Notes: Lions appear to be in good place, but long-term concerns exist
ALLEN PARK, Mich. -- Instead of all the praise for the defense, if the Detroit Lions had lost to the Green Bay Packers, the focus would have been almost entirely on their struggling offense.
Winning has a way of pushing aside certain problems, but not for long.
The Lions are 2-1 and tied for first place in the NFC North entering Sunday's road game against the New York Jets.
They seem to be in a good place based on how their injury-riddled defense has performed, although there remains concern about the long-term sustainability considering the losses of middle linebacker Stephen Tulloch (season-ending knee surgery) and several defensive backs.
The assumption is that the offense, with all its big-play weapons, will get on track sooner rather than later.
It appears there's still an adjustment period going on to a new system brought in by offensive coordinator Joe Lombardi, a former quarterbacks coach for the New Orleans Saints.
"You're going to have times during the season, whether it's your 10thyear in an offense or your first, where you're going to play better than other times," quarterback Matthew Stafford said before Wednesday's practice. "Very rarely does a Denver Broncos of last year come along where they're just putting up 40 points a game. We understand that.
"The key for us is to try to win football games while we're getting better."
Stafford has thrown three interceptions, with only one touchdown, in the last two games. His quarterback rating, a whopping 125.3 in the opener against the New York Giants, has fallen to 72.5 against Carolina in a 24-7 loss and 61.6 against Green Bay in the 19-7 victory.
The Lions were minus-3 in turnover margin in the Carolina game before overcoming a minus-2 day in the Green Bay game.
In the case of the quarterback, some of those flaws have brought back memories from late last season when Stafford had 12 interceptions to 10 touchdowns while Detroit was losing six of its last nine games to fall out of playoff contention.
Largely because of the turnovers, the offense has scored a total of only 17 points in the last two weeks.
"We're close," Stafford said of a possible breakthrough for the offense. "We've just had some missed opportunities. It's just little plays here and there, but anytime you turn it over three times, you're not going to score a whole lot of points usually. We kind of hurt ourselves in that fashion.
"The more and more comfortable we get with this offense and with each other in these new spots, the better we're going to be."
Receiver Calvin Johnson also believes they'll turn the corner soon.
"I know how explosive we can be and how explosive we should be," Johnson said. "It's just a matter of continuing to have good practices. Those things will translate to the field."
Besides Stafford's errant passes so far, the other concern about the offense has been the line's inability to protect their quarterback at times.
The Lions, who finished with the second fewest sacks allowed last season (23 in 16 games), have already given up seven sacks in three weeks, which is tied for the eighth-most in the league.
The revolving door at right tackle is certainly a factor right now. LaAdrian Waddle started the opener but didn't last long because of a calf injury. He was replaced by Corey Hilliard, who finished the game but later needed season-ending foot surgery.
The last two weeks have seen Garrett Reynolds, who was re-signed after being cut late in the preseason, and undrafted rookie Cornelius Lucas rotating at the position. Waddle, however, is getting healthier and could be back for Sunday's game.
Statistics can be very misleading early in the season, but there's no doubt that Stafford appeared to be running for his life too often against a Green Bay defense that has a bad reputation and frequently gets exposed.
Stafford, however, pointed out that the Packers have a large collection of high draft picks throughout their defense and that it's a better unit than some might think.
"I thought our guys did a good job of hanging in there and fighting," Stafford said of the offensive line's performance.
"That's part of the game," he added of the heavy pass-rush on him. "You're going to have games where you don't get touched and you're going to have games where you're going to get hit. We just pick up and go to the next play every time. It doesn't matter to me."
EXTRA POINTS
--- Receiver Calvin Johnson has been selected as the Lions' Ed Block Courage Award recipient this year.
The award goes to the player who exemplifies sportsmanship and has overcome injury/adversity to excel on the field.
"Calvin was a logical choice for this award having played through and overcome multiple injuries in the last year," Lions trainer Kevin Bastin said, referring to Johnson's knee and finger injuries that required offseason surgery.
"But perhaps more importantly, Calvin embodies what this award is all about, through his compassion for his teammates, commitment to his sport, and work in the community. That is who Calvin Johnson is day in and day out."
The award will be presented to Johnson on October 18 at the Lions' Courage House Dinner at Ford Field. The annual event has raised more than $2 million for HAVEN, which is Oakland County's premier center for prevention and treatment of domestic violence, sexual assault and child abuse.
--- Linebacker Josh Bynes, who was signed to take Tulloch's spot on the roster, should be able to make a quick transition to the Lions' defensive system run by Teryl Austin.
Bynes, 25, spent the last three years with the Baltimore Ravens, where Austin was the secondary coach before taking over as Detroit's defensive coordinator this season.
Bynes, who was teammates with Lions defensive tackle Nick Fairley at Auburn, went undrafted coming out of college in 2011, but he played in 26 games (nine starts) over the last three years with the Ravens.
Baltimore released him late in the preseason and then re-signed him to the practice squad. He was a logical pick-up for the Lions based on his background with Austin and Caldwell, who was the Ravens' offensive coordinator before coming to Detroit.
PERSONNEL UPDATE
--- Johnson sat out Wednesday's practice after injuring an ankle late in Sunday's game. He gave no indication that he would have to miss any games.
Safety Don Carey (hamstring), cornerback Cassius Vaughn (ankle) and linebacker Travis Lewis (quadriceps) also didn't practice.
Meanwhile, safety James Ihedigbo, who missed the first three games because of a neck injury, participated in a full practice for the first time since the preseason.
--- The Lions plan to move Tahir Whitehead from outside linebacker to the middle to replace Tulloch. DeAndre Levy took over the middle-linebacker duties, which includes making the defensive calls, after Tulloch was injured in the first half against the Packers.
Levy did a great job, but the coaching staff prefers to keep him on the outside where he's most comfortable and he's at his best because of his versatility.
