Detroit News

Mobile, Ala. — There’s a high probability the Detroit Lions add an edge rusher or two this offseason, but the team’s outside linebacker coach, Kelvin Sheppard, has lofty expectations for one of the players he knows will be back in 2022: Julian Okwara. Drafted in the third round two years ago, Okwara battled injuries and barely saw

Mobile, Ala. — Connor Heyward isn’t trying to be the first of Craig “Ironhead” Heyward’s sons to make it to the NFL. That distinction belongs to Cameron, the perennial Pro Bowl defensive tackle for the Pittsburgh Steelers. But the youngest of four brothers is certainly the closest to directly following in his father’s footsteps. As a “skinny” high schooler,

Mobile, Ala. — Detroit Lions offensive coordinator candidate Ben Johnson is quick to shrug off the praise he’s received for his role in the team’s offensive improvements down the stretch last season. In fact, he almost seems embarrassed by it, at times. “You know, I would probably go so far as to say I don’t know how

Mobile, Ala. — Detroit Lions wide receiver coach Antwaan Randle El is greedy and he’s not afraid to admit it. Heading into the offseason, he’s hopeful general manager Brad Holmes will provide a fresh batch of talent for the corps. How much talent? Randle El would like to see the team draft two players and sign

Mobile, Ala. — Malik Willis took the snap and looked left during the first practice at the Senior Bowl. The Liberty quarterback didn’t like what he saw and moved to his next read, then his third, before flicking a short throw to the right flat. It looked like a play you might see any given Sunday,

Mobile, Ala. — There’s an old football cliche that cornerbacks are failed receivers, and in the case of Fayetteville State’s Joshua Williams, it’s kind of true. The big-framed, small-school sensation is turning heads at the Senior Bowl with his physical playing style and blazing straight-line speed at a position he’s only been playing since his senior

Mobile, Ala. — Of all the people who have shaped the football mind of Detroit Lions coach Dan Campbell, none have had a more profound impact than former New Orleans Saints coach Sean Payton. Not only did Payton serve as a direct mentor to Campbell in New Orleans the five years before he accepted the job

Mobile, Ala. — Here are some observations from practice at the 2022 Senior Bowl. ► Despite the high level of talent at the position, it was a day filled with inconsistent play from the quarterbacks. Nevada’s Carson Strong, North Carolina’s Sam Howell and Liberty’s Malik Willis all possess outstanding arms, and flashed the ability to make

Mobile, Ala. — Deferring many duties to assistant coach Duce Staley at the Senior Bowl this week, Lions coach Dan Campbell has a little more time to take care of another pressing organizational matter; hiring an offensive coordinator. Typically an open book, Campbell is playing the process close to the vest, only noting he intends to interview

Mobile, Ala. — On the first day of Black History Month, former Miami Dolphins head coach Brian Flores filed a lawsuit against the NFL and three teams alleging racist hiring practices by the league. The lawsuit, filed in Manhattan on Tuesday, included bombshell claims that Miami Dolphins owner Stephen Ross offered Flores additional compensation to lose

Mobile, Ala. — It’s more than a 2,000-mile drive from the gulf coast of Alabama to Los Angeles, but that’s nothing compared to the distance it feels the Detroit Lions are away from the Super Bowl. Sure, after avoiding the dreaded winless season, the Lions finished the year on an upswing. The way the players

Mobile, Ala. — Matthew Stafford is readying to play in the Super Bowl, while his former team, the Detroit Lions, are coaching this week’s Senior Bowl after finishing with the second-worst record in the NFL. Lions general manager Brad Holmes, who pulled the trigger on the trade that sent Stafford to the Los Angeles Rams for

Mobile, Ala. — There’s always plenty of talent at the Senior Bowl, but there’s a particularly strong quarterback group in town for this year’s game, with six of the position’s top prospects on the two rosters. And the Detroit Lions could very much be in the market for a quarterback. With no backups under contract, and

The Lions failed Matthew Stafford for most of his 12 seasons here. That’s based on history and logic and the franchise’s standing as the least-competitive, most-incompetent in NFL history. Stafford also failed the Lions at times, trying to do too much, not always capable of doing more. That’s based on the record and late-season collapses.

The Detroit Lions will have a representative at Sunday’s Pro Bowl after guard Jonah Jackson was added to the roster, replacing Washington’s Brandon Scherff, who is dealing with an injury. A third-round draft pick out of Ohio State in 2020, Jackson has started 32 of 33 games for the Lions his first two seasons, initially working at right

They were all in Cabo San Lucas a year ago, plotting a way to get here. And once they were sure they’d found it, having finalized a blockbuster trade that would send shockwaves throughout the NFL, Los Angeles Rams head coach Sean McVay and his fiancée, Veronika Khomyn, sat down for a celebratory dinner with

Associated Press Inglewood, Calif. — On the one-year anniversary of the trade that sent Matthew Stafford from the Lions to the Los Angeles Rams, the former Detroit quaterback punched his ticket to the Super Bowl. Travin Howard made a game-sealing interception with 1:09 to play, and Stafford and the Rams rallied from a 10-point deficit in

Livonia — On the surface, it might seem a little strange that a top NFL prospect flew across the country, to Metro Detroit, for an autograph signing months ahead of the NFL Draft. But there was a vision when the booking was made by representatives for Oregon defensive end Kayvon Thibodeaux. At the time, the Detroit Lions

For the fourth time since 2010, the Detroit Lions will serve as one of two coaching staffs at the 2022 Senior Bowl. The annual all-star game, which has been run since 1950, offers a final chance to see many of the top prospects in a traditional football setting ahead of NFL Draft. “We’ll get eyes on

As part of changes to the Senior Bowl setup in 2022, the head coaches of the two NFL teams selected to work the event will serve in advisory roles, while elevating multiple members of their staff to serve in more significant capacities for the week of practice and next Saturday’s game. On Friday, it was announced