Notes: Kerryon Johnson named NFL’s Week 7 ‘Ground Player of the Week’

Y’all did it!

After we asked for Detroit Lions fans to flood the polls earlier in the week, running back Kerryon Johnson has been named the Week 7 FedEx Ground Player of the Week. Johnson earned the title after his 19-rush, 158-yard performance against the Miami Dolphins.

Johnson led all backs in rushing yards last week, and his 8.3 yards per carry was most among players with at least 10 carries on the day. Both of those numbers marked career highs for the rookie running back out of Auburn.

Johnson is the first rookie to win the award this year. As the weekly winner, Johnson will have a $2,000 donation sent to the USO in his name, courtesy of FedEx.

• Last week, Ricky Jean Francois sent the Miami Herald a bunch of donuts, then proceeded to tally two sacks against the Dolphins. This week, it was Luke Willson who treated the competition’s press a treat. (Willson is a former Seahawk and knows the media there well, obviously.)

• Peyton Manning briefly broke down Matthew Stafford’s performance against the Dolphins for the ESPN show “Detail.”

• Matthew Stafford is continuing his domination on play-action plays:

• For the first time in the Super Bowl era, the NFL has fired an official in the middle of the season. Hugo Cruz has been relieved of his duties after missing an obvious false start penalty in the Chargers-Browns game in Week 6. For what it’s worth, Cruz officiated three Lions games over his career: the 2015 loss to the Chargers, a 2015 win over the Raiders and a 2016 win over the Saints.

• If you’re looking to get into Ford Field on Sunday for the big game against the Seahawks, the Lions are releasing standing room only tickets again this week. You can get them here for $65.

• Al Golden, the Lions’ current linebacker coach, is filing a $3 million lawsuit against the University of Miami seeking unpaid settlement money.