Detroit Free Press

Jamaal Williams ran for a team-high 54 yards on nine carries in his Detroit Lions debut last week. The colorful running back stopped to answer five questions for the Free Press this week before he faces his old team, the Green Bay Packers, for the first time Monday night. You played four seasons in Green Bay. What’s your

Detroit Lions coach Dan Campbell said receiver Tyrell Williams and defensive tackle Kevin Strong won’t play in Monday night’s game against the Green Bay Packers at Lambeau Field. Both players suffered concussions in Sunday’s loss to the San Francisco 49ers. Williams is considered the Lions’ No. 1 receiver and best deep threat in the passing

Apple Podcasts  |  Spotify After one game, where does the Detroit Lions’ rebuild stand? Are we ready to throw a parade for this new regime? Or are we ready to throw these guys out the door? Of course, I’m kidding. We should be calm and measured in our analysis of the team. So let’s wait until the

D’Andre Swift was limited in practice Thursday by the same groin injury that kept him out all preseason, but Detroit Lions running backs coach Duce Staley said the ailment is “no concern” going forward. “I don’t think we’re going to have to manage his reps (in practice all season),” Staley said Friday. “Of course, you

Roger Brown, a former Pro Bowl defensive tackle for the Detroit Lions, died Friday at 84 years old, the Lions announced. Brown was honored by the franchise as a member of their 2018 Pride of the Lions class along with former teammate Alex Karras and Herman Moore. Brown, a six-time Pro Bowler, played seven seasons with the

The dry humor that Aaron Rodgers showed as “Jeopardy!” host is alive and well now that he’s back on the football field. Asked Thursday what he has seen from the Detroit Lions‘ young secondary so far this season, Rodgers joked, “A couple long last names.” “I do have some familiarity with some of those guys, played

Leaving the only NFL team he’d ever known wasn’t easy, but for Jamaal Williams, there was no other option. Williams signed a two-year free agent deal with the Detroit Lions this spring after the Green Bay Packers decided to invest in Williams’ longtime running mate, Aaron Jones, instead. Jones signed a four-year, $48 million deal with the

An angry Aaron Rodgers is a dangerous Aaron Rodgers, and Detroit Lions coach Dan Campbell is preparing for the most menacing version of the three-time MVP quarterback when his team faces the Green Bay Packers on Monday night. “I know this,” Campbell said before practice Thursday. “New Orleans kicked the hornet’s nest so we’re going

If the Detroit Lions are planning to move Taylor Decker to right tackle when he returns from finger surgery next month, no one has brought Lions offensive line coach Hank Fraley in on those plans. Fraley said Thursday he still considers Decker the Lions’ left tackle and there has been no talk about keeping rookie

The Detroit Lions filled one of their two vacant roster spots Thursday, signing offensive tackle Will Holden off the practice squad. Holden, who spent the preseason with the Indianapolis Colts, signed with the Lions practice squad last week. The Lions have been shorthanded at tackle since losing Taylor Decker to a finger injury in practice

Steve Smith needs to stay in his lane. And the last time I checked, that lane doesn’t include Detroit or Allen Park, where the NFL Network analyst has yet to attend a Detroit Lions game or practice this year. Smith was a hell of a former player, a feisty bulldog who carved out a 16-year

Amon-Ra St. Brown went to his first football game in Green Bay last winter, after his final season at USC, but the rookie receiver never got to step foot in Lambeau Field even though his brother, Equanimeous, was playing for the Packers that day. “COVID protocols,” St. Brown said. “I was just in Green Bay

While at least one prominent NFL analyst was critical of Detroit Lions secondary coach Aubrey Pleasant’s treatment of second-year cornerback Jeff Okudah on the sideline of last week’s loss to the San Francisco 49ers, two of Okudah’s teammates said the confrontation is a non-issue for players in the locker room. “I’m going to make it real

When Steve Smith saw the heated sideline exchange between Detroit Lions secondary coach Aubrey Pleasant and second-year cornerback Jeff Okudah in Sunday’s season-opening loss to the San Francisco 49ers, it immediately made him question whether the Lions’ purported culture change has really changed at all. “We need to stop upping our standards for players and

Penei Sewell had a doubly-difficult task in his NFL debut Sunday, switching positions from right to left tackle a few days before the Detroit Lions’ season-opener against the San Francisco 49ers and drawing the primary assignment on Nick Bosa, one of the best pass rushers in the NFL. Lions coach Dan Campbell said he was

Sunday was an incredible day for the Stafford family. Kelly Stafford, wife of former Detroit Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford, detailed the emotions of his first game with the Los Angeles Rams in the premiere episode of her new podcast, “The Morning After with Kelly Stafford.” [embedded content] “I have never been so nervous for something,”

Everybody was going crazy. OK. Stop. That’s deceiving. Let me rephrase: The few fans left in Ford Field were going crazy on Sunday afternoon. Near the end of his Detroit Lions head coaching debut, Dan Campbell stood on the sideline, watching intently, slowly chewing gum. Campbell did not come across as a crazed, over-caffeinated, fist-pumping, vocal-cord

The Detroit Lions we knew wouldn’t be very good. The Chicago Bears figured to be below average, too. The Minnesota Vikings looked like a middle-of-the-pack team, mostly because they play the Lions and Bears twice this year. But the Green Bay Packers were supposed to be a Super Bowl contender. The fact that the Packers got

When the Detroit Lions face reigning MVP Aaron Rodgers and the Green Bay Packers next Monday night, they likely will start rookies at two of their three cornerback positions. Third-round pick Ifeatu Melifonwu is in line to take over for Jeff Okudah after Okudah ruptured the Achilles tendon in his left leg in last week’s

Apple Podcasts  |  Spotify  The Detroit Lions just must be cursed. How else can you explain the ruptured Achilles tendon that ended cornerback Jeff Okudah’s season after 48 snaps? How can it be that such a studious, hard-working, dedicated player suffered a notoriously problematic injury that also might end his career? How can a player who drew