Monday, December 4, 2023

Morning Lions Links for Tuesday 12-5-23

Articles:

KEY QUESTIONS: What are the injury updates coming out of Sunday's game?:  https://www.detroitlions.com/news/key-questions-what-are-the-injury-updates-coming-out-of-sunday-s-game


Lions could be without Pro Bowl center and breakout d-lineman in Chicago:  https://www.mlive.com/lions/2023/12/lions-could-be-without-pro-bowl-center-and-breakout-d-lineman-in-chicago.html

The linebackers played well in New Orleans. Now they could get back their leader:  https://www.mlive.com/lions/2023/12/the-linebackers-played-well-in-new-orleans-now-they-could-get-back-their-leader.html

Snap counts, PFF grades: Lions LBs answer the call with Alex Anzalone out:  https://www.mlive.com/lions/2023/12/snap-counts-pff-grades-lions-lbs-answer-the-call-with-alex-anzalone-out.html



Jameson Williams 'Pure Gasoline' on Touchdown Run:  https://www.si.com/nfl/lions/news/jameson-williams-pure-gasoline-on-touchdown-run

Lions Hutchinson, McNeill Earn High PFF Grades:  https://www.si.com/nfl/lions/news/pff-grades-week-13-aidan-hutchinson

Lions rookie TE Sam LaPorta continues to impress and shatter records:  https://lionslowdown.com/2023/12/04/lions-rookie-te-sam-laporta-continues-to-impress-and-shatter-records/



Lions QB Jared Goff lauds TE Sam LaPorta after rookie's career day: 'He's a clutch player':  https://www.nfl.com/news/lions-qb-jared-goff-lauds-te-sam-laporta-after-rookie-s-career-day-he-s-a-clutch

FMIA Week 13: The walk-on danger of the 49ers, and Dak Prescott’s chances at MVP (Lions, 9-3. Best start for the Leos since John Fitzgerald Kennedy was in the White House, 1962.  The Award Section - Offensive players of the week.  Sam LaPorta, tight end, Detroit. The Lions picked LaPorta 34th overall last April out of Tight End U (Iowa), and he had his best day of a starry rookie year in the 33-28 win at New Orleans. Nine catches, 140 yards and a touchdown. A biggie was his 48-yard catch leading to an important second-half field goal when the Saints were gaining on the Lions.):  https://www.nbcsports.com/nfl/profootballtalk/fmia/news/nfl-san-francisco-49ers-christian-mccaffrey-dak-prescott-fmia-week-13-peter-king

14 wild facts, Week 13: 49ers end NFL's longest drought (Lions found their tight end of the future. With nine catches for 140 yards and a TD, Sam LaPorta had one of the biggest games ever by a rookie tight end. LaPorta joins Mike Ditka (1961), Jackie Smith (1963) and Pete Mitchell (1995) as the only tight ends to hit those numbers in a single game during their rookie season.):  https://www.cbssports.com/nfl/news/49ers-end-nfls-longest-drought-without-1000-yard-rusher-plus-13-other-wild-facts-from-week-13/

Ten Takeaways: Tyreek Hill Is Even Better Than You Think (The Lions’ rookie class isn’t getting the attention it deserves—and the impact goes a little deeper than you may realize. The best illustration of that didn’t come with a Jahmyr Gibbs carry, Sam LaPorta catch or Brian Branch pass break-up Sunday in New Orleans.  The best illustration was probably inside Jack Campbell’s helmet.  Linebacker and captain Alex Anzalone was out, which meant the green dot—and coach-to-signal-caller radio that comes with it—had to go to someone else. That wound up being the first-round rookie from Iowa.  “It feels good that they trusted me,” Campbell said over the phone, following the team’s 33–28 win. “At the same time, I’m just continuing to look to improve and push this defense and this team, and put it in the best position to win—that's the ultimate goal.”  He accomplished that much Sunday, and he wasn’t alone among the guys in his draft class. That trust Campbell referenced is one that, evidently, just about his entire class has earned quickly. And, as a result, those guys are already shaping up as key pillars of the team’s foundation going forward—something Campbell himself, truth be told, could see coming pretty early on.  It’s not that he was assessing LaPorta’s red zone value, Gibbs’s explosion or Branch’s versatility so much as he saw the way each guy could be relied upon. Of course he knew coming in that his approach was a lot like LaPorta’s, given they played together at Iowa. He found out quickly the other guys were just like that, too.  “I’m not a genie or anything, but just what they do, how they handle their business, I knew they’d be great players as well,” Campbell says. “When we came in, everybody had that approach, the whole rookie class. I feel like there was something special with everyone. It’s just that improvement mindset. We’re always looking to grow. We’re always looking to clean up stuff.”  Campbell was solid in directing the defense and finished second on the team in tackles. His classmates were more than just that, keying an early flurry of scoring that made the difference in a five-point win. Gibbs kicked it off with a 36-yard burst on the game’s first series to put the Lions on the 2-yard line and set up David Montgomery’s touchdown on the next play. On the play to follow that, Branch picked off Derek Carr. Three plays after that, LaPorta cashed in with a 13-yard touchdown catch.  Just like that, the class of 2023 generated a 14-point swing in a game won by five. And by the end, LaPorta and Gibbs had combined for nearly 200 yards from scrimmage; and Branch had seven tackles, a pass defensed and that pick.  “The impact that they’ve had on me has been great,” Campbell says. “We’re just going to continue to push each other."  And that, of course, is great for a Lions operation that was on the upswing even before these guys arrived.):  https://www.si.com/nfl/2023/12/04/nfl-week-13-takeaways-tyreek-hill-dolphins-dominant-season

Video:


Sam LaPorta appreciative of Lions fans showing up to road games:  https://www.nfl.com/videos/sam-laporta-appreciative-of-lions-fans-showing-up-to-road-games
Posted by LionsFan at 7:16 AM

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