Amani Oruwariye spent part of his bye week in Florida. He wanted to be around family and get away from football. And after his surprise benching in the Detroit Lions‘ Week 5 loss to the New England Patriots, Oruwariye said that was the “reflection time” he needed to get his game right for the rest of the season.
“This isn’t the end for me at all,” Oruwariye said Wednesday. “Just a bump in the road, just adversity, just testing me, making me remind myself you can’t take any day for granted and that was good. I needed that reflection.”
The Lions’ most productive cornerback last season, when he had a career-high six interceptions, Oruwariye ranks last out of the 108 outside cornerbacks graded by Pro Football Focus through six weeks.
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He missed one game with a back injury, was penalized six times in another and has struggled in matchups with the Philadelphia Eagles’ A.J. Brown (10 catches, 155 yards) and the Minnesota Vikings’ Adam Thielen (six catches, 61 yards) this year.
Oruwariye said he was “frustrated” by Lions coach Dan Campbell’s decision to bench him against the Patriots, when he was a healthy inactive for the first time since his rookie season, though he admitted his play has been subpar.
“I wouldn’t say (things have) not clicked,” Oruwariye said. “I just would say that maybe (I was) put in a lot more critical situations and didn’t − not coming up with the plays. Like for example, the (Rashaad) Penny run (on third-and-14 in a Week 4 loss to the Seattle Seahawks), just open-field tackle. Whatever happened, I got to get him down. That’s just the end all, be all of it so it’s just making the plays when they come to me.”
Oruwariye said neither his back injury nor his contract status − he’ll be a free agent after this season, and until recently appeared headed for a big payday − have affected his play.
And he insisted, after some initial irritation with the move, he has not soured on Campbell and others on the Lions coaching staff.
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“I mean, I have particular relationships with every one of my coaches, Dan, (secondary coach Aubrey) Pleasant, (defensive coordinator Aaron) Glenn,” Oruwariye said. “So I’ve had many conversations with them. They’ve said their peace, I’ve said my peace and like I said, at the end of the day, I got to understand that’s the business side of it and I can’t control all that, so me worrying about all that isn’t gong to do anything for my growth as a player. So as much as maybe I might be frustrated or whatever in the beginning, that’s got to go away as quick as possible and just get back to work.”
Campbell said Monday that Oruwariye will have a chance to compete for the starting job in practice this week.
Will Harris and Jeff Okudah started at cornerback against the Patriots, when Okudah was flagged twice for pass interference and Harris left with a groin injury.
Harris was a limited participant in practice with a hip injury Wednesday.
“I told Amani this (before the Patriots game),” Campbell said. “I said, ‘Man, this doesn’t mean this is done. I mean, you could very much be back up.’ But it was – that’s what we needed to do.”
Oruwariye said “it hurt me to my core” to watch the Patriots game in street clothes from the sideline − he was inactive because he does not contribute on special teams − while Lions defensive backs kept dropping with injuries. Along with Harris, Okudah, Bobby Price and safeties Saivion Smith and Ifeatu Melifonwu missed snaps with injuries in the game.
He said he hopes to rejoin the starting lineup for Sunday’s game against the Dallas Cowboys, but will be ready for whatever role the Lions ask him to play. Second-year cornerback Jerry Jacobs, who started nine games last season, also is expected back for the first time since tearing his ACL last December.
“I think everyone always has some kind of reflection in their career and I think this has been mine up to this point, at least in the NFL,” Oruwariye said. “I’m just trying to control what I can control and right now, that’s just preparing for Dallas.”
Contact Dave Birkett at dbirkett@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @davebirkett.