Allen Park — A scar on Alex Anzalone’s right shoulder tells a story of the adversity he’s faced playing the game he loves, while his contributions to the Detroit Lions’ turnaround tells the story of his ability push through it.
From the end of his college career at Florida through his first few seasons as a professional, Anzalone struggled to catch a break. He suffered a season-ending shoulder injury three times in five years. The third one nearly broke his spirits.
“I was distraught,” Anzalone said. “It was two games into my third season (with the Saints) and I was counting on being a big part of that defense with DD (Demario Davis).”
Lamenting another lost season, Anzalone received sage advice from Saints general manager Mickey Loomis. He reminded the young linebacker NFL players often battle durability issues, but at some point, they go away for many guys. Those proved to be calming words in troubling times, painting a picture of a potentially brighter future. Little did Anzalone realize it would come to fruition in Detroit.
It hasn’t been all sunshine and rainbows for the veteran linebacker since joining the Lions in 2021. He was brought aboard to lead a transition, culturally and schematically, as the quarterback of the defense. And he’s been invaluable in that regard, helping an influx of young teammates understand their roles within the system. But despite being named captain and setting career-highs in playing time and tackles last year, he also struggled with stylistic adjustments while trying to overcompensate for some of those inexperienced teammates not fully understanding their assignments.
The combination of that overcompensation, and playing more of a read-and-react style compared to the attacking approach he was used to at Florida and New Orleans led to a surge in missed tackles. It’s admittedly a subjective stat, but no matter who was doing the counting, Anzalone was among the league leaders.
A commitment to fixing the issue, along with Detroit’s shift back to an attacking style defense, has helped him alleviate the woes. After whiffing on 16.1% of his attempts last year, according to Pro Football Reference, that’s dipped to a career-low 6.3% this year.
“He’s been playing his butt off, down in and down out, dating back to training camp,” position coach Kelvin Sheppard said. “I always preach finishing on the ball and that’s something Alex does religiously. … I know a lot of people knocked him for missed tackles, and Alex was very aware of that.”
There are a lot of ways to improve tackling, including film study and drills. Anzalone’s favorite, according to Sheppard, is working with a massive, 200-pound hanging pad the Lions use in practice, which allows players to focus on hitting. Anzalone likes to call the routine kissing Big Bertha.
Whatever he’s been doing, it’s been working. Not only is he missing fewer tackles, he’s racking up the stops in droves. He’s already blown past the career-high he set last year, amassing 105 tackles through 14 games, including a personal-best five behind the line of scrimmage.
Additionally, Anzalone has been an asset in coverage — with six pass breakups, an interception and a 77.4 passer rating when targeted — and as a blitzer, where he’s set a new best with 20 quarterback pressures, including a season-high five in last week’s win over the New York Jets.
“Last year was the best I’ve ever seen him in all the years that we had him in New Orleans,” Lions coach Dan Campbell said. “That was the best that I’ve seen him play and this year is even better. He’s playing at a high level, he’s the quarterback of our defense. He’s versatile, he’s a really good athlete, he’s smart, he knows exactly what (defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn is) looking for. He knows the situations that come up.”
Heading into the season, there was a spotlight on Detroit’s linebacker group. The position was perceived as a weakness after 2021, but the front office invested few resources into improving the corps, signing lower-tier free agents Chris Board and Jarrad Davis before adding a rookie in sixth-round pick Malcolm Rodriguez.
Yet, somehow, as the team enters the stretch run with six wins in the past seven games, linebacker has quietly been among the roster’s strengths. To go with Anzalone’s improved performance, Rodriguez has provided immediate contributions and second-year man Derrick Barnes has made notable strides.
And Anzalone has had a hand in all of that.
“Back probably after the third game, and everybody was praising Malcom, I made the comment that Alex had a lot to do with how fast Malcolm is playing,” Sheppard said. “Because a lot of times, that’s the guy who is getting the car started, so to speak. He’s getting everybody lined up, making sure guys are in the right position, making checks, going out of his way to make sure his teammates are in the right position on certain plays and checks we’ve had. And doing things he really doesn’t have to do, and he’s been doing this since day one. He was doing it last year, but this year, we’ve just gone to another level with that player.”
Now, the Lions have to decide whether to move forward with the setup. In a league where it’s year-to-year for most players, that’s truly been the case for Anzalone. He signed a prove-it contract when he initially joined Detroit 21 months ago and earned a second one-year contract this past offseason.
The team made it clear to him they wanted him back after last season. It was a matter of working out the details ahead of free agency. With the end of the season and Detroit’s run for a playoff berth the present focus, a similar conversation has yet to take place this year.
But Anzalone is clear on his preference; he badly wants to stick around and see this thing through.
“Obviously, I want to be here long-term,” he said. “You try to take care of your family and everything like that, but I love playing for Dan, I love playing for AG and Shep. They really do get the best out of me. And I’ve said this since I got here, this really is a unique place where you can really leave our legacy as a player because there hasn’t been a lot of success, there hasn’t been a playoff win since ’91. We’ve obviously gotten to this point a lot sooner than a lot of people thought we would, especially after the first half of the season, so I feel like this is a place I want to be for the long haul and hopefully it shakes out that way.”
jdrogers@detroitnews.com
Twitter: @Justin_Rogers