The Detroit Lions lost their long-time defensive coordinator, Aaron Glenn, to the New York Jets head coaching job this offseason, and in his place, the Lions promoted Kelvin Sheppard.
This move surprised absolutely nobody. If you watched the Lions on Hard Knocks in 2022, you've known for a long time that this guy was going to be a coordinator someday. You might now wonder at what point in time he is going to be a head coach, too?
We're only four days into Sheppard's time as the Lions' DC, but there is a noticeable difference in things already. You really saw that on Tuesday when the Lions had to stop practice multiple times because the defense was being too physical during the acclimation period.
This prompted former Lions linebacker and current special assistant to the owner and CEO, Chris Spielman, to go up to Sheppard and tell him he hasn't seen a certain something from this defense in the last four years.
"Spielman came up to me and he said, 'I haven't seen that violent intent on the football, I think, around here in four years," Sheppard said.
It's showing, and everyone can see it. The Lions' defense intends to be violent this year and they intend to be all about getting turnovers. They want them so bad right now that practices are getting stopped, and players are getting kicked out for being too violent.
Despite Tuesday being stopped multiple times, Sheppard ensures that this is exactly what Dan Campbell and company want.
"It's a very fine line, and it's a line that our head coach wants us to toe, but you got to be able to toe it and not cross it. And as simple as that, when you don't got pads on, you don't take people to the ground. As simple as that, everything else, Dan (Campbell) is all good with everybody, Rod Wood, everybody here wants guys being aggressive, punching at the ball. I can promise you that Brad Holmes, everybody, they're excited about it, but at the same time, we don't want collar bones, AC joints, and all that laying on the field. So it's about knowing how to practice being a pro and going out and perfecting your craft."
Yes, please do not leave any AC joints on the field. But the aggression should excite everyone because, like Speilman said, it shows that there's an intent there. On Friday, the pads go on, and we're going to see just how violent things can get around here. Speilman is going to love it.
