Caldwell On Secondary Injuries: 'Nothing We Can't Overcome'
By Ashley Dunkak
@AshleyDunkak
ALLEN PARK (CBS DETROIT) - Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers poses as challenging a test as the Detroit Lions secondary will face this season, and the group will have to take that test following a particularly nasty bout with the injury bug.
Seemingly unfazed, Lions head coach Jim Caldwell said Detroit will simply make schematic adjustments accordingly. As different players fill in for injured ones, the coach said the team tweaks its plans here and there to best suit whoever is playing each week.
"There's some things you can do exactly the same," Caldwell said Friday. "There's some things that happen where all of a sudden you have to play toward that individual's strengths, so it may allow you to do a few other things you weren't able to do before ... The antithesis of that would be there are some weaknesses that may come to light as well, so schematically you want to stay away from those things that put you in bad positions."
After losing cornerback Bill Bentley to an ACL tear in week one and his replacement Nevin Lawson to dislocated toes in week two, the Lions will have Cassius Vaughn playing the nickel spot in week three - perhaps. Vaughn's ankle landed him a spot on the injury report Wednesday and Thursday. Detroit has also been missing veteran safeties James Ihedigbo and Don Carey.
Injuries are not a novel problem by any stretch, but in the pass-happy NFL, the secondary is an especially critical unit, and Detroit's has had more than its share of bad luck so far.
With no alternative, of course, the Lions - just like all teams - embrace the next-man-up philosophy.
"In this league, you've got to make adjustments," Caldwell said. "There are going to be guys that are going to be up, going to be down, going to be situations where we're going to have to adjust, and I think our guys from an intellectual standpoint feel and understand that they can adapt better than anyone, and they're going to have to ... We're faced with a couple of challenges here and there, but nothing we can't overcome."
Both Bentley and Lawson played the nickel, and so does Vaughn. If Vaughn - after limited participation in practice Wednesday and no practice Thursday - cannot play, Caldwell said other players can step up.
"We do have some guys that are flexible," Caldwell said. "[Danny] Gorrer certainly is a guy who plays the nickel, and then also Don Carey is also a guy that plays the nickel as well, so we do have some options there. Shean can play the nickel if need be, Rashean Mathis, he can slide in the side, he's very versatile and has done it before."
Particularly because of the depth-depleting injuries the group has suffered, it has helped a significant amount that Mathis and second-year cornerback Darius Slay have played well so far.
"The thing we're doing a good job of secondary-wise, I think, is we're giving up some plays in front of us," Lions defensive coordinator Teryl Austin said Thursday. "We don't want the ball to go over our head, and if the ball doesn't go over our head, we have a chance to rally, tackle and then go play good defense, and then hold them out of the end zone, and that's really what our charge is.
"As long as we don't give up big play touchdowns," Austin added, "we should have an opportunity to win."
