Jerry Jacobs: Lions Ready to 'Shock the World' in Season Opener

The third-year defensive back is confident heading into the 2023 season.

Dan Campbell ignited the confidence in the Detroit Lions when he broke the news about its fate for the regular season opener. 

The popular coach broke the news about matching up with the Kansas City Chiefs in a meeting. He reminded the team about the importance of playing on the national stage and how many believe the team won't defeat the defending champions. 

However, cornerback Jerry Jacobs and his teammates are eagerly anticipating the showdown. When the team was informed, he could feel the chills at the thought of playing in an impactful showdown.

In an appearance on Sirius XM's NFL Rewind, he discussed his feelings about beginning the season on the national stage.

"It's time to show what Detroit is made of," Jacobs said. "When we knew we were playing them in the season opener, Dan Campbell came in and said, 'They want us to lose, so what are we going to do?' ... We almost went to the playoffs and they just won the Super Bowl, so they're trying to see if we're really like that. We're ready, I know we're ready. Every time I hear we're playing the season opener against the Super Bowl team, we're ready to go out there and play ball and shock the world."  

The Lions have been a hot topic since last season. General manager Brad Holmes' offseason has received plenty of praise, and the team retains plenty of talent from last year. 

Jacobs has seen the team add several players at his position. This will create competition and could be the source of bitterness, but he has viewed it in a positive light. 

"Man, this offseason was amazing. How Brad Holmes and Dan Campbell came together as one, trying to get the free agent guys and try to make the team better, was great," the cornerback explained. "And I looked at this offseason as like they just trying to make the team better, you know, the key missing points that we needed from the last season to get us to the playoffs and things like that. They're just trying to add on pieces so we can be better than we were last year. So I felt like this offseason was amazing. We had a lot of key guys to our own, you know, on the team ourselves, ready to see how we go."

High praise for Goff and offseason update

Detroit's offense was one of the league's best last year thanks to Jared Goff. With Aaron Rodgers out of the division, the Lions' signal-caller is viewed as the top passer in the NFC North. 

Jacobs sees his teammates among the best quarterbacks in the entire NFC and believes he can replicate last season's success. 

"Jared Goff is the best quarterback, he's really top five in the NFC if you want to be honest if you pull the stat stuff and all that," the Arkansas State product commented. "I'm gonna be honest, I've played against a lot of quarterbacks. Aaron Rodgers would be in my top five, but Jared Goff's up there. Everybody sleep on my dog and I love how he take it in, like he don't be cocky or nothing like that. He just soak it in and play ball to this game, that type of reaction. He's a great quarterback and I can't wait for him to you know, go out and prove everybody wrong."

The third year cornerback is fully healthy for the offseason, which was not the case in 2022. Because of his health, he's able to focus on key aspects of his game in an effort to improve. 

Currently training in Florida, he has been focusing on adapting in coverage. He's making a conscious effort to intercept more passes by tuning up his technique. 

"I be on a lot of receiver sticky but the ball will get you money," Jacobs stated. "So instead of trying to play the ball through the receiver, find the ball, things like that. Working on my speed a little more, get it you know, get faster. So, just little things like that, make sure my technique can be way better than it was just coming back from my ACL, getting thrown out there and just playing football, so I'm just trying to make sure everything is tightened up and ready to go before the season."