With Johnson's Status Unknown, Lombardi Developing Plans For All Possibilities
By Ashley Dunkak
@AshleyDunkak
ALLEN PARK (CBS DETROIT) - If Detroit Lions offensive coordinator Joe Lombardi knows whether wide receiver Calvin Johnson will be available Sunday, he did not tip his hand when he spoke with media Thursday.
Johnson has been limited the last two weeks because of an ankle injury, and head coach Jim Caldwell has said he will strongly consider sitting Johnson this week against the Minnesota Vikings. Johnson's uncertain status means contingency plans aplenty for Lombardi.
"That's where maybe some of the stress comes in, not knowing exactly what his health will be on Sunday, so like anything, you kind of have a stable of skill players that you're dealing with, and you do your best to try to guess who's going to be available and who's not," Lombardi said, "and you gear your game plan to the guys that you think are going to be healthy and playing."
Lombardi said Johnson's limited status against the New York Jets did not hamper the offense as much as it did against the Buffalo Bills. Before the Jets game, the Lions had known Johnson would be able to do less than usual. Before the Bills game, Johnson had been feeling better before re-injuring his ankle on a hit that sidelined him for the rest of the game.
"When a guy like [Johnson] or [running back] Reggie [Bush] gets hurt halfway through the game, then you're looking at your call sheet and trying to figure out, 'All right, who's taking his place and what is he capable of doing? Is he capable of filling in that spot?'" Lombardi said. "It's always harder mid-game, maybe, than it is if you haven't anticipated it.
"A week like this week, you kind of have two plans," Lombardi continued, "kind of like we did with the Jets, that hey, he's fully Calvin Johnson, or he's not as much ... This is our plan if he's going to play but maybe he's not 100 percent, and then this is our plan if he's not out there at all. When you're not counting on him, you can certainly make those contingency plans a little easier."
While the team's other wide receivers can replace Johnson much of the time, there are some plays tailored for him that the coaching staff has to contemplate more closely.
"A good portion of this offense, 'Hey, this works no matter who,'" Lombardi added later, "and then there's those specific plays, often times on third down where maybe you have to have a few more options up."
Not one player, of course, can replace Johnson, so the other wide receivers have to do their best to fill the considerable void.
"[Johnson] does a lot," wide receiver Jeremy Ross said. "He's a big deep threat. He has the ability to be able to jump up with three guys and catch a ball. He stands at 6-5 with the wingspan of a monster, so just with those comes different things that we can't do. I'm not 6-5. Nobody's 6-5. So he has the ability to go up and get the ball, he has speed, long speed, so he's able to go deep. I mean we're fast, too, but having that speed along with the size, it just creates a lot of problems for people. He's able to just reach over everybody and catch the ball.
"We kind of find our different strengths that we all have and try to play to that," Ross continued. "Corey Fuller, he's a long guy, long speed, he can take the top off of coverages and stuff like that. He also can be intermediate as well. I can do pretty much a little bit of everything, Golden [Tate] can do everything, so we just try to use our strengths to the best we can."
Tate, whom the team acquired in the offseason, has been as good as or better than advertised. Tate has 31 catches for 451 yards through five games this season. With Johnson limited by injury, Tate has taken the increase in targets in stride.
Against the Jets, Tate snagged eight of 11 passes thrown his way for 116 yards. Against the Bills, Tate grabbed seven of nine passes for 134 yards and a touchdown. Known for getting yards after the catch, Tate has distinguished himself even as the number two wide receiver behind Johnson.
"He's probably one of the quickest guys that you will see from a start and stop standpoint," Caldwell said. "He does that so quickly that it's difficult to tackle him, to get a bead on him. You think he's going in one direction, all of a sudden he puts the brakes on, or he spins out of it. I think he has an uncanny knack for that. Pretty special quality and trait. You don't see it much.
"Primarily you don't see it much in this league because the minute you stop, there's quite a few fast guys that are on their way, but he has the other portion of it that makes him effective, and that's the starting part of it, so he can stop and get rolling," Caldwell continued. "Most of the time you tell guys, 'Hey listen, you put your foot in the ground, you take one plant and cut, and you better go because they're going to close it in on you rather quickly.' He's got a special knack for that."
Tate leads the Lions in receiving yards, and Johnson ranks second. Following those two, running back Reggie Bush ranks third on the team, then Ross, and then tight end Eric Ebron, Detroit's first-round draft pick this season.
