football Network after the game. “And the standard is the standard. No matter who is in there, we know, we play how we play in Detroit. I knew I had to bring my A-game and do my job to the best of my ability. That’s what I was trying to do.”
A brilliant front office
Sheppard was quick to point out that the players they acquired can ball. Turner is a seven-year vet. Alexander is in Year 10. Adams is in his eighth seasons. To be able to identify, assess their fit, and acquire those players this late in the season, requires a well-oiled machine when it comes to the personnel department. It has been Director of Pro Scouting Rob Lohman’s time to shine.
It’s helped that Sheppard has a relationship with a couple of the new players—Adams and Alexander share LSU roots with him—but the linebackers coach has been amazed by the culture fit of everyone in the room.
“These guys have come in, they’ve been coached differently (than) my coaching style. I know that, but they know the standard is the standard, and I credit these guys,” Sheppard said. “Each and every one of them has stepped in here, ‘Yes, sir.’ ‘No, sir.’ This is the way we play. This is the way we do it. And they understand if you show that in practice, you’re going to get opportunities on game day.”
Of course, every front office has its limits. And Lohman joked with Sheppard that he may not be able to help any longer if the injuries keep happening.
“Rob Lohman told me the other day, ‘I don’t got much left in the vault, though, Shep. Tell those guys to be careful, okay?’”