The Detroit Lions’ secondary has been hit incredibly hard by injuries.
Five players from the unit are on injured reserve, two more are battling injuries and another in Brian Branch is suspended for Week 7.
But Detroit’s upcoming opponent, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, only needs to look in the mirror to see a team and a unit hit just as hard with injuries.
The Bucs have two wide receivers on injured reserve and three more battling injuries that could all miss the game against the Lions. With some first-hand experience, Tampa Bay won’t be making any assumptions with the Lions’ secondary when it visits Ford Field Monday night.
“If they feel like (the Lions are) somebody that’s going to go in there and then their standard’s going to change, ours didn’t,” Bucs wide receivers coach Bryan McClendon said Wednesday. “Same thing with their level of production and what they want to do and everything else.
“You look at those guys schematically, they got good players from top to bottom. It’s hard to be good in this league and not have a good roster from top to bottom. And you know whoever that they put out there is going to uphold the standard that they have to play”.
That’s just about the same sentiment Lions coach Dan Campbell has had as he’s seen his defense plagued by injuries for the second straight season.
Detroit preaches the “next man up” mentality as much as anyone and it’s required to keep their 4-2 start to the season going when they host the NFC-leading Bucs.
“The next guy’s got to step up and serve a role for us, help us out, and then it’s got to spread throughout the rest of your team, man,” Campbell said Tuesday. “Everybody else has got to pull a little bit more of that load. Between the corners and the linebackers and the D-line and offense and special teams. And so, we’ve just got to help each other out.”
The Bucs have been just the same on their offense and particularly in the receiver room.
Veteran duo Mike Evans and Chris Godwin have both been in the top-3 of receiving yards for the Bucs since 2018.
So far, the pair have combined to play five games due to injury and neither is in the top-4 of receiving. Rookie Emeka Egbuka emerged as the feature receiver, but he’s now at risk of missing extended time due to a hamstring injury.
Instead Tampa Bay will rely on the likes of Sterling Shepard, Cade Otton and rookie Tez Johnson, who are proving to be effective members of the receiving group.
The Lions could still have All-Pro safety Kerby Joseph, who is dealing with his own lingering injury, and Amik Robertson holding things down. But after that there’s a lot less experience.
The Bucs aim to be prepared for whoever is out on the field for the Lions, even if it were recent additions like Tre Flowers, Kendall Fuller or Jammie Robinson.
They have a lot of faith in their own depth at receiver, the Bucs won’t be underestimating the depth the Lions have built in their own depleted room this season.
“As great a team as they are, your approach to every single day can’t change just depending upon who you’re playing,” McLendon said. “That’s kind of where you get the inconsistencies and up and down right now in your performance. I think you have to uphold the standard right now that you are trying to play at. If you don’t, a team like that right now, man, they can run you over.”
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