Jason Hunter's coming-out party

Watchers of last Sunday's Lions game might have thought, "Who's that guy playing rather well at DE and not named Avril?"

That would be Jason Hunter. Carlos Monarrez at Freep.com has a nice write-up on the Green Bay castoff, who was undrafted out of Appalachian State in 2006, who had a sack, a pass deflection and hurried Brett Favre throughout last Sunday's game.

Coaches and teammates love Hunter's mean streak.

"Everybody always says, 'Well, Jason doesn't do this and doesn't do that,' " defensive coordinator Gunther Cunningham said. "I said, 'You know, every day, I watch Jason Hunter, and he's tough every day.' I think, when a player plays the way he does, he's going to have success, because he is stone-cold tough."

Added RT Gosder Cherilus, who frequently has to go against Hunter in practice:

"He's not going to try to run around a block," Cherilus said. "He's going to try to run through it. If you're one of those guys who likes to have people go around you and not through you, you're in trouble, because if you're off-balance, not doing the right thing, he's going to bring you right back into the quarterback's lap."

But Hunter admits he was less effective later in the game when the Vikings and massive tackle Phil Loadholt made adjustments. He's certainly in a better situation in Detroit than he was in Green Bay to get playing time. With experience may come adjustments of his own, and a much needed, consistent pass-rushing threat.

Talk about it in The Den!

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Believe it or not ... more than a couple of positives out of Sunday's loss

There was a lot of ugly and bad as the Lions took their losing streak to an astounding 19 games in Sunday's 27-13 loss to the Minnesota Vikings.

But there were a noticeable amount of good developments, too:

* As pointed out by Carlos Monarrez at Freep.com: "The defense did its job by holding Adrian Peterson to 92 yards, getting good pressure on Brett Favre, sacking him three times, and forcing four three-and-outs. The defense allowed only one touchdown on a sustained drive. The two other Vikings touchdowns resulted from turnovers that gave the Vikes the ball inside the Lions' 28 both times."

Brian VanOchten at MLive.com noted that even the Lions' halftime lead is progress -- it's only happened five times in the Lions' past 19 games. VanOchten quoted Lions C Dominic Raiola saying, ""I expect all of these guys in this locker room to be motivated by our first-half performance. We need to be that team all of the time. For a half, we were a different team."

As VanOchten also noted, the Lions finished with more rushing yards (129-112) and the same amount of total offense as the Vikings (265 yards).

Yep, it's the NFL. There's only one stat that counts -- wins. No moral victories.

But when you're as far down as the Lions have gotten, those positives can be building blocks toward where they need to get to. A 60-minute effort like the first half of Sunday's game, making your own effective adjustments when your opponent makes theirs, fewer mistakes from Matthew Stafford, and ... is that a 'W' I see off in the distance?

Lions fans -- some, anyway -- are looking for positives in The Den.

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Lions liking their jumbo RB package

The clunker in Cleveland had a few bright spots -- at least for Lions coaches.

Coach Jim Schwartz and others were pleased with a power-run package featuring FBs Terrelle Smith and Jerome Felton that gave the Browns trouble, Carlos Monarrez reports at Freep.com.

The success of the big boys against the Browns' 3-4 defense bodes well for the regular season, as the Lions play seven teams that primarily run a 3-4, Monarrez writes:

"I think it's going to be productive package for us," coach Jim Schwartz said Tuesday.

Schwartz explained that the gaps in a 3-4 defense push defenders to the side, forcing them to tackle at an angle.

"And when guys are making side tackles, you need north-south running backs that can run through arm tackles, real strong guys like that," he said. "And I think that package fits us real well in that circumstance.

"We really haven't broken it out in any short-yardage situations, but it's available to use there. We could use it in a lot of different plays: goal-line, short-yardage and also some attitude-type plays."

But Brian VanOchten at MLive.com apparently sees it differently. He calls a short-yardage back "a glaring need" for the Lions, and suggests they re-sign former Lion and Michigan Stater T.J. Duckett, who was just cut by the Seahawks.

My take? It's difficult to assess the Lions' running game in its totality because Maurice Morris, who will play a major role behind emerging Kevin Smith, has been injured. Anything the running game can do to take pressure off "asked to do everything" WR Calvin Johnson -- and maybe a rookie starting QB, Matthew Stafford -- is a big, big plus.

Discuss in The Den!

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Sims: Foote, Peterson "are going to be leaders of this defense"

From Carlos Monarrez at Freep.com, Ernie Sims said he's already developed a great chemistry, on and off the field, with new Lions LBs Larry Foote and Julian Peterson.

"Those guys, they aren't like me. They done been to Pro Bowls, they been to Super Bowls. They know what it takes to be successful and win games in this league. And you've got me on the other hand. I just know one thing: to play hard and make plays. So when you put those two together you've got great chemistry."

Sims is only 24 as he prepares to enter his fourth NFL season. On the heels of a difficult season, he could be defensive, threatened or perhaps even nonchalant about the new company he's keeping on the linebacker corps. But he isn't.

Sims knows he can learn a lot from Foote, 29, who has two Super Bowl rings, and from Peterson, 30, who has been to five Pro Bowls.

