Asked to name a player in the Detroit training camp who is being overlooked, Lions three-time Pro Bowl wide receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown said cornerback Terrion Arnold “looks real good. I’m excited for him.”
The former Alabama defensive back is preparing for his second season in the Detroit secondary after joining the NFL team as a first-round selection in the 2024 NFL Draft.
“I mean, he just looks confident,” St. Brown said during an appearance on FanDuel TV’s “Up and Adams.” “I think he’s always been a good player for us. I just feel like he’s taken a step from last year just going up against him every day. He has good feet, he’s smart, can play the ball well, has good hands.”
With 948 last season, Arnold was the only Detroit cornerback to play at least two-thirds of the Lions’ defensive snaps in 2024.
It wasn’t always smooth for the rookie. Quarterbacks threw to receivers covered by Arnold 90 times during 16 regular-season games. Their 50 completions resulted in 660 yards and four touchdowns with no interceptions for a passing-efficiency rating of 93.7.
Arnold was among 15 NFL defensive backs who faced at least 90 passes in the regular season in 2024. His passing-efficiency rating was the seventh-lowest, with former Alabama All-American Marlon Humphrey of the Baltimore Ravens posting the best figure at 60.9.
In the playoffs, Arnold gave up six completions on eight passes for 91 yards and one touchdown in a 45-31 loss to the Washington Commanders.
“I feel like it’s prepared me for this year,” Arnold said of his rookie season. “Like, just the transition, all the man-to-man snaps, seeing different things, my body adapting to different conditions and then just even like my coaches having that trust to be able to say, ‘OK, he’s going to grow from this and become a better player,’ because people don’t understand, like at cornerback, it’s a mental position, too. Like, you go out there, you have a bad game, you start rethinking yourself. But, I mean, we know I’m a confident individual, so I got all the confidence in the world of myself.”
Arnold is building on last season even though he’s missed some training-camp time with injuries. He’s also missing the starting cornerback on the other side of the field during his rookie season, with former Auburn standout Carlton Davis joining the New England Patriots as a free agent this offseason.
Detroit signed D.J. Reed to fill the vacancy left by Davis. Reed brings 71 NFL starts, including 14 last season with the New York Jets, to the Lions secondary.
“The biggest growth has been the game slowing down,” Arnold said of his 2025 improvement. “Take one play at a time. Getting in the film room. I feel like I’ve got the best coaching staff in the NFL right now, just as far as me being able to text (defensive-backs) coach Deshea (Townsend) at six o’clock in the morning, ‘Hey, I’ll be there in 30 minutes. We’re meeting at 6:30.’ (Defensive assistant Jim O’Neil) getting to the building and he’s already ahead of meeting with the other guys.
“Just the room that we have, I don’t take it for granted.”
After intercepting five passes in his final season at Alabama, Arnold did not have an interception in his first season for Detroit.
“Well, look, we can’t, like, necessarily be too excited because, like, it’s expected,” Arnold said in anticipation of his first NFL interception. “So we have to, like, stay mild. You feel me? Because it’s expected. It’s not going to be something like, ‘Oh my God.’ It’s going to be something like, ‘That’s what I do.’”
Arnold said he’s hoping to intercept Washington quarterback Jayden Daniels when the Lions play the Commanders on Nov. 9 just as he did in Alabama’s 42-28 victory over LSU on Nov. 4.
“That’s my dog,” Arnold said. “Like, we talk, and actually after the interview, he’s probably going to call me and be like, ‘You not picking me off.’ Like, he that type. But, you know, I always tell him and remind him, like, in college when we played LSU. Like, you know that was a game-changing moment when I picked him off, so, like, it’s coming in the league.”
Detroit kicks off its regular-season schedule with an NFC North contest against the Green Bay Packers on Sept. 7. The Lions have one preseason game remaining against the Houston Texans on Saturday.
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Mark Inabinett is a sports reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on X at@AMarkG1.
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