Kelvin Sheppard had nothing but praise for how the Detroit Lions pass rush played this summer.
“I thought it was awesome,” Sheppard said.
But he’s not taking anything for granted in the fall.
Sheppard, the Lions’ second-year defensive coordinator, declined to make any predictions about whether the defensive line’s impressive training camp will carry over to the regular season, saying he wants the group to prove it on the field.
The Lions open the season against the New Orleans Saints on Sunday, Sept. 13 (1 p.m., Fox).
“I'm not going to jump up here and say, ‘Oh, yeah, we're about to be a dominant front,” Sheppard said Friday. “I don't operate that way. A lot of people
say they think I'm from Missouri because you got to show me. Don't sit up here and tell me what you're going to do. We have the ability to play a game where you can show me what you're going to do.”
The Lions tied for fourth in the NFL with 49 sacks last season and appear to be deeper and more dangerous on their line this fall.
Aidan Hutchinson is a leading candidate for Defensive Player of the Year. Alim McNeill is healthy after sputtering through last season in his return from a torn ACL. Tyleik Williams slimmed down in hopes of becoming a more effective pass rusher. The Lions signed DJ Wonnum and drafted Derrick Moore to play opposite Hutchinson at defensive end. And they discovered potential rookie gems in Skyler Gill-Howard and Eric O’Neill, who are in line to play situational roles because of their unique skill sets.
Gill-Howard, a sixth-round pick out of Texas Tech, should play as an undersized tackle in pass rush packages, while O’Neill made the team undrafted on the edge.
“You just named an undrafted kid that wears No. 66 and a defensive tackle that's about as tall as my son,” Sheppard said. “But I credit those guys because it just stamps what we've done here [since] 2021. It doesn't matter where you come from. It doesn't matter what it looks like. What does your tape say? And if the tape says you could help us, we're going to find ways as a coaching staff to implement you within what we're doing.”
Sheppard said one returning lineman who should help the Lions more this fall is McNeill, who had one sack in 10 games in 2025 and never quite reached his pre-injury form.
‘I got to hold back from talking too much about Alim,” Sheppard said. “We'll see September 13th. I'm so excited for that player. When I say it, it's almost emotional because I know what he wanted to be last year and he just couldn't. And it had nothing to do with, ‘Well, why isn't Mac doing ‘this?’ No, he just couldn't. A lot of that tape, he couldn't even put his foot in the ground and plant, but he was still out there for his brothers.”
The Lions held Huthcinson and McNeill out of preseason games this summer, and Wonnum and Williams played sparingly and only in the second exhibition game. Wonnum, Moore, Gill-Howard, Ahmed Hassanenin (two) and Myles Adams had sacks for the Lions in the preseason, and all but Adams are still with the team now.
“Only time will tell” how good the pass rush will be, Sheppard said. “Some of these guys that you just named haven't played one snap in the National Football League. The preseason's over. They haven't played one snap in the National Football League. So all that's potential, all that's hype, all that's rah-rah. We will see September 13th at 1 p.m. what's real and what's not. And it’s as simple as that.”
Dave Birkett covers the Lions for the Detroit Free Press. Contact him at dbirkett@freepress.com. Follow him on Bluesky, X and Instagram at @davebirkett.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Kelvin Sheppard: Time for Lions pass rush to prove it's real is now
