Notebook: Lions Increasing Workload of Za'Darius Smith

Lions could give Smith more snaps against Colts.

Detroit Lions defensive end Za'Darius Smith (99). / Junfu Han / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

The Detroit Lions allotted 37 snaps for newcomer Za'Darius Smith in his first game with the team against Jacksonville. Heading into Sunday's game against the Indianapolis Colts, more work could be in store for the veteran pass rusher.

Smith already made a strong impression when he was inactive for the Lions' game against the Texans, as he was coaching up teammates on the sideline. In his Week 11 debut with the team, he notched a half-sack and proved why he was so coveted, both from a performance and culture perspective.

“Personality out of this world, energy out of this world, he really fits who we are when it just comes to us as a team and really us as a defense," said defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn. "He does have violence to him, he does have a physical nature to him. We’re excited to get his count up and see what he’s actually going to do as far as a true edge defender for us this week.”

Brodric Martin wins Scout Team Player of the Week

Brodric Martin, a 2023 third-round pick, was officially activated off of injured reserve earlier in the week and could make his debut in Sunday's game against the Colts.

In the week leading up to the Jaguars game, which was the final stretch of Martin's return-to-play clock from injured reserve, he earned Scout Team Player of the Week honors for his performance working against the offense.

His efforts have been met with a positive outlook by the coaching staff, as he has impressed since hitting the practice field after spending the beginning of the year on IR.

“Well, the first thing, he was Scout Team Player of the Week, so that’s where it starts," Glenn said. "And then I say this about every player on our team, is you’ve got to earn your keep here, and he’s earning it by getting Scout Team Player of the Week, so as he continues to move forward, listen, we don’t want to just throw that player out there, we want to continue to get him to practice and he’s doing a good job of that, and once he gets to the point to where we feel like he’s ready to go out there and compete on game day, we’ll get him up and get him ready.”

Hendon Hooker getting valuable reps

With the Lions winning multiple games in blowout fashion, there have been opportunities for backup quarterback Hendon Hooker to get playing time. Through three appearances, Hooker has completed six-of-nine passes for 62 yards.

After missing all of last season while rehabbing a knee injury, the Tennessee product has been exposed to valuable opportunities to log game action for the first time in his career.

Offensive coordinator Ben Johnson believes that these opportunities are extremely productive toward Hooker's long-term growth as a player.

“Yeah, I think it’s invaluable for him. Going out there, you’ve got the lights shining on you, you’ve got people looking at you, it’s not practice setting," Johnson said. "He had a ton of reps there during training camp and the preseason games that you saw growth from game one to game three, and now we’re at a spot where he’s been able to get a few in games this year, and the challenge for me is, I do want to get him some passes, but I also don’t want to be disrespectful to the opponent as well, so it’s kind of a balancing act when it comes to that.”

Stopping Anthony Richardson

The Lions will face a true mobile quarterback Sunday in Indianapolis' Anthony Richardson. In his second-year out of Florida, Richardson returned to the starting lineup last week after a brief benching.

In his first game back as the starter, Richardson led the Colts to a win over the New York Jets. He was 20-of-30 passing for 272 yards and a score, while adding 32 rushing yards and two touchdowns on 10 carries.

"Well, I think what you saw was, last week, really, at his best," Campbell said. "I’m not even sure you can go back to earlier in the year because I feel like they’ve taken the handcuffs off of him and allowed him to just go, and I think it’s, there’s a lot of things to where, you’ve got to be careful, that’s your guy. You run him too much, he gets hit, he gets injured, he gets – and I think now, all bets are off and we’ve got to get first downs, we’ve got to score touchdowns, and you’ve got to lead us to it."

Detroit's defense will have to find ways to limit Richardson, as well as potent running back Jonathan Taylor out of the backfield. Richardson has thrown seven interceptions and is mistake prone, so a key for Detroit will be to take him out of his rhythm and limit his impact as a runner.

"And so, when you run him the way you run him and with the different schemes that they’re doing it with," Campbell said. "They’ve got quarterback power, they’ve got the RPO, they’ve got the read run, they’ve got the play-action off of that, and then he can scramble, and then, if he is in the pocket and you’ve got your arms around him, trying to bring him to the ground, he’ll just stiff arm you off of him, he’ll just press you off, and then throw it down the field."

Evaluation of new kickoff rule

With 11 weeks in the books, the NFL's new kickoff rule has officially had over half a season of results to be evaluated. While some teams have chosen to give the opponent the ball at their own 30 by kicking it into the end zone, there have been some interesting strategies employed by teams across the league.

"I think we’re on the right track. Bottom line is that some of it comes down to risk-reward right now and if the reward’s a couple of yards or two yards or three yards, you have a good football team," Fipp said, "but the risk is taking a shot and some kind of explosive play against you, then it’s like is it worth it for us in this situation right now? You have a big lead, is it worth giving them another chance to try to make a play? So, there’s a lot of things that go into it."

The Lions are fortunate to play a majority of their games indoors, but still have two outdoor games remaining on the schedule. In particular, a December trip to Chicago will be intriguing given the potential of inclement weather. As a result, the Lions are continuing to prepare for such elements that they could deal with when playing outdoors.

"Obviously, we’re going to go outdoors a couple of weeks from now, we’re going to be in Chicago, we go to San Francisco," Fipp said. "In the playoffs we could be outdoors, so we have to obviously be ready to cover these things and we spend a lot of time on it and made a lot of adjustments during the year, we had two in the last game there, so we’ll just kind of keep balancing that risk and reward out and try to make good decisions. But I think overall, I do think that there’s a lot of positives about the play."