Inside The Play: Mathieu Betts Bursts Through Offensive Line

Mathieu Betts discusses Lions early training camp reactions.

Detroit Lions defensive lineman Mathieu Betts (95) practices / Junfu Han / USA TODAY NETWORK

Recording 18 sacks in any season will garner any defensive player increased attention, no matter what league the accomplishment occurred in.

For defensive lineman Mathieu Betts, participating in rookie minicamp, spring workouts and training camp has provided him an opportunity to compete for a roster spot.

"Yeah, it’s been great honestly. I’m one of the guys that kind of likes training camp just to get back into football. It’s been a long time, especially for me having played in the CFL. Our season ended at the end of November, so it’s been awhile," Betts told Lions on SI after practice Friday. "I like it here, talking about the culture. We compete a lot during the periods, during the scrimmages, but even special teams.

"We had a couple of 1-on-1s today. It’s good to put you in the mindset where you really have to compete because ultimately this training camp is gonna go by fast and Week 1 is gonna come fast enough," Betts explained further. "Obviously we have a bunch of steps and I’m seeing one day at a time where I need to get better, from what I did today, tomorrow. If you’re just building brick by brick, that’s where at some point naturally you’ll become a better football player and you’ll be able to help this team win games.” 

Betts is not on social media much, but has been informed of the growing support and following from the fanbase. Detroit's defensive line is seeking as many consistent contributors as possible this season.

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“Honestly, I try to stay as much off of social media as possible. I had people who are close to me telling me that they’d read an article about people being positive about this whole thing. I’m focusing on myself, but obviously I know how people are proud of this football team here in Detroit," said Betts. "I just want to help this team get where they want to go and win football games, so I’m just doing my best. That’s all I can do and improve as a player and to help this team win. It’s fun to have people cheering for you and it’s a big part of the game with the fans being behind the team and the team being so close together. We really want to bring pride to Detroit and happy to be part of that.” 

In Detroit, the team has been working the 29-year-old at both defensive end and outside linebacker.

Head coach Dan Campbell said earlier in the spring the team is working to expand his usage, playing the former CFL Defensive Player of the Year in more of a SAM linebacker role.

“We’re asking him to do some things kind of at the SAM linebacker position and base to where, yeah, he’s a rush, but he’s also dropping in coverage, he’s matching a little bit," said Campbell. "I’ll tell you what, he’s got some pretty good hips for a big man, and he can run. He can run and he’s smart.”

For Betts, time on task will allow him to play even faster, as he is playing at defensive end and outside linebacker.

“Being new to the team I’m trying to fit in as much as possible and being able to do as many things as I can. Obviously in the CFL I’ve played both. I’ve played mainly defensive end because we play mainly nickel defense, but we had packages where I was playing kind of outside linebacker," said Betts. "Basically I’m doing both here right now. I’m trying to improve as much as I can in both assets of the defense. For me, it’s not that it’s hard to pick up the defense, but it’s to execute it with the details so that’s where I need to be by the end of training camp. And obviously as fast as possible, to be able not to just think about the scheme, but think about the details and to be able to fit it all in and play all 11 players together.” 

Breaking through the offensive line

Betts showcased his speed and quickness on one particular rep watched during Friday's practice.

The CFL standout burst through the B gap quickly and would have recorded a sack against Nate Sudfeld during live play.

“That was just the play-call there where we had outside perimeter pressure, so I had to get back in the B gap. I haven’t watched the play, but I think the guard followed along with the interior lineman so the B gap was wide open. It was play-action, so I wasn’t sure if it was run or pass but came off pretty free. It was a great call by A.G. That’s the details I’m talking about. Knowing when your opportunity is gonna come depending on what play is called," said Betts. "Those are the details that I need to get within. It’s been great. That’s the tricky part about football. You’ll have good plays, you’ll have bad plays. You want to try to have as many good plays as possible. Obviously you don’t want no bad plays. You want to be even or on the upside. So just gotta correct these little errors from time to time. But that’ll come with repetition but you still want to pick it up as fast as possible.” 

When asked about the increased intensity displayed during training camp, Betts appeared slightly flustered, as it was now apparent to this writer the new normal in Detroit is to practice very hard and attempt to gain any type of advantage over an opponent.

“That’s the whole point of football," said Betts. "You don’t want the other team to get any points, any yards. If you practice bad habits, you’ll play with bad habits. That’s something we’re trying to have in our DNA and I think it’s the right way to do things.”