The Lions’ secondary is starting to look like a patchwork job again, and not the kind that inspires confidence.
With Brian Branch and Kerby Joseph out, Detroit has been leaning on a group that includes Christian Izien, Thomas Harper, Bishop Fitzgerald and others brought in to cover the gaps. The problem is that this no longer feels like short-term survival. It feels like the Lions are asking backup talent to carry a starting job for too long.
That becomes even more obvious with Harper out for Week 3 against the New York Jets. Detroit’s safety room for that game appears set to include Chuck Clark, Izien and Fitzgerald, who was just signed from the Pittsburgh Steelers’ practice squad.
Rookie cornerback Keith Abney II is also being used as an emergency safety. That’s where the depth chart is right now: thin enough that the Lions are improvising.
The trade deadline does not arrive until November, and the Lions likely expect Branch back by October or around that deadline. But if the current setup keeps drifting, Detroit may not be able to wait that long without making a move for a starter.
There are real issues underneath the personnel shuffle, too. Defensive coordinator Kelvin Sheppard said the Lions have allowed 23 explosive plays through two games, and he said 75 percent of those receptions came down to defenders blowing their assignments.
"In Week 1, I believe we had three explosive runs, eight pass, and that kind of flipped in Week 2 to eight run, four pass. And you can say, ‘You nutted up the run and then on four or five plays, what happened?’
Well, no, no, no. That is the single-hand demise to this defense right now that's trickling to the team’s kind of overall success.”
That kind of breakdown is more than just a depth problem. It points to a defense still searching for consistency, with skill-level concerns and leadership issues both showing up in the same places. It also echoes the same problems that hit this unit last year, when injuries and turnover kept disrupting the group.
Detroit may hope the new faces help steady things, especially against a softer schedule. But right now, the Lions look a lot like they’re trying to run it back with another version of the “Legion of Whom.” And unless that group starts playing cleaner football, one shutdown performance may be about all it can deliver.
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