Will Harris has been a jack-of-all-trades for the Detroit Lions this season, starting games at safety, nickel and most recently cornerback.
And while major changes could be coming to the Lions defense this offseason, Harris appears ticketed for another all-encompassing role in the secondary in 2022.
“Will Harris has a lot of value as far as a player just in general because he’s played every position in the back end that you can imagine,” Lions defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn said. “I had a guy like this named P.J. Williams with the Saints, and he was just like Will. Actually, he wasn’t as good of an athlete as Will, but the one thing that he was, he was very smart. At the drop of a hat, we can put him in that position that he didn’t get a lot of reps in that week. And you see Will doing the same thing.”
Harris’ journey through the Lions secondary was born out of necessity.
He opened the season as starting safety next to Tracy Walker, but transitioned to nickel cornerback after A.J. Parker landed on injured reserve in mid-November.
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Harris moved to outside cornerback when Jerry Jacobs tore his ACL in a December loss to the Denver Broncos. And with Amani Oruwariye out the past two weeks, Harris has played as the Lions’ No. 1 corner.
“There’s not a lot of guys that’ll want to do that now, especially in this league because of they care about who they are, they care about being comfortable at one position,” Glenn said. “And Will’s a guy that said, ‘Listen, coach, whatever you need me to do, we’ll do it.’ So there’s a lot of value in that player. So I can’t just sit here and say he’s going to be this, this or that. He’s that piece that we can put anywhere we need to at the drop of a hat if we need him.”
While Harris’ transition has been far from smooth — he’s allowed a 121 passer rating against this season, according to Pro Football Reference — Glenn said Harris’ versatility will give the Lions options when it comes to addressing their needs this offseason.
Starting safeties Walker and Dean Marlowe are pending free agents, and cornerbacks Jacobs, Oruwariye and Jeff Okudah are coming off season-ending surgeries, so the Lions could be in the market for the best available upgrade at either position.
Harris said he will not need to change his playing weight or alter his offseason workout routine based on where he’s ticketed to start the year in 2022.
And though jacks-of-all-trades are commonly thought of as masters-of-none, Harris, who will be in the final year of his rookie contract in 2022, said he is not worried about what bouncing around the secondary will do to his earning power down the road.
“My worry is my team’s success,” he said. “And me being out there on the field to contribute to that. That’s my worry is to, day by day just continue, like I said, put as many tools in my toolbox so that when my number is called I can handle the task at hand, and I can handle, no matter what happens obviously with injuries, COVID, etc., that I’d be able to contribute to my team and be a reliable source for my team. So that’s my primary train of thought. And it always has been. That’ll continue to be the case.”
Jared Goff update
Jared Goff practiced on a limited basis for the second straight day Thursday because of a bone bruise in his left knee, but offensive coordinator Anthony Lynn had an optimistic tone when asked about Goff’s availability for Sunday’s game against the Green Bay Packers.
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“I thought he moved around just fine (in practice Wednesday),” Lynn said. “I’m sure he’s not 100%, but who is at this point in the season? He threw the ball well. We’ll see. Like I said, if he can’t go, then we feel like we have a good backup in Tim (Boyle) and we’ll go and play with Tim like we have the last couple weeks. But Jared looked fine yesterday.”
Fullback Jason Cabinda remains out with a knee injury, while Michael Brockers (knee), Jalen Reeves-Maybin (shoulder), Jonah Jackson (elbow/knee) and Brock Wright (groin) practiced on a limited basis.
Briefly
The Lions waived cornerback Saivion Smith on Thursday and restored wide receiver Geronimo Allison to the practice squad from the practice squad COVID list.
Contact Dave Birkett at dbirkett@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @davebirkett.