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The Detroit Lions made a coaching change this week. According to Justin Rogers of the Detroit News, Brian Picucci, the team’s offensive quality control coach, was let go. In his place the Lions have hired former Dolphins wide receivers coach Ben Johnson.
Picucci was hired soon after the Lions brought Matt Patricia in last year. While the offensive quality control coach doesn’t have a widely accepted definition, typically the job entails a lot of research, data collecting and aid in developing a game plan.
As for Johnson, he had been with the Dolphins since the 2012 season, serving a variety of roles including offensive assistant, assistant quarterbacks coach and tight ends coach. Prior to that, he worked with Boston College as a graduate assistant and tight ends coach.
The timing of the move is certainly curious, and it’s unclear why the Lions made the change.
- Former Lions second-round pick Teez Tabor remains jobless, but the Miami Dolphins gave him a look this week:
Dolphins tryouts reported today: DB Jordan Brown; Ts Christian DiLauro, Storm Norton, Chidi Okeke; CBs Deatrick Nichols, Teez Tabor.
— Howard Balzer (@HBalzer721) September 10, 2019
- This is a fantastic story about how Lions defensive end Romeo Okwara’s passion for photography led to a stunning photo gallery of New York firefighters that debuted one day before the anniversary of 9/11.
- We talked about how the Lions’ defensive gameplan didn’t actually change much in the fourth quarter and overtime. But the offensive gameplan sure did, and it may have cost Detroit the game:
How did the Lions lose? Ask Matt Patricia.
— Warren Sharp (@SharpFootball) September 9, 2019
Lions early down play calls:
1st half: 54% pass
Results?
• 64% early down success %
• 4.0 yds to go on 3rd down
2nd half: 61% run
Results?
• 43% early down success %
• 9.9 yds to go on 3rd down
• 5 punts on first 6 drives of 2H
- The Lions made another change to their practice squad. Gone is the Cardinals’ former quarterback Chad Kanoff. In is running back David Williams, the Broncos’ seventh-round pick in 2018.
- The Lions’ weekly mic’d up video is out, and features one hell of a Matthew Stafford pre-game speech:
Sights and Sounds from last week's game against the Cardinals. #DETvsAZ | @ThinkFordFirst pic.twitter.com/hosggB758q
— Detroit Lions (@Lions) September 10, 2019
- Chris Burke of The Athletic broke down five plays from T.J. Hockenson’s debut (subscription required) that really highlight both the rookie tight end’s skillset and the team’s reliance on him.
- MLive has yet another reporter on the Lions beat. Please welcome Lauren Williams:
Hi guys! We've expanded our Lions crew again, this time adding @LaurenWilli23 to the beat. And you're never ever going to guess where she came from. (Hint: It rhymes with Roxborough.)
— kyle meinke (@kmeinke) September 11, 2019
"Wow," she said on Day 1, "you sure like tacos huh."
She's gonna fit right in.