Lions notes: Pat Shurmur still in the mix for Detroit’s coaching job

• While #PatriciaWatch2018 continues to tear at the heartstrings of Detroit Lions fans, Vikings reporter Chris Tomasson reminds Detroit that Minnesota offensive coordinator Pat Shurmur remains very much in the mix for their head coaching job:

• Haloti Ngata is up for the Walter Payton Man of the Year award, which will be announced Feb. 3. This year, the NFL also had the “Man of the Year Challenge” in which all of the nominees tried to get the biggest social media impression using the hashtag #WPMOYChallenge. Ngata won that challenge, and as a result, his charity will get an extra $25,000 from Nationwide.

• For as good as the Detroit Lions receivers were in 2017, they weren’t all that great at getting separation from their defenders.

This also makes you appreciate Matthew Stafford for succeeding despite another disadvantage.

• Bleacher Report continued their rankings of every NFL position with running backs. Both Ameer Abdullah and Theo Riddick cracked their top 40.

• Former Lions defensive coordinator Teryl Austin had his introductory press conference one Thursday. Here’s what he had to say about the situation in Detroit and his interview for the head coach job:

• Kyle Meinke of MLive.com found the 22 best and worst stats from the Lions’ 2017 season.

• Even though this stat about Ezekiel Ansah and his efficiency isn’t all that surprising, it’s still mind-blowing: