Mike Daniels on the Lions lockerroom

The War Room Detroit Lions — The Den
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Posted the whole thing so you don’t have to deal with the crappy website:

Prior to the 2019 season, the Detroit Lions went out and signed former Green Bay Packers DT Mike Daniels with the hope that he would be a force on the interior of the defensive line.

Unfortunately, by the time the season was over, Daniels was more of an afterthought than anything as he played in just nine total games (2 starts). Even when he did play, he really was not given the opportunity to do what he was paid to do.

Daniels recently joined SiriusXM NFL Radio and he spoke about his 2019 season with the Lions.

“Hey, I couldn’t control my playing time. That’s the best way I can put it. When I was out there, I did what I could do, I was productive.”

Daniels referenced a stat from Pro Football Focus that said he won most of his pass rushes.

From 97.1 The Ticket :

“That’s just a testament to the player I am. Regardless of my situation, I’m going to come out and give everything I have, play as hard as I can, and that showed (last) year. Obviously I didn’t get hardly any opportunities to show what I could do, but at the same time, what chances I did get, I made the most of it. …

“It’s good to show that, hey, I’m still out here, I’m still balling, still kicking butt. And like I said, I didn’t control my playing time.”

Though Daniels does not feel like he was given a fair shot to prove himself, he did think the Lions had a great locker room.

“The locker room was awesome, definitely enjoyed my teammates there. That was one of the hardest group of guys I’ve ever played with. It’s unfortunate things went the way they went outside of a lot of guys’ control.”

“When you really see just how hard those guys were working, it was very encouraging,” Daniels said. “That locker room was definitely amazing and one of the better ones (I’ve been) a part of. That was a really good defensive family over there, man. I truly enjoyed my time with those guys.”

Well, it sure does not sound like Daniels will be coming back to the Lions in 2020!

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If I remember correctly, didn’t Daniels get hurt which kept him out of a bunch of games? Why does it read as if we Ieft him on the bench out of spite or something?

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He was not healthy. He even goes on to say that there is “soft interest” in him, but that it’s slowed because he can’t come in for teams’ doctors to check him out. That just confirms that health was/is an issue.

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Dude needs a job, spin cycle time!

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It’s taking a bit, but it’s interesting the comment about “hard dudes.” The dichotomy of course being players who’ve left and whined about “hard practices.” No coincidence. Whether it equals hardware or not, remains to be seen. But here is a player identifying that it’s one of the tougher set of guys he’s been around. That was a goal of the staff and apparently it’s happening.

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I don’t think the Lions are going to take a chance on him again unless they believe there’s a good chance he can give them a full season. The might give him something with a low guarantee and a bunch of incentives if he hits certain quotas, like games played, snaps, etc.

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Daniels said at the end of the season that he would like to come back.

I read what he said here as he liked the guys he played with.

I think ultimately that he knows that his best chance to play is here. It’s encouraging that he wants to come back. Unlike Snacks who clearly didn’t.

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I’m wondering if his statements about not controlling how many snaps he played last year had anything to do with an incentive based offer this year with the Lions. He definitely didn’t throw shade on the team.
But he was hurt most of last year, he needs to be real about that.