ALLEN PARK — DeMeco Ryans has seen firsthand the drive the Detroit Lions bring to their games.
In a matchup with Ryans’ Houston Texans last season, the Lions trailed by 16 points at halftime and 10 going into the fourth quarter.
Still, the Lions fought their way to a victory on a game-winning 52-yard field goal as time expired.
Despite the loss in his first game coaching against the Lions, Ryans is nothing but complimentary of the team and coach Dan Campbell.
It’s a key reasons Ryans and the Texans wanted to make an early trip to Detroit before Saturday’s preseason finale at Ford Field for a joint practice.
“Really appreciate the way that Dan had his group ready to work. We worked in a pro-style manner. Everybody was able to work well, stay up, got good work in on all three phases,” Ryans told reporters after Thursday’s joint practice.
“Being able to go against a really great Lions team, their offensive unit, they have a ton of speed, ton of playmakers over there. They made a lot of plays, challenged us defensively and also on the other side of the ball, really great defensive unit making plays. So I think our guys got really a lot of great work out of it, beneficial work, things that we can learn from and grow from. It’s the reason why you do joint practice, to get the type of reps that we got today.”
Ryans gave out plenty of respect to Lions players after what was a very back-and-forth practice on both sides of the ball.
The Texans had to make adjustments on defense, in particular, trying to get used to how much speed the Lions come with and their knack for explosive plays.
Ryans mentioned running back Jahmyr Gibbs and wide receiver Jameson Williams, both players who went to Alabama just like Ryans, a former linebacker for the Crimson Tide in the early 2000s.
Defensively, Ryans was quick to shout out ‘explosive’ star edge rusher Aidan Hutchinson after missing most of last season due to a severe leg injury.
The Texans’ third-year head coach was excited to see him on the field challenging his offensive linemen and “bringing it on the edge.”
Ahead of Saturday’s preseason matchup, where starters likely won’t see much of the field, Ryans gave an optimistic outlook for the Lions in the coming season.
After winning the NFC North for the second straight season, Detroit has built up quite the reputation under Campbell of going about football the right way.
“I see a tough, competitive unit, they’re going to be really good on offense. Their defense is going to make you earn every single yard that you get,” Ryans said. “Guys are playing well together, they communicate. Watching the guys on defense, they communicated really well to all the adjustments and checks.
“Really sound unit, coached really well. Any time you have guys who that team is coached well, they play with great fundamentals, they’re going to win football games because they know how to do it the right way.”
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