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Ben Johnson not worried by slow start for Detroit Lions' Sam LaPorta: 'Nature of the beast'
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- Ben Johnson not worried by slow start for Detroit Lions' Sam LaPorta: 'Nature of the beast'
The Detroit Lions didn't score as many points in their Week 2 loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers as they did in their Week 1 win over the Los Angeles Rams , but offensive coordinator Ben Johnson said their overall play on offense was better.
"We actually had more winning grades as individuals than we had the week prior, so just like coach (Dan Campbell) is saying, our focus is on getting better individually," Johnson said. "That certainly happened as an offense."
Detroit Lions tight end Sam LaPorta (87) runs for a first down against Los Angeles Rams during the first half at Ford Field in Detroit on Sunday, September 8, 2024.
The Lions moved the ball more consistently and avoided the three-and-outs that plagued them against the Rams, but Johnson lamented his team's well-documented red-zone woes against Tampa — the Lions converted just one of seven trips inside the 20 into a touchdown — and said his unit needs to play better complementary football.
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Johnson admitted he needs to have a better red-zone plan for this week's game against the Arizona Cardinals , but he downplayed the urgency to get tight end Sam LaPorta more involved on offense.
LaPorta has just six catches for 58 yards through two games after finishing second on the team in receptions (86) and receiving yards (889) last season.
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"Last week it was (Amon-Ra) St. Brown, this week it's LaPorta, next week it's going to be somebody else," Johnson said. "That's just the nature of the beast. That's what we've got right now. We've got a lot of weapons and it's hard to guarantee someone five to eight targets every single game, that's not how it works."
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Case in point, Johnson said, was the Lions force-feeding the ball to Josh Reynolds in Week 18 of the regular season last year. The Lions wanted Reynolds to hit contractual incentives for yards and catches, but couldn't get him enough touches to do so until the game's last possession.
"It's the same message it's always been, the guys that are active on gameday, we have plays in for all of them where they're primary receivers, all of them, and when we call that number, it really depends on what defense we get aligned with," Johnson said. "( Jared Goff is) not worrying about getting a certain guy the ball, he's worrying about executing that particular play."
Fipp's plan
The new NFL kickoff rule has done little to change teams' penchant for kicking touchbacks. Through two weeks, NFL teams have hit touchbacks on 67.1% of their kickoffs, according to ESPN , and the Lions have one of the league's highest touchback rates at 90% (and their lone kickoff not to result in a touchback was a mistake).
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While many have proposed moving touchbacks from the 30- to the 35-yard line to encourage more returns, Lions special teams coordinator Dave Fipp offered an alternate suggestion Thursday.
Detroit Lions kicker Jake Bates kicks off against Pittsburgh Steelers during the first half of a preseason game at Ford Field in Detroit on Saturday, August 24, 2024.
"I hope that they incentivize the kick-cover team more than they're incentivized right now, for sure," he said. "And I think one way to do that is by moving the touchback to the 35, but another way to do that is also to push the coverage group up 5 yards forward, and that would incentivize them (to kick a returnable ball in the landing zone).
"Keep the touchback at the 30, push the coverage group up 5 more yards, then theoretically their drive start should be 5 yards worse. And then the touchback would ... still remain at the 30. Offenses wouldn't like that as much, so there's a way to make (defenses) happy and still get the play going."
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The NFL consulted with special teams coordinators when it overhauled kickoff rules this offseason, and likely will again when it re-examines the play this winter. The league touted the likelihood of improved drive starts for offenses under the new rule as a way to increase scoring, and Fipp acknowledged they might not want to do anything to affect that.
"I mean, the truth of the whole thing is they want the ball to start as far forward as they can get it to start," he said. "They want to have teams go for it on fourth down which they do more in that middle of the field area, they want teams to not punt it as much, they want teams to kick long field goals, all that stuff. They want points."
Super Bowl dreaming
It was a bit of a throwaway line in an answer to a question about whether the Lions need to cover more returns to prepare for playing in inclement weather when kicking is more difficult late in the year, but Fipp gave another example of the Lions embracing their Super Bowl aspirations this year.
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"I think we play like 14 games indoors, so we're not looking at being outside a whole lot," Fipp said. "The Super Bowl's in New Orleans so that's another indoor game. But I do think that's a part of it."
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The Lions play three outdoor games where weather could be a factor: against the Green Bay Packers on Nov. 3, the Chicago Bears on Dec. 22 and the San Francisco 49ers on Dec. 30.
If they enter the playoffs as the NFC's top seed, they would ensure staying indoors the entire playoffs.
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Anzalone returns to practice
Alex Anzalone returned to practice Thursday after suffering a brain injury in a helmet-to-helmet collision with teammate Derrick Barnes against Tampa.
Anzalone is on track to return Sunday, barring any setbacks, but defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn said he has high confidence in second-year linebacker Jack Campbell to handle green-dot duties if Anzalone doesn't clear concussion protocol.
"I've said this all along, but I have plenty of trust in that linebacker room," Glenn said. "Jack has done a good job for us, going from OTAs and training camp, of backing Alex up and being able to make all the calls and stand in front of the huddle, so I have no issue with that."
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Glenn also said he was pleased with how nose tackle D.J. Reader played in his 25 snaps against the Bucs last week in his first game back from a torn quad muscle he suffered last season with the Cincinnati Bengals .
"When it comes to someone that can take up blocks, when it comes to someone that can actually push the pocket, and I'm sure you guys have seen - I mean, he was close to a sack maybe twice in that situation, so that sneaky athleticism that he has, that showed up," Glenn said. "Man, when that man really gets to start rolling, I think it's going to be something to tell with these guys."
Dave Birkett is the author of the new book, " Detroit Lions : An Illustrated Timeline." Preorder it now from Reedy Press .
Contact him at dbirkett@freepress.com . Follow him on X and Instagram at @davebirkett.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Detroit Lions: Alex Anzalone returns from concussion protocol
