The Trinity Benson trade has so far failed to yield any appreciable dividends, but Detroit Lions wide receivers coach Antwaan Randle El is not giving up hope that Benson will be a contributor to the Lions offense this year.
“Call it the preparation in terms of getting ready, and then just wanting to see it quicker, it just hasn’t happened yet,” Randle El said. “And now he had the injury … and now he’s been out two games, expect to get him back this week and see him contribute, cause you see it. You see it show up. You see it happen. You’ve seen him making plays over and over again in practice, it’s just got to get to translate. At the end of the day, that’s what it is. We just got to get it to translate.”
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Desperate for help at receiver, the Lions traded 2022 fifth- and seventh-round draft picks to the Denver Broncos in September for Benson and a 2023 sixth-round choice.
Benson had a strong training camp with the Broncos, but has played sparingly in his three months in Detroit.
He has eight catches for 72 yards in seven games and has been targeted only 18 times despite ample opportunity to move up the depth chart.
No. 1 receiver Tyrell Williams suffered a season-ending brain injury in the Lions’ Week 1 loss to the San Francisco 49ers, and Williams’ replacement, Quintez Cephus, has been out since early October with a broken collarbone.
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Benson caught three passes in Williams’ absence against the 49ers, but has been inactive for four of the Lions’ past six games (twice because of injury), sitting at times behind players like Geronimo Allison, Tom Kennedy and special teams standout KhaDarel Hodge.
The Lions claimed Josh Reynolds off waivers from the Tennessee Titans in November, and have played him at receiver alongside starters Amon-Ra St. Brown and Kalif Raymond the past two weeks.
Randel El said Benson still is capable of cracking the playing group based on his performance in practice.
“We just got to get it to translate,” Randel El said. “Certainly remain optimistic of what he’s doing and what you see him doing in practice. Again, we got to get it to the field, get it to the game.”
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Benson has dropped two of the 18 passes thrown his way, according to Pro Football Reference, and one of his targets was intercepted.
Randel El said the Lions have to do a better job of putting Benson in winnable situations on the field, and of creating those situations in their offense. The Lions (0-10-1) have only run 91 offensive plays the past two weeks.
“We’ve been doing it, and then you get a chance to call certain plays and you can’t get them called because your game plan changes and now you’ve got to go a different route in terms of the way the flow of the game,” Randel El said. “But again, for me, I think it’s coming, it’s just a matter of time. And the response would be, ‘Well, it’s been time.’ Well, it needs a little bit more time. Sometimes that’s how it happens.”
Contact Dave Birkett at dbirkett@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @davebirkett.