INDIANAPOLIS — When Derrick Barnes showed up for his first day of work with the Detroit Lions last spring, he found a note from special assistant Chris Spielman in his locker.
“It said, ‘What did I do today not to get cut?'” Barnes told me Saturday after the Lions’ preseason win over the Indianapolis Colts. “I hung it up in my locker last year, I still have it in my locker to this day and it’s right. You got to come out and give your all every day. There’s people trying to take your job, and how do you separate yourself?”
Spielman’s message — he gave a similar note to undrafted rookie linebacker Tavante Beckett last year — resonates especially loud this week; Barnes and 2,700 or so other players around the NFL await roster cuts, as 32 teams trim down to 53 players by Aug. 30.
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Barnes is not in jeopardy of being waived, or shouldn’t be. He’s a second-year player on a reasonable contract at one of the Lions’ most suspect positions — and he played well in a starting role Saturday.
But that hasn’t changed his approach this summer of trying to prove himself every day.
“I think about that (note) all the time,” Barnes said. “So I just, every day I just put it on tape. That’s the most important thing. Go out there and show what you can do and show the player that you want to be.”
The Lions appear to have a set hierarchy atop their depth chart at linebacker.
Alex Anzalone was one of 19 projected starters who did not play Saturday and he’ll likely open the season as an every-down player.
Rookie sixth-round pick Malcolm Rodriguez, who started alongside Barnes on Saturday, has had an impressive preseason and is the favorite to win the second starting spot with one exhibition game left to play, Sunday against the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Barnes and free-agent addition Chris Board are next in line at the stack linebacker position, and could see time in various sub packages or as part of a rotation. Barnes wore the defensive headset when he was on the field Saturday, made three tackles on runs in the first quarter and had a big stop on special teams to start the second half.
The other three Lions at the position — Jarrad Davis, Josh Woods and Shaun Dion Hamilton — will have to win a roster spot through special teams. (I consider Anthony Pittman, one of the Lions’ best special teams players, and rookie James Houston, in the outside linebacker mix behind the injured Julian Okwara.)
For Davis, Woods and Hamilton, practices this week and Sunday’s game are especially important in the evaluation process. One good day could go a long way toward keeping them employed, and one bad play could send them packing.
I won’t do my second and final roster projection until later this week — maybe even after Sunday’s game — but given where we are in the calendar, I thought it was important to check in on a couple of the Lions’ other major position battles:
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Wide receiver
Tom Kennedy has done everything in his power to make the roster. Kennedy had a team-high eight catches for 104 yards in the preseason-opening loss to the Atlanta Falcons, when it seemed like he never came off the field then he caught two touchdowns and recovered an onside kick Saturday.
The rub with Kennedy has always been value. He does not contribute much on special teams, and that’s where fifth and sixth receivers generally make their impact in the NFL.
On Saturday, Kennedy played gunner and jammer on the punt teams, looks Campbell said were designed to give Kennedy “every opportunity to make this team.”
“I saw a couple of them and he got doubled a couple and listen, that means the other guy’s got to win,” Campbell said. “So I would say he didn’t disappoint, but I need to go back and watch the film, but that’s just — we’re trying to give him every opportunity to make this team. That’s what that means, ’cause he just won’t go away, that’s a good thing.”
With Amon-Ra St. Brown, DJ Chark, Josh Reynolds and Kalif Raymond safe in their roster spots, Kennedy’s primary competition for a job appears to be Trinity Benson and Quintez Cephus. Cephus has practiced only a handful of days this summer because of injury and similarly offers little on special teams. He’s a big-bodied outside receiver, though, so he might add more value on offense. Benson has blazing speed, but he does not win as consistently as Kennedy. The Lions have given Benson a long look on special teams this summer, too, in an effort to let him play his way onto the roster.
Campbell has said several times this summer he wants players he can trust in crucial situations. Kennedy has proven to be one of those players — he should make this roster.
Quarterback
There is not much separation in the race for the backup quarterback job. David Blough played better and was more accurate against the Falcons, while Tim Boyle outplayed Blough (by a narrow margin) against the Colts.
I don’t know that the Lions would feel totally comfortable with either quarterback starting for an extended period of time should something happen to Jared Goff, but they both have traits to admire.
Blough has a moxie about him that seems to rub off on teammates. He can extend plays with his feet, but he also has two costly turnovers this preseason. Boyle has a bigger arm and led Saturday’s game-winning drive, but he’s less accurate and struggled in fill-in duty last fall.
This is a decision that could hinge on who plays better against the Steelers. I wouldn’t rule out both making the roster.
“I thought they both did a great job,” Campbell said of his quarterbacks’ play against the Colts. “(David) driving us down the field to end the half and coming away with that touchdown was big, and then I thought Tim Boyle had a good half, too. I thought he moved the ball. I know we had a couple three-and-outs, but there again, those breakdowns were in other areas. But I thought when called upon, he stepped up and made some plays.”
Defensive line
The Lions have good depth on the defensive line, enough that it might make sense to go heavy at the position.
Aidan Hutchinson, Charles Harris, Alim McNeill and Michael Brockers are locked into starting jobs, and Austin Bryant and Jashon Cornell appear to be the top edge and interior options off the bench. Josh Paschal seems destined to open the regular season on the physically unable to perform list, a move that can be made this week, and if Levi Onwuzurike requires a stint on injured reserve, that would open up another roster spot.
Campbell praised his entire defensive line for its performance against the Colts on Saturday and in practices this week, and really just about every lineman has flashed 53-man roster potential at some point this summer.
“I felt like the most consistent group of all of them this week was the D-line,” Campbell said. “I thought every one of those guys improved. I didn’t feel like anybody took a step back in that room, and then it just carried over into this game. So they did a great job. They were disruptive, they fit the gaps, they hustled, they played hard.”
Specifically, John Cominsky appears to be trending toward a roster spot. Cominsky has been consistently disruptive this summer as a pass rusher and run defender and he had a standout game Saturday with one sack and the pressure to force an incompletion on the Colts’ final thrwarted 2-point attempt.
Given the Lions were one of eight teams to place a waiver claim on Cominsky in May, there would be plenty of interest in him if the Lions decide to let him go.
Kicker
Lions special teams coordinator Dave Fipp said earlier this month that picking a kicker is “ultimately not going to come down to the numbers of the makes and the misses in any one training camp.”
Even if it did, Austin Seibert and Riley Patterson have been pretty even when it comes to the field goal battle this summer. Seibert missed a 55-yard kick Saturday, but he had plenty of distance.
The scouting report on Seibert and Patterson is pretty self-explanatory. Seibert has a hammer for a leg, while Patterson is more accurate from short-range. Seibert probably offers more upside because of his leg strength, but the Lions seem to like both.
A few other players have impressed lately in their pursuit of a roster spot, including tight end Shane Zylstra and defensive lineman Eric Banks. It’s clear Campbell and general manager Brad Holmes have tougher decisions to make this summer than they did last year, and that’s a good thing.
“That means we’re getting better,” Campbell said. “Our talent’s getting better, players are getting better roster-wise. That’s a good thing. It’s hard and you wish you could keep all of them, but I think that means we’re trending in the right direction.”
Contact Dave Birkett at dbirkett@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @davebirkett.