The tone was different. It started with the city and then focused on players like Rodrigo, Amon-Ra, Swift, and Blough. Good storylines.
To see the coaches preach all week about “showing who we are” in the pre-season game and then see Blough brain fart in crunch time was sobering.
And Blough! Man, the focus on him when he knew that he blew that game and refuted the narrative that this team is different was Dramatic! I felt for the guy even though the game was ‘meaningless.’
Lastly, did you see Duce Staley correcting/coaching Swift to stick to the play design even AFTER he scored the 1st TD! I see why Jamal is getting equal snaps even though he is not an equal talent.
Did y’all have any fave parts? I watched it on Hulu.
My fave part was watching the sun god name all the wr’s taken before him. that man is on a mission. wouldn’t surprise me if he betters last year’s numbers, even with a better wr room overall. he’s one of my favorite players.
I need to watch it again, but here’s my take after the 1st time through.
The good:
Aaron Glenn having a chat with the boys about a winning mentality. Not sure if it makes a difference, but he’s right.
Rodrigo’s play is encouraging. They may have landed a late gem. TBD.
The offense appears to be clicking
Amon-Ra St. Brown is going to be great for a long time. His attitude and drive are as good as it gets.
Hutch. Enough said.
The bad:
I wasn’t a huge fan of Shepp singling out Rodrigo in front of teammates the way he did. Show the film, teach the boys, build them up and make them better. I wouldn’t be shocked if everyone not named Rodrigo in that room was thinking “F Rodrigo”, even if it was just a passing thought. I didn’t think that was fair to the rookie and I doubt he wanted to be singularly praised in front of his teammates.* That’s always uncomfortable to be singularly praised in front of teammates while the rest of them are collectively chewed out.
*I could be wrong. Just an observation and an assumption.
The ugly:
The Lions want Swift to be a dog. I’m not sure that he is one, at least here in Detroit. His body language screams to me that he either 1) wants out of football or 2) just wants out of Detroit/away from Staley. I know everyone loves Staley, I personally do not. I would not/do not respond well to an alpha like Staley barking in my face nonstop. I suspect Swift might not be all that different. Maybe I’m reading it wrong, but something seems off there…Need to keep an eye on Swift and see how things go, but I get the sense there is a fracture in that relationship.
EDIT - We’re seeing some positive comments from Swift about the sky being the limit with Staley as his coach so that’s some really solid evidence that everything I read into about this was wrong.
I think you hit the nail on the head.
Staley’s over the top. Always has to be right. I didn’t like the way he was in AG’s face in the first episode. Nothing wrong with high energy, but use that energy in a more productive way. He means well, but delivers it too crudely.
I think the guy would be a disaster as a head coach.
Yes, this. I do get the vibe that he’s more interested in being right/being the alpha than he is in teaching his students. Something about Staley rubs me the wrong way. Everyone loved him going at AG in the 1st episode and all I really wanted him to do was STFU and coach his players. He’s not a player anymore, he’s a teacher. Agree with you there, 100%.
Because of that I have to acknowledge it could be my dislike for him causing me to misread the situation entirely. For example, perhaps his behavior with AG is nothing more than a tactic to increase and promote competitiveness amongst his pupils, even though I suspect it’s just alpha ego at work.
I didn’t have any problem with the way Staley engaged Swift. It looked like Swift seemed a little overwhelmed but we can all agree he has underachieved so far in his career. They think he can be the best back in the league and want to unlock that. I kind of want to rewatch the preseason game again and see if Swift did miss his hole that may have led to an early TD run as Staley bemoaned
I also thought the praise to Rodrigo in the LB room was interesting. Though he made a good point. Our LBers are terrible. And they should all be embarrassed by being shown up by a sixth round rookie
Also felt bad for Blough. He and his wife look like good peeps
Amon Ra is that special, Jordan, Kobe, Brady to use a football analogy, type of athlete whose competitive drive is a level above everybody else.
You can just see it in the way he carries himself and interviews that he has The Eye of the Tiger or Lion in this case. He’s not the elite level athlete that those other guys are but you just know he will outwork everybody else on that field and will himself to be the best he can be. I thought he’d be Tate if he maxes out but he could be more than that, I wouldn’t be shocked.
Watching Staley coach reminds me of the disaster that Mike Singletary was as a head coach. Although in an assistant role it can be an asset for the team. His energy is over the top but a football team needs that to come from somebody and until the players step up, it has to come from the coaches.
I don’t think Staley will ever get a shot as a head coach just due to his demeanor. He’s more emotional than cerebral, but he has room to grow. I’d like to think that Dan will be candid with all of the coaches on how they can all become better.
I’m not a huge fan either of singling a player out in front of his position group but in certain cases it needs to be done. We have a room full of young veterans in that linebacker room that are underperforming. They all have the physical abilities. Most of them are bigger and more athletic than Rodriguez. Yet he’s way ahead of them in his first two weeks of his first training camp. That shouldn’t happen. A rookie that’s been on the team for 3 months shouldn’t know the defense better than guys that have been here for a year. Or play with better technique than guys that have been in the league for several years. That group absolutely needs that wake up call if we’re going to get anything productive out of them this season.
Or - and this is what I choose to believe - Rodrigo is a one-of-a-kind stud who will be a star in the league and in five years we’ll all be like, well of course he made those guys look bad. He’s Malcolm F-ing Rodriguez.
We should keep in mind that Swift was the worst ranked RB in the league at running between the tackles last year because he wants to always bounce outside. He doesn’t trust his blockers, isn’t patient and tends
to avoid contact. What Staley is doing is trying to make him a feature back. If he continues to always bounce outside he’s going to become not much more than a 3rd down slot receiver and the Lions will be drafting a RB in the first few rounds next year
I don’t think there’s any question that the goal is to make Swift better.
I think there are some questions on how Staley is going about accomplishing that. Doesn’t mean Staley is wrong - some of us are just curious as to whether or not it’s the best method for Swift.
I think you are reading way too much into that. The Lions greatest RB of all time, had a similar laid back attitude in his playing days. I think Swift is just a quiet dude, like Barry Sanders in personality.
And the editing is everything, behind the scenes Swift could love Duce for all we know. They edit the show to make it seem so intense and dramatic. We have to keep that in mind.
