Allen Park — No matter the amount of preparation, the Detroit Lions won’t really know what they have until they step on the field for the season opener against the Kansas City Chiefs. And even then, it might take a few weeks for chemistry and an identity to firmly take root.
The ability to communicate, particularly for a defense that’s trying to rebound after ranking last in the NFL year ago, is going to be critical. We saw how detrimental communication lapses in the defensive backfield could be in 2021, Aaron Glenn’s first year as coordinator, and the Lions are set to introduce a revamped secondary with multiple new pieces this season, headlined by veteran cornerback Cam Sutton, safety C.J. Gardner-Johnson and rookie nickel Brian Branch.
Detroit’s pass defense will be put to the ultimate test from the jump against the Chiefs, which is led by quarterback Patrick Mahomes, a two-time and reigning MVP who threw for a career-high 5,250 yards last season to go with 41 touchdowns.
Despite not logging any shared snaps in the preseason, or in the case of several projected starters, any snaps at all, the Lions still got plenty of good work in during training camp, given the joint practices with the Jacksonville Jaguars and New York Giants. But the group, led by Sutton, has taken it upon itself to put in plenty of extra work to iron out as many wrinkles as they can ahead of the matchup with Mahomes and the Chiefs.
“(Communication) is always a work in progress, but I will say this, with the new guys that we’ve got, man, just watching those guys before practice in the morning, they get here at 7:45 a.m. in the morning and they’re watching film together,” Glenn said. “So, that tells me exactly how they’re trying to hone in to make sure they’re communication is down.”
Those meetings aren’t just the secondary, they’ve also looped in the linebackers, the other critical position group to effective coverage. That’s doubly true against the Chiefs, who love to attack underneath, particularly to future Hall of Fame tight end Travis Kelce.
“Once you connect the whole back seven, I mean that’s when things really get on the same page,” Glenn said. “And that’s something that our veteran guys have done a good job of trying to get together and do, so Cam’s a big part of that, Alex (Anzalone)’s also a big part of that.”
Sutton downplayed the credit he deserves for the extra work being put in, even though he talked about setting a standard earlier this offseason, noting he would be arriving to the facility early every day and challenging his young teammates to follow his lead.
“Yeah, you just relay it to the guys, this is what we stand at, this is what we want to do,” Sutton said. “That’s part of our jobs, part of our business, being able to prepare ourselves, make sure we’re doing everything we can to put our best foot forward out there on game day. Any time you can steal time throughout the day, early in the morning, after (practice).
“Everybody has just had the right mindset,” Sutton said. “Guys have come in and worked hard, each and every day. … It doesn’t matter who is running the meeting or who speaks on the first thing or sets up. We’re here for a collective.”
jdrogers@detroitnews.com
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