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Will Burchfield tells Karsch and Anderson what he is expecting from the Lions-Jets game this Sunday.
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00:00Lions and Jets on Sunday.
00:02It's time for our weekly chat with the Birchie Kid,
00:04our reporter on the scene out at Allen Park all week long.
00:07And, of course, we'll be there on Sunday, Lions, Jets,
00:10and also from Fox 2.
00:12Birchie, thanks for being with us.
00:14Hey, boys.
00:15Good to be here, as always.
00:16We're joined this week by the one, the only,
00:18the much-distinguished Lions.com beat reporter,
00:22Tim Twentyman, who is sitting next to me on the couch
00:24in the auxiliary media room.
00:26Twentyman, say what up.
00:28Hello, boys.
00:28How you doing?
00:30Yeah, it is.
00:31Nice.
00:32Awesome.
00:33Cool.
00:33Actually, hand him the phone, and you can take the day off.
00:36No, I'm kidding.
00:37That's fine by me.
00:39So what was the most interesting thing Dan Campbell had to say today?
00:43Well, so it looks like we're going to get a lot of Christian Athean
00:46at safety on Sunday.
00:47I think we kind of expected that anyways once Evante Maddox
00:50was ruled out for the season.
00:52You know, Chuck Clark always was their replacement for Kirby
00:55at free safety, and Evante Maddox was a replacement
00:58for Brian Branch at strong safety.
01:00With Maddox down, it makes the most sense for Izzy N to go back there,
01:02and Campbell confirmed that today.
01:04It doesn't sound like we'll see Thomas Harper for a bit,
01:06and we also won't see Ben Bartsch from the sounds of it on Sunday,
01:10which means that Mahogany is back in there.
01:11And with Mahogany and Blake Miller slated to play again on Sunday,
01:15this offensive line should get a much-needed boost.
01:18So in the secondary, obviously they went out and looked at some players
01:21earlier in the week and ended up signing Bishop Fitzgerald.
01:24Is he going to be up and ready to go on for Sunday?
01:26We saw that there were a couple scratches against Buffalo
01:30with Raikstraw being scratched and Abney being scratched.
01:34Are they going to start to get one of these guys back
01:36or both of these guys back?
01:38Yeah, it sounds like Abney will be up on Sunday
01:40because they see him as a possible reserve at safety.
01:43So if someone gets injured there, Izzy N or Clark, God forbid,
01:47Abney would be one of the guys in the mix to go play some safety,
01:50which is hard to believe for a rookie,
01:52but that's kind of where they are right now.
01:54With Bishop Fitzgerald, look, early on their vision for him
01:57is just to deploy him on special teams.
01:59I don't even know if that will happen Sunday.
02:01I would lean towards his being inactive,
02:03but they hope that over the course of the next couple of weeks
02:06while he's on the active roster, he can begin to learn the playbook
02:09and eventually carve out a role in the defense
02:12as likely a free safety.
02:14That's where he had all of his production in college.
02:16He did play at nickel and in the box,
02:19but they see his strengths and he sees his strengths
02:22as a sort of free-ranging ball hawk.
02:25Look, he put up some impressive numbers at USC
02:28and at NC State before that,
02:29and they're hoping they can tap into those.
02:31You think it's going to work?
02:34Not really.
02:35No.
02:36He was undrafted for a reason,
02:39and there's more that goes into it than that.
02:40Look, he obviously had a great year last year.
02:43He was an All-American.
02:44His PFF grade would indicate that he was one of the best safeties
02:47in the country behind only the top two safeties drafted last year,
02:51and he had a knee injury late in the year,
02:53and that probably impacted the way he performed at the Combine.
02:57That probably impacted his stock on draft day,
03:00and that's probably why he slid.
03:02But look, if the Lions had loved him as much as they would lead you to believe,
03:06they probably would have drafted him over someone like, say,
03:09Tyree West in the seventh round, who's no longer on this roster.
03:12So they liked him enough to circle back,
03:14but I wouldn't put too much stock in Bishop Fitzgerald
03:17changing the outlook of this defense this season.
03:20Staying with the defensive effort,
03:21because obviously that's the big hole in the game for the Detroit Lions
03:24the first two weeks of the season,
03:26it's a big test against Geno Smith
03:28because Geno Smith has had three phenomenal games against the Lions,
03:32and it's not all that long ago when you look at 22, 23, and 24
03:35when he was a Seattle Seahawk.
03:37Yeah, I actually just asked Dan about that today
03:39to wrap up his press conference,
03:41because as you mentioned, those three games he came in here,
03:43and I think he hung combined 1,000 yards,
03:45maybe more, and a bunch of touchdowns.
03:47Obviously, different defenses that he was going against then
03:50and much different offenses that he was a part of.
03:53But Dan did say, our guys are well aware
03:55that this guy has been, quote, the death of us,
03:58and they are resolved to prevent that from happening again.
