Detroit Free Press

James Houston IV looked broken, and when he saw his parents outside the locker room at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis after the Detroit Lions’ second preseason game against the Colts, he had a confession to make. A sixth-round pick out of Jackson State, Houston made two tackles in the Lions’ first two exhibition games

Detroit Lions (6-7) vs. New York Jets (7-6) When: 1 p.m., Sunday. Where: MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey. TV: CBS. Radio: WJR-AM (760), WXYT-FM (97.1). Betting line: Jets by 1. • Box score  Game notes: These two teams have a lot of common and share interesting parallels. Both are surprisingly in the NFL playoff picture but desperately need a win to

Free Press sports writers give their predictions for the Detroit Lions game Sunday at MetLife Stadium against the New York Jets (1 p.m., CBS): Dave Birkett The Lions can move within a half-game of the NFC’s final wild-card spot with a win, but putting up points on this Jets defense won’t be easy. The Jets have

The illness sweeping through the Detroit Lions locker room has infected another player. The Lions ruled Michael Brockers out for Sunday’s game against the New York Jets, and added running back Justin Jackson to the injury report with an illness. Brockers, who did not travel with the team, was doubtful to play after missing practice

Detroit Lions (6-7) at New York Jets (7-6) The coaches: Lions-Dan Campbell (14-27-1 overall, 9-20-1 with Lions); Jets-Robert Saleh (11-19 overall, all with Jets). Last game: Lions beat Minnesota Vikings, 34-23. Jets lost to Buffalo Bills, 20-12. Last meeting: Sept. 10, 2018: Jets won, 48-17. Key matchups Jets DL Quinnen Williams vs. Lions LG Jonah Jackson: Williams

A long time ago, Detroit Lions quarterback Jon Kitna threw a bucket of water on me. OK, it was actually center Dominic Raiola who did the throwing, ostensibly as a prank to soak Kitna on his birthday while he was speaking with reporters in the locker room. But it had all the hallmarks of the

A month after he suffered a high ankle sprain at MetLife Stadium, Detroit Lions right guard Evan Brown will return from the injury on the same field. The Lions did not list Brown with an injury designation on their Friday practice report, clearing him to return to the starting lineup for Sunday’s game against the

Robert Saleh insisted Zach Wilson’s career with the New York Jets was not over when he benched the 2021 first-round pick last month. Now, Saleh and the Jets are turning to Wilson to help keep their NFL playoff hopes alive. Saleh told reporters Friday that Wilson will start Sunday’s game against the Detroit Lions after

Apple Podcasts | Spotify • Host: Carlos Monarrez (@cmonarrez) • Producer: Robin Chan • Editor: Robin Chan • Guest: Jeff Riger of 97.1 The Ticket • Executive producers: Anjanette Delgado, Kirkland Crawford • Email: swindsor@freepress.com On this episode: With Shawn off this week, it’s Free Press Sports with Carlos & Jeff. 97.1 The Ticket’s Jeff

Jerry Jacobs’ stomach is rumbling, in a metaphorical sense. Jacobs has played eight games so far this fall in his return to the Detroit Lions from a torn ACL. He has started the past four weeks at cornerback and gotten his hands on several passes this season. Last week, he had a key pass deflection

The door swung open. Detroit Lions offensive coordinator Ben Johnson marched through it, took a sip of water and headed to the podium in the media room. He looked serious and ultra-focused. “Few things we’ve got to improve on from last week, starting with, really, the coordinator-to-head coach communication,” Johnson said with a straight face.

Aaron Glenn played eight seasons for the New York Jets and made two Pro Bowls with the team. The franchise gave him a start in his second NFL career, too, as a scout in 2012. Glenn remains “very fond” of the organization today, which is why the second-year Detroit Lions defensive coordinator said he wants

Here’s a ticket you can take to the window and cash: The Detroit Lions are pretty good at fake punts. Lions special teams coordinator Dave Fipp drew an interesting analogy Thursday, comparing his team’s penchant for fake punts to his old high school football coach’s proclivity for gambling on horses, something he said his ex-coach

A handful of NFL teams reached out to C.J. Moore as he nursed his way back from a training camp ankle injury. In mid-October, Moore even briefly signed with the Houston Texans practice squad. But as Moore sorted through his options waiting for his injury settlement to clear with the Detroit Lions, he told his

Get ready for a massive showdown. The Detroit Lions vs. the New York Jets on Sunday afternoon. Second-year Lions coach Dan Campbell vs. second-year Jets coach Robert Saleh. Rebuilding team vs. rebuilding team. Toughness vs. grit. And, of course, second-year coach Dan Campbell vs. second-year coach Robert Saleh. Playoffs on the line. “It’s a huge

The Detroit Lions and New York Jets have not played in four seasons, but Lions quarterback Jared Goff is very familiar with Jets coach Robert Saleh’s defense. Goff had mixed results in four seasons with the Los Angeles Rams playing NFC West rivalry games against the San Francisco 49ers when Saleh was that team’s defensive

The Detroit Lions were set on landing a pass rusher with the No. 2 pick in April’s draft, and coach Dan Campbell said Wednesday they never seriously considered taking New York Jets cornerback Sauce Gardner with that selection. “We thought about a lot of different guys, but I never really felt it went there for

A season after Central Michigan sent a pair of offensive linemen to the NFL, the primary beneficiary of their pro-level talent plans to take his shot at the next level. Running back Lew Nichols III, who led the nation with 1,848 rushing yards in 2021, declared for the 2023 NFL draft on Monday and signed

Faith. In sports, it’s often a loser’s lament. A refuge for the try-hard teams, for those that hang on to what-ifs. But when Dan Campbell mentioned the word Sunday afternoon during his postgame news conference, he wasn’t using it in any of those contexts. He was talking about a different kind of faith, faith that

Jared Goff has silenced many of his critics by playing the best football of his career over the past six weeks to lead the Detroit Lions into playoff contention, but Goff’s hot streak has not dimmed the prospects of the Lions taking a quarterback high in next spring’s NFL 2023 draft, according to one prominent