Allen Park — The Detroit Lions know exactly what Chicago Bears quarterback Justin Fields is capable of doing with his feet. In an earlier meeting between the two teams this season, the second-year, dual-threat passer racked up 147 rushing yards and two touchdowns on a combination of 13 designed runs and broken pass plays.
And the Lions are hardly the only team to struggle bottling up Fields. The week before the burst of production against Detroit, he set the NFL’s regular-season, single-game rushing record for a quarterback, gaining 178 yards on the ground against the Miami Dolphins. For the season, he’s already become the third QB in NFL history to top 1,000 yards, and he’s eyeing another NFL record, Lamar Jackson’s 1,206-yard campaign in 2019.
But that mark became increasingly difficult to reach after last week, when the Buffalo Bills proved it’s possible to contain Fields, limiting him to a season-low 11 yards on seven carries.
“You saw some of the runs he has had last week and the previous weeks,” Bills safety Jordan Poyer told reporters after the game. “Just being able to contain him and force him to run lateral because he is an electric runner when he’s able to get downhill and one step and get downhill. He’s big, he’s strong, he’s hard to get down. Our front, along with our linebackers and our secondary making big plays on him out in space. It’s plays like that. We were able to contain him.”
That’s the key with Fields, keeping him contained to and condensing the pocket. But, it’s easier said than done. That was the Lions’ stated plan in November, but they struggled to execute it from the opening snap, when Fields beat defensive end Julian Okwara around the left edge for a 28-yard gain.
Not surprisingly, the Lions have been dissecting the tape from last weekend’s Bills game, seeing if there are any schematic strategies they can poach. But there’s a limit to how much ports over between the two teams, given they play different schemes and have different personnel strengths.
“They also had different personnel than we do, and so you take some of the good (and) you also take things you believe that you can do,” Lions coach Dan Campbell said. “There’s some things we did well the first time we played them. So, I think it’s all-encompassing. But, we’ll have a good plan in place and we’ll be ready to go.”
Franchise mark within reach
Since trading T.J. Hockenson to the Minnesota Vikings, the Lions haven’t gotten a ton of receiving production from the team’s tight ends, but one area the group has thrived is finding the end zone.
Following Shane Zylstra’s three-touchdown performance against Carolina last week, the team’s tight ends have scored seven times in the past eight games. Combined with Hockenson’s three TDs prior to the trade, the team is on the cusp of matching the franchise record for scoring production from the position, just one touchdown shy of the 11 combined from Brandon Pettigrew and Tony Scheffler in 2011.
“I’m really proud of that group and the way they’ve bonded as a collective unit and really trying to help the team win as much as we possibly can,” position coach Tanner Engstrand said. “Shoot, I think there’s a stat there’s been 10 touchdowns within the tight end group. I think the Lions’ record is 11, so who knows, maybe we’ll have to dial up something else here in the red zone the next couple weeks and see if we can’t get to 12.”
While Brock Wright and James Mitchell have each scored in recent weeks, Zylstra is probably the most likely to find the end zone again in the next two games. His scoring explosion against the Panthers wasn’t a surprise to those who watched him emerge as a favorite red-zone target of the team’s quarterbacks during the offseason program and training camp. That knack for finding space in the end zone carries over from college, when he scored 54 touchdowns across four seasons at Minnesota State, averaging more than 15 his final three seasons.
“We saw him run some routes, catch some touchdowns in the offseason program and training camp,” Engstrand said. “Those types of things, and this game, it all came to a head. It kind of culminated in a big game for him down there in the red zone. I couldn’t be more proud. He’s been very resilient.”
Keeping the success going could be tough against the Bears. Entering Sunday’s matching, they’ve allowed tight ends to average just 3.47 catches, the fewest of anyone in the league.
Shut it down
Three weeks after starting his practice window, the Lions have determined Quintez Cephus won’t be able to contribute this season and are planning to keep the wide receiver on injured reserve.
Cephus has been on IR since early October because of a foot injury. Even prior to that, he was buried on the depth chart behind the team’s starting trio of Amon-Ra St. Brown, DJ Chark and Josh Reynolds, and would have had an even more difficult time cracking the rotation with Kalif Raymond and rookie Jameson Williams commanding playing time.
Cephus will finish the year having recorded two catches for 15 yards. Across three seasons with Detroit, he’s appeared in 22 games, catching 37 passes for 568 yards and four touchdowns.
Linebacker poached
After spending the season on the team’s practice squad, veteran linebacker and former first-round pick Jarrad Davis signed with the New York Giants on Wednesday.
Davis, the No. 21 selection in the 2017 draft, spent his first four seasons with the Lions before signing a one-year deal with the New York Jets last offseason. He returned to Detroit as a free agent this offseason, but failed to make the 53-man roster out of training camp.
Davis’ behind-the-scenes leadership had been praised by Campbell in recent weeks and the Lions had been able to temporarily elevate the linebacker off the practice squad three times, most recently for the team’s game against the Jets earlier this month.
Still ailing
Starting safety DeShon Elliott didn’t practice on Wednesday and remains day-to-day because of the shoulder injury that sidelined him last week against Carolina.
Elliott is Detroit’s second-leading tackler, with 91 stops this season. In his place, Ifeatu Melifonwu made his first start of the season.
jdrogers@detroitnews.com
Twitter: @Justin_Rogers