04:01He said, look, he'll sit in the pocket,
04:02and he'll take contact, and he'll try and hit big throws downfield.
04:07He'll also just as happily dump it off to avoid a sack,
04:10and I feel like he did that a lot in one of those three games
04:12where the Lions brought a bunch of blitzes,
04:14and he just dinked and dunked them to death.
04:16And on top of that, if a lane does open up,
04:19as we saw many lanes open up last week,
04:21he'll use his legs and hurt you that way.
04:23So they say they have a plan.
04:26Calvin Shepard says he has a plan.
04:27We'll see if it works on Sunday.
04:29But there is certainly a motivation to finally get one on Geno Smith.
04:33Well, you mentioned Calvin Shepard and Dan Campbell earlier in the week
04:36and Calvin Shepard yesterday.
04:37This is a full public commitment to fixing the defense
04:43with the players that they have.
04:46Are you buying that it will be better on Sunday
04:49or should be better actually from here on out?
04:53You know, I'll buy it if we see notable changes to the scheme.
04:58I mean, they have played so much zone defense
05:01through the first two games of the season,
05:02which is obviously a stark departure from the kind of defense
05:06they played in years past.
05:07And it just hasn't worked.
05:09I mean, the secondary clearly is overwhelmed with the scheme.
05:13And that is, to me, a miscalculation on the part of Calvin Shepard.
05:19Like most of the breakdowns for the passing defense
05:22owe to miscommunications.
05:23And almost all of those are happening in zones.
05:25Zone requires a lot of chemistry, a shared understanding
05:29of each player's responsibilities.
05:31And Shepard and the Lions shifted to that scheme,
05:34believing that all of the experience in the back end,
05:37Avante Maddox, Chuck Clark, even DJ Reed and Rocky Yassin,
05:41excuse me, would allow for like clean execution
05:43and clean communication.
05:44And that just hasn't happened.
05:46I mean, take the first touchdown last week.
05:48Joshua Palmer is running essentially a decoy route.
05:51And he winds up wide open in the end zone for a 43-yard touchdown.
05:56And then on top of that, the Lions have rotated a lot of defensive backs
05:59into a variety of packages over the first two games.
06:02And even DJ Reed, after last week's game,
06:04suggested that the volume of the defense in the back end
06:07might be part of the reason for the miscommunications.
06:10Now, Shep shot that down pretty adamantly yesterday,
06:13saying they've actually deployed pretty simple concepts in zone.
06:16But if they aren't getting through to the players,
06:18and that's the fact, when the players are so clearly out of place
06:21in so many instances, it does need to be pared down
06:24by the coaching staff.
06:25And if they can make those adjustments on Sunday,
06:28I'll have more faith in the defense for the rest of the season.
06:30One of the things they are going to pare down, it looks like,
06:33is the number of plays that Lee McNeil is going to be involved in
06:36because he's played at a ridiculous rate, like 90% of the defensive plays.
06:40They say they're going to back that down.
06:42Who benefits from that?
06:43If he's going to be out, who gets more snaps?
06:47Skylar Gill-Howard would benefit the most.
06:50And we'll probably see Tyleek Williams' snap count,
06:52jump a little bit as well.
06:53But this is a storyline worth monitoring only two games into the season.
06:58And usually I wouldn't give it as much credence with a small sample size,
07:02but it does date back to last season.
07:05And Lee McNeil now for a season, we'll call it, I guess,
07:1012 games he's played since returning from injury,
07:12somewhere around there, has played over 80% of the defensive snaps.
07:17And when he was at his best in 23 and 24,
07:20when he earned that extension they gave him and rightfully gave him,
07:23he was playing less than 70% of the snaps.
07:25And the difference in that is like 13, 14 snaps a game.
07:28It's a pretty substantially larger load that McNeil has been asked to carry
07:33over the past season and change.
07:35And, you know, he says he can.
07:36He says he doesn't feel worn down.
07:38I just have a sneaking concern.
07:42I don't want to blow this out of proportion too much,
07:44that they are diminishing their return on their own investment in Lee McNeil
07:50by possibly trying to stretch it too far.
07:52The player they signed for $24 million per year was thriving when he played
07:57about 70% of the snaps, about 45 snaps per game.
08:01And that's what most of the best defensive tackles in the NFL play,
08:05besides a couple outliers.
08:06And now they're deploying him as this guy who plays 80%.
08:10This year, 90% of the snaps.
08:12And he doesn't look like quite the same player.
08:14Now, deep breaths, part of that last year,
08:16most of that last year was due to the knee injury he was coming back from.
08:19But I do think it behooves them to get him back down into that 65%,
08:2470% snap range to try and maximize their investment in him.
08:28Okay.
08:29You mentioned earlier the offensive line getting healthier.
08:32Offense is still the strength of this team.
08:35It's what is going to make them competitive on any level.
08:39Getting Mahogany and Blake Miller back makes it even better.
08:42How big is that in your estimation?
08:46Here's why, to me, it's huge.
