Lions show plenty of power on defense

By foxsports
Published

ALLEN PARK, Mich. (AP) -- The Lions have said all training camp they expect their defense to remain strong, despite the loss of high-profile players.

In their first preseason game, the Lions had one sack against the Jets, Caraun Reid and Devin Taylor combining for it.

They tripled that total with three sacks in the first half of their second preseason game at Washington.

"I think there's some encouraging things about it," Detroit coach Jim Caldwell said after Friday's brief walk-through practice. "Obviously we were able to get some pressure on the quarterback, but it's week by week. I think you make progressions along the way and that was a step in the right direction. We got after the quarterback a little bit better than we did the week before, and we'll see how we do this next week coming up."

The Lions forced Washington quarterback Robert Griffin III from the game with a shoulder stinger and a concussion. Griffin went just 2 of 5 for 8 yards.

Detroit lost Ndamukong Suh and Nick Fairley this past offseason in free agency. Defensive coordinator Teryl Austin still expects results.

Throughout camp, the Lions have been without veteran defensive tackle Haloti Ngata, who is on the non-football injury list because of a hamstring problem, and veteran DE Jason Jones, on the physically unable to perform list because of offseason surgery.

Second-year DT Reid left the Redskins game after one snap because of an ankle injury. Gabe Wright and Jermelle Cudjo replaced Reid, and Wright recovered a fumble while Cudjo got one of the three sacks.

Also injured early in the game was starting right guard Larry Warford (ankle). Caldwell said tight end Jordan Thompson suffered a "significant" knee injury.

"It's going to be a little while," Caldwell said of the injuries. "But I couldn't give you an exact time frame with any of those guys."

DE Ziggy Ansah, who had a half-sack Thursday, did not participate in practice Friday. Neither did linebacker Kyle Van Noy.

"They've got a bit of an injury, so we'll see how long it takes them to get back," Caldwell said.

NOTES: The Lions released undrafted free agent wide receiver Jarred Haggins, who announced it via his Twitter account. Safety Taylor Mays, who did not play in Thursday's game at Washington, asked for his release. "Nothing has been official yet," Caldwell said. "Obviously within the next 24 hours, it'll make itself a little bit more clear. It's just kind of one of those things where everybody's got to perform. He gave it his best." ... Caldwell was not pleased with the nine penalties the Lions took Thursday. "Anytime we have more than three, I'm concerned. Anytime we have more than one, I'm concerned, and we had nine in this particular game. So, that's not a good thing."