We’ve officially entered Week 2 of Detroit Lions training camp, and the pads are on, fans are out, and the players are excited.
On July 31, Detroit faces off against the Los Angeles Chargers at the Hall of Fame Game in Canton, Ohio, to kick off the NFL preseason.
With under one week until the team gets to go up against players in different-colored uniforms, they, along with new offensive coordinator John Morton, spoke on their confidence heading into the season.
New Offensive Coordinator Pressure
Morton has taken the reins of the Lions’ offense as the team’s new offensive coordinator. He fills the gap left by Ben Johnson, after the ex-Lions OC took a head coaching job with the Chicago Bears. This isn’t Morton’s first rodeo with Detroit. He spent the 2022 season working under Johnson as an offensive assistant.
“I don’t feel pressure. The good thing is I was here a few years ago, so that helps a lot. A lot of these players knew who I am,” said Morton. “This is my 27th year, so you should always feel pressure, but I don’t feel anxious or anything like that. I feel very confident,” Morton continued.
One thing training camp has taught us is that the Lions aren’t going away from what worked last season. Morton has been utilizing as many offensive weapons as possible, as the team had one of the best offenses in football last year.
“The one thing that’s impressed me is all these weapons. I’m just trying to get guys the ball as much as I can,” said Morton. “We got a smart, tough football team that’s the way this thing is built, and I’m real happy with where we’re at right now,” Morton concluded.
Tim Patrick’s Confidence Entering 2025 Season
Lions’ wide receiver Tim Patrick is entering his eighth NFL season. Last year, Patrick spent the entirety of training camp with the Denver Broncos. He was cut at the end of camp by Denver and then ended up in Detroit after that. Patrick reflected on the difficulties of training camp so far:
“It’s my first camp with the team. Obviously, I was here last year, but camp is where you really find who you have, you bond with your teammates, you go to war every day because camp is hard,” said Patrick. “This is my first time going through a camp like this, so yeah, I’m starting off a little slow, but I promise you by the time the season comes, I’m going to be firing on all cylinders,” Patrick added.
Despite the entire Lions team believing they aren’t in peak form just yet, no one is short on confidence that the team will be a force of nature this season.
“We have a great team. I knew we had a great team last year, but it’s looking like the people that needed to take the next step took the next step,” said Patrick. “It’s very good looking into this year,” Patrick added.
Brian Branch’s Belief in the Secondary
Lions’ Safety Brian Branch is back for year three in Detroit after his first Pro-Bowl season last year. A new defensive coordinator in Kelvin Sheppard this season doesn’t bring Branch any worry, the way things are trending.
“I feel like with Coach Shep [Sheppard], he brings the same message as Coach AG [Aaron Glenn, Lions Defensive Coordinator 2021-24] did last year. And I feel like with everybody coming back this year, everybody healthy. It’s really the first week of camp, so the sky’s the limit, I feel like, with us,” said Branch.
It’s no news to anyone that the Lions were riddled with injuries last season. Despite that, Branch believes that Detroit’s secondary didn’t lose a step. To Branch, this season, the rest of the league should be on notice.
“We believe that we were the best secondary last year,” said Branch. “It’s us against the world, and I feel like this year our chemistry is on a whole other level. That alone is scary, we just got to keep on going,” Branch said.
You can watch the Lions’ first preseason game against the Chargers right here on Local 4, July 31. Kickoff is set for 8 p.m.