Detroit News

Hessley Hempstead, a guard for the Detroit Lions for three seasons from 1995 to 1997, died. He was 49. His death was announced Monday by the NFL Players Association former players’ Twitter account. “We are saddened to learn of the passing of Hess Hempstead,” the group tweeted. “After retiring from the Detroit Lions, he was a fixture

By Dj Bien-Aime Ii |  New York Daily News Jarrad Davis’ one-year, $6 million deal with the Jets has breathed new life into his career. After being a first-round pick by the Detroit Lions in 2017, Davis’ time in the NFL has been disappointing. In four seasons he had 305 total tackles, 10.5 sacks, 19 tackles

By Rob Maaddi |  Associated Press One of the most-asked questions at the NFL’s rookie webinar last month was how to handle family and friends asking for money The advice was simple: Just say no. “Sometimes you got to just get good at saying no,” said Duke Preston, a former offensive lineman with the Buffalo Bills

Allen Park — The Detroit Lions capped their three-day mandatory minicamp on Thursday. Here are some notes and observations from those practices. ► These early offseason practices offer an opportunity for pass-catchers to stand out for multiple reasons. There’s no jamming at the line of scrimmage, no pass rush to disrupt the quarterback in the pocket, and

Allen Park — Expectations for the Detroit Lions offensive line are sky high, and why wouldn’t they be, given the investments? Already viewed as team’s best unit heading into the offseason, the Lions didn’t hesitate to further upgrade their blocking, using the No. 7 pick in the draft on Oregon offensive tackle Penei Sewell. That’s

By Greg Beachem |  Associated Press Inglewood, Calif. — Sean McVay has finally given a bit of real insight into the reasons why the Los Angeles Rams traded Jared Goff for Matthew Stafford. Even if he apparently didn’t mean to do it. A few hours before the Rams wrapped up their offseason program, McVay responded to a question

Allen Park — Detroit Lions general manager Brad Holmes still can’t wink with his right eye, and his hand strength isn’t what it once was on that same side. But that’s the only remnants from an accident that nearly took his life a little more than two decades ago. Holmes had just wrapped up his sophomore season

Allen Park — The building is the same, and the city hasn’t changed all that much, but in the four years since Darren Fells last played for the Detroit Lions, almost everything else has shifted. It’s a different front office, a different coaching staff, and nearly the entire roster has been turned over during that

Allen Park — The NFL announced last week that members of coaching staffs who declined to get a COVID-19 vaccination will lose their Tier 1 status with teams. That would prohibit them from face-to-face interaction with players, both on the field and in the meeting rooms. The NFL Network reported that four teams had holdouts, but

Allen Park — The Detroit Lions have continued interest in Todd Gurley, but the former All-Pro running back is continuing to explore his options. He is visiting with the Baltimore Ravens on Thursday, according to an NFL Network report. Asked about the team’s pursuit of Gurley, Lions coach Dan Campbell said he last talked to

Allen Park — It’s too soon for narratives when it comes to this edition of the Lions. There’s a new general manager, a new coaching staff and new schemes on offense, defense and special teams. There’s also a new quarterback for the first time a dozen years, and nearly 50 new faces on the 90-man roster

Allen Park — If there’s one player who embodied the Patriot Way more than any other during coach Matt Patricia’s tenure in Detroit, it was defensive end Trey Flowers. Flowers is a no-nonsense guy who is all about football, is a perfectionist with his fundamentals and can be relied upon to do his job, play in and

New Detroit Lions general manager Brad Holmes recently sat down for a wide-ranging interview with The Detroit News to discuss his first five months on the job, as well as his philosophies when it comes to scouting. Part 1 of the interview published Tuesday. Part 2 is below. Questions are paraphrased, and some of the answers are

Allen Park — Coming from Los Angeles to Detroit has been a breath of fresh air for quarterback Jared Goff. That’s not because he was escaping the smog that has long plagued the West Coast’s biggest city, but because he was in desperate need for a new beginning. No one really wants to talk about how

Allen Park — Detroit Lions offensive tackle Tyrell Crosby hasn’t been living under a rock. He’s relatively active on social media, particularly on Twitter, so of course he’s heard the rumors from last month that the team put him on the trading block after drafting Penei Sewell. But Crosby, who was in attendance for the first day of

Allen Park — For most of us, it’s inconceivable to give up $200,000 for a few days of work, but Detroit Lions linebacker Jamie Collins had a good reason. Instead of showing up for voluntary OTA practices the past couple of weeks, and securing a workout bonus built into his contract, Collins opted to stay

New Detroit Lions general manager Brad Holmes has had to hit the ground running since his hiring in January, tasked with trying to turn around a franchise that went nowhere under the previous regime of general manager Bob Quinn and head coach Matt Patricia. Though new head coach Dan Campbell was named less than a week

Detroit Lions coach Dan Campbell is always good for a sound bite. But on the national level, it’s been what has defined him. In his introductory press conference in January, Campbell spoke for nearly an hour, but it was his short rant about coaching a resilient team, wrapped in the metaphor of players biting kneecaps, that became the

Associated Press The Detroit Lions signed free-agent linebacker Reggie Gilbert on Monday. Gilbert, 28, has played in 29 games over three NFL seasons, the last coming in 2019 with the Tennessee Titans. He 22 total tackles, including a sack, in 11 games (five starts). He spent last season on the practice squads for the Arizona

Allen Park — The Detroit Lions’ offseason acquisition of defensive lineman Michael Brockers served multiple purposes. First and foremost, the 6-foot-5, 305-pounder helps fill the franchise’s critical deficiency at generating interior pass-rush pressure. Collectively, Detroit’s interior defensive linemen ranked near the bottom of the NFL last season, while Brockers’ 30 quarterback pressures, as tallied by Pro