Lions Dealing With Multiple Injuries At Safety
Coach Jim Schwartz said it best on Thursday.
"We haven't had a bunch of injuries but at that one position we have had some issues," he said.
That one position is safety and the Lions are down to one completely healthy player. Veteran Erik Coleman, who was the primary backup to starters Louis Delmas and Amari Spievey, was placed on injured reserve Thursday.
He suffered a severe high ankle sprain at Dallas and was still on crutches this week.
"It's tough losing a guy like that," Delmas said. "Having him down is difficult and we will miss him as a teammate, but we've got guys who can step in and play."
Guys might be overstating it. John Wendling, who up until Coleman's injury was used exclusively on special teams, is now the primary backup.
Veteran Vincent Fuller, who was signed last week and played against the Bears Monday, missed practice Thursday with an elbow injury. He is questionable for Sunday.
Both starters are banged up, as well. Delmas has been playing through an abdominal strain and Spievey missed the Monday night game with a hamstring injury. He was limited at practice Thursday.
"I think the guys who have filled in have done a good job," Schwartz said, referring to Wendling and Fuller. "They've tackled well and defended the deep part of the field. When you are getting poor safety play, you are giving up long runs - I'm not talking 20 yards, I am talking 60 yards - and long passes down the middle of the field. We've not had that."
Wendling has already played more defensive snaps this season than at any other point in his five-year career. He made his first career start on Monday and made three tackles.
"I never accepted that I could only play special teams," Wendling said. "My thing has always been, I can play safety in this league and I've always wanted to and I've always prepared myself to. I am going to take care of my stuff on special teams and whatever role I'm asked to do, I am going to do my best, but, yeah, I've kind of been waiting for the chance."
There hasn't appeared to be any drop-off in continuity between cornerbacks and safeties or the cohesion of the secondary.
"It doesn't disrupt anything because the guys who are stepping in are performing just as well," said cornerback Chris Houston. "There's never any drop-off in our room. We don't have to help or cover up any areas. Everybody in our room is professional and they know what to do."
--For the first time in five weeks, Lions coach Jim Schwartz wasn't answering questions about a lack of run production in his post-game press conference.
For the first four weeks of the season it's been "we're close" and "we're on the right track" and "we still have confidence in it."
Monday, against the Bears, everything finally came together in the run game, as the Lions racked up 181 yards (163 by starting running back Jahvid Best ) on the ground.
It was something the Lions certainly needed to jump start with the 49ers coming into Ford Field on Sunday. The 49ers have allowed the second fewest points in the league (15.6 per game) and come in ranked fifth against the run (76.4 yards per game).
The 49ers defense has not allowed a 100-yard rusher in the past 27 games, the longest active streak in the NFL.
"We got a lot of confidence last week running the ball really well," said Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford. "We had some big plays in the running game, so that's something that we're capable of. We knew we were capable of it; we just needed it to happen.
"(The 49ers) are really good at stopping the run, top five in the NFL at it, but we're still going to try and run the ball and hopefully we'll get some big plays out of it."
The Lions (5-0) had gotten away with being a one-dimensional offense in their first four victories. It was only a matter of time, though, before defenses stopped respecting the threat of the run altogether and really came after Stafford and the passing attack.
Monday proved to teams that the Lions' run game can be a weapon, not just something used from time-to-time to keep a defense honest.
"I'd like to see more consistency but to see Jahvid shoot through the middle of the line of scrimmage and take off for 88 yards is pretty cool," said Lions left tackle Jeff Backus. "The fun thing about our offense is that we can score, like that, whether it's throwing the ball or running the ball and you're never really out of a game when you can do that."
Schwartz said Wednesday that the 49ers could pose the best linebacking corps the Lions will play all season.
"Patrick Willis is good, but he's not the only one," Schwartz said. "NaVorro Bowman looks a lot like Lance Briggs, who we faced last week. He's very active and very fast. Aldon Smith is a rookie, and even though he isn't starting, he has 3.5 sacks and is leading their team. Ahmad Brooks is a size mismatch in a lot of ways. They have good players at all their positions and they're deep."
Schwartz knows that the best way to neutralize an aggressive 3-4 linebacking corps is to establish the run, which will and set up the play action pass and hopefully slow the 49ers' defense down some.
That's why Monday night's display on the ground was so important for the Lions. The 49ers have to respect the run now.
Stafford said he expects to see a lot of zone coverage with man techniques in the middle, making completions hard to come by. He said the one thing that would make things easier for everyone is if the Lions can establish a run game and turn it into a weapon.
SERIES HISTORY
62nd regular-season meeting. 49ers lead series, 34-26-1. The 49ers have won 12 of the last 13 games, including the last seven straight. The 49ers defeated the Lions 19-13 in 2006 in their only other trip to Ford Field. The teams are 1-1 in playoff matchups.
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