For Malcolm Rodriguez, the biggest difference between his first NFL training camp and his second is obvious.
“Less cameras,” Rodriguez said Tuesday.
The star of last year’s camp thanks to the HBO docuseries “Hard Knocks,” Rodriguez has flown much further under the radar this summer.
A 15-game starter at linebacker for the Detroit Lions last season, Rodriguez has played primarily with the second-team defense through the first four days of training camp, behind Alex Anzalone and Derrick Barnes and in the shadows of rookie Jack Campbell.
Anzalone re-signed with the Lions coming off a career-high 125-tackle season. Barnes earned a promotion up the depth chart with a strong spring, when Rodriguez missed time with a bone bruise in his ankle. And Campbell has generated plenty of buzz as a first-round pick.
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Lions coach Dan Campbell said Monday the starting linebacker competition is wide open, and unlike last year, it won’t play out for everyone to see on TV.
That’s fine by “Rodrigo,” who stumbled unsuspectingly into the spotlight as a sixth-round pick last summer and has always been more about football than fanfare.
“The cameras don’t affect me,” Rodriguez said. “It’s just one of those things where I was just being myself (on “Hard Knocks”). Cameras were on me, I didn’t let that affect me, just kept doing my thing. Came to work every day and I just happened to have cameras on me.”
Rodriguez beat out Barnes and others for the starting job opposite Anzalone last season with a strong and consistent training camp. He finished his rookie season with 87 tackles, including eight for loss, and earned high marks for his ability to key and diagnose plays.
Rodriguez remains one of the Lions’ most instinctive linebackers, and he’s working to become a better pass defender in the team’s revamped scheme. The Lions will ask their linebackers to play more zone coverage this fall after being a matchup team in 2022.
“Where he can really grow and improve is in the coverage aspect,” Dan Campbell said. “That’ll be next level for him, a little bit. And he’s been improving. He improved last year during the season, but that’ll always be just kind of the next step to it and then just always taking care of his body. Always staying on top, I know he does, but the durability and the health and just always being conscious of it. But it’s a good room.”
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A weak link on their defense in recent years, the Lions have built a deep and well-rounded linebacker room.
Anzalone is the veteran leader of the unit, coming off the best season of his career. Barnes is a thumper who’s made big strides in his all-around play entering his third NFL season. Jack Campbell is wildly talented, intensely focused and dripping with tolls. And backup Jalen Reeves-Maybins and Anthony Pittman are sub-package defenders who should play key roles on special teams.
“The nature of that room and the competition that’s in there and knowing the players, I mean I’m just going – I wouldn’t be shocked if Rodriguez is starting game one,” Dan Campbell said. “That wouldn’t shock me. It wouldn’t shock me if Barnes does. It wouldn’t shock me if the pup (Jack Campbell) does. It wouldn’t shock me if Alex. It’s a good room. So, we’ll let them duke it out and the good news is they’re all competitive. They don’t sulk, they don’t worry about it, they just go to work.”
Rodriguez said he expects the most reliable linebackers to emerge as starters this fall.
“Doing your job, no busts. Production,” he said.
And while that’s a focus of his in training camp, one way or another he should have an important role this season.
“He’s a good special teams player,” Campbell said. “He can be really good. Shoot, on the coverage units, he’s really a heat-seeking missile. He’s got that about him. And he’s instinctive, aware and he just, he goes. And he can do other things as well on the return unit. So yeah, look, he’s a pretty good player and of course we wanted (to use him more there last year). But he was playing so much, you’ve just got to be careful that you don’t wear him down. But yeah, he would certainly help us.”
Contact Dave Birkett at dbirkett@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @davebirkett.