"They've got the experience," Sims said. "They know what it takes to be successful. They're going to be leaders of this defense."

My take? Sims is one of a handful of Lions for whom this is going to be a very, very important season. The new coaching staff will feel no special reason to give him the benefit of the doubt, and keep him out there if he's not performing.

I do not expect Schwartz to keep running Sims out there like Marinelli did last year, if Sims performs like he did last year. Sims this season can either reestablish himself as a young up-and-comer or disappear down the depth chart.

Discuss in The Den!

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Aaron Brown Meets the Welcome Wagon

Lions’ sixth-round draft choice Aaron Brown, a running back from TCU, had an epiphany this offseason, delivered courtesy of linebacker Ernie Sims.  Brown told the Free Press’s Carlos Monarrez about a play where he thought he had the defense beat to the outside—and then Sims dramatically altered his perception of the situation.

Brown seems like a very self-aware kid, one who, despite electrifying the Mountain West Conference from his freshman year on, has had his share of setbacks. Injuries and off-field incidents clouded what could have been a radiant career at TCU; his track-star speed and big-play ability allowed him to take over games—even while sharing the load with several teammates in TCU’s unconventional offense.  Still, the Lions’ revamped—and superbly athletic—Lions’ LB corps aside, Brown’s window of opportunity in Detroit is open, albeit narrowly.

With third-round pick Derrick Williams out with a hamstring injury, the Lions have no young players with real kick return ability.  Veterans Maurice Morris, Philip Buchanon, and Dennis Northcutt all have extensive return experience—but Morris and Buchanon are needed more as from-scrimmage players, and all three are pretty far removed from being full-time returners.  Brown, if he can “elevate his game”, has a great chance to make the roster—and even be a regular contributor—come autumn.

Discuss it here, in The Den!

The heat is on

Terry Foster and John Niyo of the Detroit News collaborated to tell us all about the suffocating heat wave that’s coincided perfectly with the Lions’ minicamp.  There are a couple of great quotes from Jim Schwartz in there about what camp was like with the Titans: sweltering in the Tennessee heat, it really prepared them to do battle with the other teams in the AFC South. 

This can only be a positive for the Lions; the new veterans and rookies need to be pushed as hard as possible.  The roster turnover has been extensive—outside of OLB Ernie Sims, and DEs Cliff Avril and Dewayne White, every defensive starter has been replaced.  Similarly, at least two--and as many as four--offensive line starting spots are up for grabs.  For now, Jim Schwartz has even dispensed with the depth chart entirely.  With every position up in the air, and so few players having any history here, it’s almost impossible to have a sense of team—even seven-year-vet Nick Harris says he feels like a stranger.  It’s all about putting pressure on the veterans—holdovers and newcomers alike--to perform their best, and evaluating the rookies against the fiercest possible competition. It’s in the figurative heat and pressure of these competitive flames, and literal heat and pressure of the sweltering summer sun, that this team will be forged.

To expect the Lions to make up for a decade of constant turnover in one summer, and play like a team that's had a decade of continuity is expecting too much.  However, at the very least, two-a-days in a pressure cooker will reveal who can stand up to the heat, and who can’t.

Discuss it here, in The Den!

Stafford/Pettigrew = Romo/Witten?

Well, the bromance may not be at a Tony Romo-Mark Witten extreme -- yet, anyway. But Carlos Monarrez at Freep.com notes that rookie TE Brandon Pettigrew was a frequent target of rookie QB Matthew Stafford during a recent Lions practice, and the two appear to work well with each other.

"It just happened like that," Pettigrew said. "I'm glad we're kind of getting a feel for each other and a good connection going into this thing and having a good relationship. That'll be good." Pettigrew has been particularly impressed with Stafford's on-field maturity. "He's a rookie as well, but he sits in there with composure and attitude and leadership, like he's been here," Pettigrew said. "He's just an all-around good player and good guy."

Pettigrew was obviously brought in for two reasons -- help the running game with his blocking prowess and take some pressure off WR Calvin Johnson with his receiving ability. The extent to which he does both will go a long way toward putting 0-16 in the rear-view mirror. Talk about it in The Den!

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Bigger Alama-Francis looking forward to fresh start

Carlos Monarrez at Freep.com talks with Lions' DE Ikaika Alama-Francis. A "pet project" of former coach Rod Marinelli's, IAF says (paraphrasing) that so much time was spent attempting to cram his head with knowledge, he spent too much time thinking and not reacting. He's put on 15 pounds this offseason because Schwartz likes 'em big, and is raring to go. "I think we're doing really well," Alama-Francis said. "We're learning what the coaches are teaching us. I know it's a little bit different from last year, but it's the same thing: Get up the field, penetrate as a D-line and then the rest just falls into place." Discuss in The Den!

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Larry Foote talks the talk

As many Lions fans had hoped, veteran MLB Larry Foote has brought a champion's resumé--"street cred", says Jim Schwartz--relentless energy, and a vocal leadership style to the middle of the Lions' defense.  Now, as the Free Press' Carlos Monarrez writes, all that's left is for Larry Foote to actually learn the defense, and execute it well.  If he can do those things, he'll be the centerpiece of a major defensive overhaul that happened so slowly and quietly, most fans barely noticed.