Demetrius Taylor Found Out on Twitter He Was Playing Week 5

Detroit Lions' Demetrius Taylor found out he was getting his opportunity to play from social media.

The Detroit Lions are planning to shake up their personnel on defense, in order to come up with some spark after a disastrous performance against the Seattle Seahawks.

"I think everyone has bounce back on their mind right now," cornerback Jeff Okudah told All Lions in the locker room Wednesday after practice. "Just get out there, and have a chance to kind of right the ship. That is what we're looking at it, as an opportunity to right the ship." 

One player who performed at a high level during the preseason and is going to have an opportunity to play Sunday is defensive lineman Demetrius Taylor. 

Speaking with the team's flagship radio station, Lions head coach Dan Campbell let it slip this week that Taylor is going to earn his first opportunity to play in a regular season NFL game on Sunday.

"We're going to give Meech a go this week," Campbell informed 97.1 The Ticket's morning show. "We'll see if he can kinda help us out there a little bit." 

"I heard from Twitter," Taylor told reporters. "Then, I came in here, and they kind of said it in the team meeting. So it's, s**t, it's on now. When I hear it in the team meeting, (I can believe it). I heard it from Twitter, so I was like, 'All right, I guess I'm playing.'"

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Playing big end

For Taylor, it will be his first occasion in the NFL playing the "big end" position, as he played primarily on the interior of the defensive line throughout the preseason with the Lions. 

"All I know is like first and second down, that's where my position is in base and then in nickel, I'm back inside," Taylor explained.

A big responsibility could be coming Taylor's way, as playing the end position requires a significant amount of communication in order to keep the entire defensive line working in sync (after a linebacker makes a call or an adjustment). 

"Just the calls. I'm not used to being out there and giving calls to the inside," Taylor expressed. "So, just making sure I communicate what's given to me from the SAM (linebacker). I'm comfortable out there. It's just me making the calls and making sure everybody are on the same page. So, that's like another thing that I don't want to mess up on. So, every time I get it, I'm just trying to be as loud as I can, so everybody on the D-line is in one accord."

Taylor has experience collegiately playing at big end, as that was his primary role at Appalachian State. 

The 23-year-old played in 65 career games, and made 39 starts. He earned national defensive player of the week for his performance in a win at North Carolina back in 2019.  

He was the first FBS player this millennium to record 2.5 sacks, two forced fumbles, a fumble return for a touchdown and an interception in the same game.