Hank Fraley was not happy.
The Detroit Lions had just scored their first touchdown in Sunday’s loss to the Philadelphia Eagles and the Lions’ offensive line coach was glaring a hole through starting right guard Logan Stenberg as he walked off the field.
Stenberg committed two false start penalties on the possession, nearly derailing a drive that ended with Jamaal Williams barreling into the end zone.
Frank Ragnow walked by Fraley and told his coach to “let it go.” Taylor Decker said the same thing.
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“You can’t imagine how pissed off I was over it, but we got to stay just like this, we got to stay even-keeled,” Fraley said. “I’m just eyeing Logan, I’m eyeing him, and we scored so it made it felt a little different. …. But the vets running by me were like, ‘Let him go.’ And that’s what you got to love about the group, cause they’re like, ‘That’s our guy. Let him go.’ I’m like, ‘OK. All right.’ Only thing I told him, ‘Don’t let it happen again.’ And he didn’t get it the rest of the game.”
Stenberg had mixed results in his first career NFL start — and the first extended playing time of his career at right guard.
He had those two penalties on the opening drive.
“I just wanted to run off the ball and kill somebody,” he said.
And he was the Lions’ lowest-graded offensive player by Pro Football Focus.
But he helped pave the way for a 181-yard rushing day and is in line to start against this week against the Washington Commanders.
“It’s all about comfort,” Stenberg said. “Once I settled down and got comfortable, played a really good game. So I was excited to see that on film.”
The Lions’ injury issues have multiplied on their offensive line in recent days.
Both Decker, with a calf injury, and Ragnow, who is dealing with groin and foot injuries, sat out Wednesday, and the Lions will be without guard Halapoulivaati Vaitai indefinitely as he recovers from back surgery.
New lineman Kayode Awosika could eventually push for playing time as his best NFL tape is at right guard, but the job is Stenberg’s for now, and both he and Fraley expect better things in the games ahead.
“I know this, he didn’t fold,” Fraley said. “He had those two early false starts and I thought he responded well to those. Offensively, we responded well. We ended up overcoming them, those self-inflicted wounds and we were able to overcome. He settled in.”
Fraley, who started four times over 11 NFL seasons, said he had a similar experience in his first start 21 years ago with the Philadelphia Eagles, skidding a shotgun snap to quarterback Donovan McNabb.
“There’s always going to be things to clean up,” Fraley said. “Your first real action is different than I would say any preseason ever. So the real bullets are flying around and he’s going to learn. He had some really good plays that he had in there that you love and then he had some things that he can work on. More technique issues that some people, critics, writers, whatever, reporters might say, ‘Oh, he got crushed,’
“So he’ll clean it up and we’ll see. We’ll go from there. I’m excited for him and he gets to write another chapter in his book. This is Chapter 2, Game 2 so we’ll see, we’ll learn from it.”
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Lions coach Dan Campbell said the NFL acknowledged a missed intentional grounding penalty in Sunday’s loss.
Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts shoveled an incomplete pass to the turf midway through the second quarter to avoid a sack by Charles Harris. Officials ruled Hurts was outside the tackle box, which would have made his pass legal. But replays showed the ball did not cross the of scrimmage and Hurts may not have been outside his left tackle.
Asked about the play Wednesday, Campbell said, “You’re talking about the intentional grounding that wasn’t intentional grounding? Yeah we turned it in, it was — they said they were wrong. But no, you can’t review that.”
Contact Dave Birkett at dbirkett@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @davebirkett.