The Detroit Lions have the NFL's worst defense four weeks into the season, but Lions defensive coordinator Kelvin Sheppard hasn’t lost any of his resolve.
“I do feel like we're right there at this wall right now and banging on this wall,” Sheppard said. “And I [told the team] there's going to be a group of men that bust this [expletive] down. And some guys probably going to be with us and some aren't. But the guys that are, that sees the other side of this thing, I think we all are going to be proud of it, you, the fanbase and everybody that represents the Detroit Lions brand.”
The Lions rank last in the NFL in total and passing defense and 31st in points allowed. They’ve given up 31.8 points per game during their 2-2 start – a smidge below the 2020
Lions team that set a modern NFL record for futility at 32.4 points per game, – and have one takeaway the past three weeks.
Sheppard said those numbers don’t define who his defense truly is, and he called suggestions the Lions offense will have to carry the team all season “ultra-disrespectful to my unit.”
“We're going to do our one-third here,” he said, referring to the notion of "complementary football." “Hell or high water. Point blank, period.”
In a lengthy state-of-the-defense news conference Thursday, Oct. 8, Sheppard said he’s proud of the way his defensive line has played a quarter of the way into the season and noted the defense has made stops at critical times in three of its four games.
The Lions beat the New Orleans Saints in their opener when they foiled a 2-point conversion attempt in overtime, and they beat the New York Jets in Week 3 by forcing a sack-fumble on Geno Smith when the Jets were driving for the tying or go-ahead score late in the fourth quarter.
Last week, the Lions got stops on back-to-back fourth-quarter drives against the Carolina Panthers, but the offense went four-and-out on its final possession to end the game.
“That's why this thing is so frustrating to be honest,” Sheppard said. “'Cause we know what we are. We know what we could be. We see it, but you can't see it in spurts. That ain't what this game is. This game is consistency-driven and whoever could do the hard stuff the longest, nine times out of 10 wins. And that's what we got to do.”
The "hard stuff" actually is easy, Sheppard said, like being assignment-sound all the time.
But it’s details like those that have slipped through the cracks this year and contributed to the Lions’ defensive struggles.
Lions coach Dan Campbell said in a radio interview this week the one thing he wanted to see from his defense in this week’s game against the Arizona Cardinals is for “guys to be where they’re supposed to be, when they’re supposed to be there.”
Sheppard echoed that sentiment Thursday, saying that would help his defense’s trust issues, which could allow them to bust down that wall.
“It’s lip service. It sounds easy. But those are the things that bite you,” Sheppard said. “The things that you assume are easy, the things that you think that you may not necessarily take, but take for granted, ‘They're going to do that. Yeah, absolutely.’ The player, even; 'I'm going to; Oh coach, I know I'm supposed to be there.’ Then why on Sunday aren't we there?”
This week, Sheppard said it’s important guys “just do your job one more time.”
“Even if that's boring. Even if that's backside of a play,” he said. “When you think I'm not at the point of attack and, ‘Oh, let me go' – and there's the ball rolling back on you. Just do your job one more time at a championship level. Everybody wants these big, huge results. But really guys, the big, huge results come in the process and in the little things, man.”
The Lions do plan to make some defensive personnel changes this week, and more could be on the way.
Campbell said Jalen Mills will play an expanded role at safety after returning on the practice squad, and rookie fifth-round pick Keith Abney could see more time at slot cornerback.
Safety Brian Branch will be back soon – perhaps this week, if not sometime shortly after the bye – and fellow safety Kerby Joseph could eventually follow. The Lions could shuffle personnel at linebacker to bring some relief to their back seven, too.
“There has to be real change,” Sheppard said. “It has to be real evidence of change. Whether that's personnel-driven, whether that's some things come out, whatever the case is, something has to change. Because coming out of training camp, this is far from where we thought we would be at and should be at, and I still do, standing here before you after the four-game sample size.”
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 says Detroit Lions defense is 'banging on this wall'
