The Detroit Lions are getting their quarterback back, but losing one of his favorite targets.
Lions quarterback Jared Goff cleared COVID-19 protocols Monday, a week after he was placed on the reserve/COVID list, while receiver Josh Reynolds tested positive for the virus.
Goff did not play in Sunday’s 20-16 loss to the Atlanta Falcons, but should be back in the lineup for this week’s game against the Seattle Seahawks.
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Tim Boyle, making his second career start, completed 24 of 34 passes for 187 yards and one touchdown, but threw a game-sealing interception with 33 seconds to play and the Lions at the Falcons’ 9-yard line.
Boyle said he made a poor read on the play, believing the Falcons were in zone coverage when they were in man-to-man defense.
Boyle tried to squeeze a back-shoulder pass to Kalif Raymond into triple coverage, but Falcons linebacker Foyesade Oluokun jumped the route at the 1-yard line.
Boyle said he should have worked the left side of the formation instead, where Reynolds and Amon-Ra St. Brown were in single coverage against Atlanta defensive backs.
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“Probably would have had a little bit better opportunity of scoring,” he said Sunday. “But that’s my first time being in a two-minute drive with an opportunity to win a game. It’s intense and people are tired and communication kind of, it just, it’s being able to kind of settle down in those moments. Not that I don’t think it was too big for me, but it’s just — it’s football. It’s football. It comes down to the last game, I made a critical error that I can’t make and ultimately that falls on me.”
On Monday, Campbell said he should have made it easier for Boyle to diagnose the defense by sending a player in pre-snap motion.
“When I go back and watch that tape, I should have helped him better with a good, solid man-zone read,” Campbell said. “Maybe start the back outside, bring him back in, and I kick myself for that, hindsight looking at it. Just something that could help him see it quicker and sooner. So I think little things like that, other than that, I thought the plan was pretty good.”
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Reynolds, who played four seasons with Goff with the Los Angeles Rams, has 18 catches for 295 yards and two touchdowns in six games with the Lions this season.
The Lions (2-12-1) have been more efficient in the passing game since acquiring Reynolds off waivers from the Tennessee Titans in November as defenses have had to respect Reynolds’ size outside.
Contact Dave Birkett at dbirkett@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @davebirkett.