Pride of Detroit
Detroit Lions offensive coordinator John Morton, defensive coordinator Kelvin Sheppard, and special teams coordinator Dave Fipp all met with local media on Thursday in the lead up to Sunday’s game vs. the Packers.
Here are my six biggest takeaways from those sessions.
Morton was asked about the confidence he had in both Kalif Raymond and Isaac TeSlaa now that the Lions traded their established WR3 in Tim Patrick. Interestingly enough, Morton only talked about the rookie receiver, leaving Raymond out of his answer entirely.
“Yeah, I think TeSlaa did a great job in training camp, here in practice, and he made plays,” Morton said. “He got better every single day, carried over to the game, we thought he did an unbelievable job. He’s a smart kid, he’s tough, there are some good things that he can do that’s going to help us this year. He took advantage of the opportunity when Tim was out.”
I don’t want to overreact to an omission, because sometimes a coach just forgets to mention a player in the middle of an answer. But I do think what he said about TeSlaa certainly suggests a big role for TeSlaa in his rookie season, even if it’s not right away.
Morton will be up in the booth during the game, as he believes it’s less chaotic than the sidelines and he can see the game better. But his long-time friend—and Lions passing game coordinator— David Shaw is expected to be down on the field, and that gives Morton a sense of confidence that the players will get the proper coaching on the sidelines.
“He’s just another pair of eyes at the quarterback,” Morton said. “Just looking at the quarterback, any ideas. During in between series, he’s over there with the quarterback, they relay it to me things that he is seeing, so that’s kind of how that goes.”
Morton and Shaw go all the way back to the year 2000, when the both worked under Jon Gruden’s Raiders. And it’s clear Morton is excited to be working with him again.
“I think it’s awesome to have him down there,” Morton said. “He’s done it, he’s been the head coach, he’s just another pair of eyes that can help Jared during the game and Dan (Campbell), so I love it.”
Sheppard was asked about his excitement to coordinator his first NFL game this Sunday, and while he admitted there was excitement, he was also quick to point out that it’s not about him.
“I take myself out of that equation. I’m excited for the players and the opportunity that these guys have to go out,” Sheppard said.
It would be natural for any coach to get a little anxious or nervous before their first game calling plays at this level—or at any...
