Lions' Top Picks On The Sideline
Two of the Lions' top three draft picks were seated at different ends of the locker room Thursday. Neither has been on the field yet and they won't be on the field together until next year at the earliest.
Defensive tackle Nick Fairley, the 13th overall pick, broke a bone in his foot on the second day of training camp. Running back Mikel Leshoure, the Lions' second pick in the second round, tore his left Achilles tendon a couple of days later.
While Fairley will be back, perhaps in two or three weeks, Leshoure is out for the year.
"I am mentally strong," he said Thursday, speaking publicly for the first time since the injury. "It's just another obstacle I have to overcome."
The Lions traded up into the second round to draft him, thinking he could add a power run component to their offense.
"I've been in good spirits," he said. "It's part of the game. You know how injuries are and when they come - they are freak accidents. You just have to learn to deal with it.
"My thing is, once I was told what the injury was, I started to look at all the positive things that I could get out of it. I am not looking down on myself and I am not feeling sorry for myself. I am looking for the future."
Leshoure said he plans to be back on the field next season.
"The doctor said there would be no problem getting healthy and coming back from this injury," he said. "It's a common injury and a lot of guys have come back from it. I am very confident that with a good rehab and a good work ethic, I will be back and be better."
Fairley started doing some light running this week. There is still no official timetable for his return.
"I have no idea," said Fairley, when asked when he thought he might start practicing. "I am just working with the trainers and trying to get everything to 110 percent so when I get out there I will be ready for the long run.
"Everything is going good. I am just waiting for the word that I can go."
The Lions' first second-round pick, wide receiver Titus Young, played in the opener but his development was stunted by a lingering hamstring injury.
--The Lions steadfastly maintain they got what they needed out of the run game Sunday in Tampa. The 72 yards from Jahvid Best and the 126 yards overall were enough to keep the defense honest and eat a significant chunk of clock in the second half.
Still, the longest run was a 20-yard reverse by wide receiver Nate Burleson. Best's longest run was nine yards. They ran mostly to the left side, behind Jeff Backus and Rob Sims, and most of the runs that were designed for the edges wound up being turned inside.
"I think we missed a couple blocks that would have sprung Jahvid for not only big gains but for touchdowns," Sims said. "I'm sure there's a few that Jahvid wishes he could have back, as well."
Neither Best nor Jerome Harrison produced much in short-yardage situations, a carryover issue from last season. There were five runs that went for losses.
"I think it was spotty the whole game," coach Jim Schwartz said. "I think at times we ran the ball well, but we took too many lost yardage plays in the run game."
Best, considered a speedy, explosive game-breaker, didn't show much speed on the chopped up grass in Tampa. One play in particular, a third-and-9, he caught a pass in the flat and had two steps on a linebacker. That linebacker, Dakoda Watson, caught him two yards short of the first down.
"Me being faster than pretty much everybody on the field in college, I could pick which way I wanted to go," Best said. "I'd choose to go around the corner because in college I could outrun those guys. But at this level, you can't do that. When things are even, you have to get running north and south because that's where the yards are at."
Either that's maturity speaking or a guy who has lost a step. Of Best's 21 attempts, 14 were up the middle or off the right and left guards. One was off the left tackle and six outside the ends. And, there were at least a half dozen times when Best cut back up the field just to get what he could get.
"Now when the time presents itself to go around the corner, I will go out there," Best said. "But when things are pretty much even, I'm just thinking about getting the yards. Just getting yards and staying efficient and being a productive running back."
It will interesting to see how Best fares on the speedy track inside Ford Field this Sunday.
SERIES HISTORY
12th regular-season meeting. Chiefs lead series, 7-4, though they won the last meeting, 25-20 in 2007. The Lions had lost the four previous games by an average of 15 points. There is actually more shared history among the two coaching staffs than there is in the 11 games played between the two teams. Lions defensive coordinator Gunther Cunningham spent 11 years in Kansas City, two of them as the head coach. On the Chiefs' staff are former Lions coaches Jim Zorn, Maurice Carthon and Bill Muir.
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