Matt Patricia Explains His Teaching Points To Younger Players

Read more on how Matt Patricia plans to coach up younger players on the Detroit Lions roster.

On Monday, ex-Ohio State Buckeye cornerback Jeff Okudah -- the Lions' first-round pick (No. 3 overall) in the 2020 draft -- had some trouble defending the team's No. 1 wideout Kenny Golladay during one-on-ones. 

Okudah was burned on an out route toward the sideline, and proceeded to fall to the ground while Golladay made the catch uncontested. 

It was a "Welcome to the league" kind of moment for Okudah that he surely won't forget anytime soon. 

Detroit's No. 2 receiver Marvin Jones Jr. also corralled a ball out of the air in impressive, one-handed fashion over veteran cornerback Desmond Trufant Monday. 

Okudah and the rest of the defensive backfield will obviously get better in those one-on-one situations through more reps, but also through pointers being passed on by their defensive coaches, including Lions head coach Matt Patricia, the former defensive coordinator of the New England Patriots. 

What will Patricia pass on to younger players on the roster when plays are made against them from other talented players on the roster?

"Obviously, from a coach's perspective, we're going to look at the totality of the play and see, 'Hey, could we have done something at the line of scrimmage? Could we have done something at the transition?' The one play with Marv was actually something we've been working on for a while, and we actually got it," Patricia said during a video conference Tuesday. "To Marvin's credit, he hit it perfect. It was a great throw, and obviously, he made a tremendous catch. In certain situations where we're fully competitive, we've got to fight that thing all the way to the ground and try to get it out. That's some of the things we'd have to do there."

It will be important for all of the Lions' defensive backs to refine their skills as much as possible throughout the course of training camp. 

A season ago, Detroit's defense allowed 4,551 yards through the air -- the most in the NFL. 

The revamped unit, spearheaded by the offseason acquisitions of Okudah and Trufant, will get its first chance to prove its worth Sept. 13 in the Lions' regular season opener against the Chicago Bears. 

Jashon Cornell's injury is ‘pretty severe’ 

Day 2 of padded practice for the Lions, unfortunately, was marked by rookie defensive tackle Jashon Cornell going down with what Patricia labeled as a "pretty serious injury." 

The injury was to Cornell's leg, and subsequently, he had to be carted off the Allen Park practice field.

Going about finding a replacement for Cornell -- Detroit's 2020 seventh-round draft pick -- could prove to be difficult, too, because of all the COVID-19 testing protocols.

"We've really tried to do a good job of having workouts and making sure that we have our short list and ready list of all positions in case something happens, in that aspect of it," Patricia said. "There is the testing part of it, though. That is, you know, a little bit (of) what we have to work around. So, even in the case where you may have done a couple position groups or worked out guys or kind of have your next-in-line sort of list ready to go, they still have to kind of get into the testing, and we have to go through that process, too. So, it could take a couple days."