08:47Take the first two drives on offense last week,
08:50which everyone has been rightfully dissecting.
08:53So on the very first play the Lions ran,
08:56they threw a little screen to Laporta.
08:58And he had grass in front of him for at least an eight- or nine-yard game,
09:03probably a first down.
09:04All he needed was Ben Bartsch to reach a block on a linebacker.
09:07And it's a block that, for all of Mahogany's perceived or real flaws,
09:11he probably makes.
09:13Bartsch was like a split second late, couldn't quite get there.
09:17Laporta gets dragged down.
09:18The Lions go three and out.
09:19And, by the way, they go three and out because on third and eight on that series,
09:22who gets smoked by Gregory Rousseau?
09:25Larry Borum playing for Blake Miller.
09:27And just, like, that snapshot right there is what Blake Miller
09:31and Christian Mahogany together could help the Lions avoid on Sunday.
09:36And then I mentioned the second drive.
09:37That drive ends on a high snap on third down by Drew Scruggs.
09:42And, look, K. Miller's return, K. Mace's return is further out in the distance.
09:46But it's a good example of how much the Lions need their offensive line
09:51at full strength for the offense to hit its full potential.
09:55It's safe to say Larry Borum had a rough night.
09:58And if you go back and you think about what was said going into training camp,
10:03hey, you know, it's going to be tough to unseat Larry Borum at right tackle.
10:06I mean, does this kind of speak volumes as to how much better off this team is
10:11when Blake Miller's on the field?
10:14Undoubtedly.
10:15And I think as poorly as Larry Borum played last week,
10:19Blake Miller played just as well in week one.
10:22Like, he was just so steady out there at right tackle.
10:25He was solid in pass protection.
10:26He was athletic and physical in run blocking.
10:30And I know he had the one miscommunication with Scruggs on the snap count
10:34on a false start or, like, a clear sack that killed a red zone drive.
10:38And maybe that was the only glaring issue.
10:40But when it came to one-on-ones, which defined this game,
10:45more often than not, Blake Miller was winning.
10:47And it felt like more often than not, last week, Borum was losing.
10:50So, yeah, with Blake Miller back in there, they can be more athletic.
10:52They can probably be a little bit more creative in some of their run concepts.
10:57And maybe more importantly, when it comes to a one-on-one
10:59against someone like David Bailey, who, by the way, Blake Miller played against,
11:02thank you, Tim Twentyman, back in college,
11:04they can have faith that he'll win that block more times than not.
11:08How did that matchup go between Blake Miller and David Bailey?
11:12So, it was funny.
11:13Yeah, Tim Twentyman's giving me the goose egg right now.
11:17I appreciate that.
11:19It was zero sacks.
11:20And it's funny.
11:21Blake Miller was saying, you know, going into the game,
11:24we were reading the scouting report.
11:25This is at Clemson.
11:26And this is when Bailey was still at Stanford.
11:28And, you know, I kind of mentioned him in passing.
11:30Hey, this guy on the edge is pretty good.
11:32And when Blake Miller went to watch some tape on David Bailey with his fellow
11:36offensive tackle, they were like, dude, this guy is really good.
11:39This guy is very, very good.
11:41And Miller goes, sure enough, we got out there.
11:43And he was very, very good.
11:46But Blake Miller ended up holding him off the sack sheet that game.
11:49I do think Bailey had a few pressures.
11:51But we can expect Miller to at least hold his own,
11:54possibly more than that on Sunday.
11:55But Bailey's off to a fast start.
11:57So, are you taking 20-minute lunch, or is 20-minute paying for your lunch?
12:01I think he's got me this week, but I'll get him back next week.
12:04I just eat beers for lunch, so whatever.
12:06What else is new?
12:08All right.
12:09So, hey, look, when are you going to be on TV?
12:11When do we expect a poem?
12:14Catch me on TV, Lions Game Day Live, Fox 2, Sunday morning, 10 a.m.
12:18Catch the poem right around 10.04, 10.05,
12:21depending on how long Wojo babbles on in his opening thoughts.
12:25That's a problem.
12:26Always a problem.
12:27Good luck with that.
12:27Thanks, man.
12:29All right, fellas.
12:30Talk to you next week.
12:30Hey, we'll see you, Tim.
12:31Thanks, Tim.
12:32Yeah.
12:33All right, boys.
12:35The Virgie Kid, flanked by Tim Twentyman here on Carson Anderson on 97.1.
12:41All right, let's bottom line it, people.
12:43Bottom line it.
12:45Last hour, last show of the week, come Monday,
12:50who or what are we going to be talking about the most?
12:54Who or what are we going to be talking about the most come Monday?
12:59248-539-9797.
13:01We'll have the latest on Dylan Larkin coming up.
13:03Our picks at 138.
13:05The Gator Rant to wrap up the show.
13:07It's Carson Anderson on 97.1.
13:09Thanks, man.What
13:09be back. Bye-bye.