PLAYER NOTES
–CB Darius Slay did not practice Wednesday and could miss Sunday’s game with a concussion. Slay was injured in the third quarter of last week’s loss to the 49ers, on a helmet-to-helmet collision with fullback Kyle Juszczyk. The Lions re-signed CB DeShawn Shead, who was one of the last cuts coming out of training camp, to add depth in the secondary.
–G T.J. Lang (back) and DE Ziggy Ansah (shoulder) returned to practice on a limited basis Wednesday after missing the 49ers game.
–QB Matthew Stafford lost a fumble against the 49ers, giving him five turnovers in two games this year. Stafford didn’t commit his fifth turnover until Week 6 of the NFL season last year.
PLAYER SPOTLIGHT: TE Michael Roberts. A fourth-round pick out of Toledo in 2017, Roberts caught his first career touchdown pass last week against the 49ers. The big tight end was one of the best red-zone threats in college football during his senior season, when he caught 16 touchdown passes, but played primarily as a blocking tight end as a rookie. He had an up and down summer and found himself briefly in head coach Matt Patricia’s doghouse for dropped passes and inconsistent play but is the most talented of an ordinary collection of tight ends on the Lions roster. “I had a conversation with a few of you earlier in the week about how I just felt kind of quiet in preseason, how I felt kind of like I hadn’t done much,” Roberts said. “But hopefully this is the beginning of something.”
GAME PLAN: There’s a ton of familiarity on both sides of the ball here as Lions head coach Matt Patricia was the New England Patriots defensive coordinator for six years and knows Tom Brady well, and Brady and the Patriots have practiced against a better version of the defense the Lions run for years. To win Sunday, the Lions must get pressure on Brady and make him uncomfortable in the pocket and limit whatever damage tight end Rob Gronkowski will do. The Lions had six sacks last week, but some of those were due to good coverage downfield. Brady gets the ball out quick, and if Darius Slay doesn’t play, the Lions will need a big game from second-year cornerback Teez Tabor.
On offense, Matthew Stafford must take better care of the football after committing five turnovers in two weeks. Blake Bortles threw for 376 yards and four touchdowns against the Patriots last week, so New England is vulnerable downfield. Of course, the Jaguars run the ball better than the Lions do, so the Lions will need to establish Kerryon Johnson and the ground game to loosen up the Patriots’ defense.
MATCHUPS TO WATCH
–Lions LB Jarrad Davis vs. Patriots RB James White. Davis, in his second season out of Florida, struggled mightily against the pass as a rookie and again in training camp, but he looked better in coverage against the 49ers last week. He’ll have his hands full Sunday with White, who’s one of the better receiving backs in the league. Davis is off to a nice start this season, with two sacks and 10 tackles in two games, but if he can’t cover White on option routes out of the backfield, he’ll hear it from a frustrated hometown crowd.
–Lions WR Golden Tate vs. Patriots CB Jonathan Jones. Kenny Golladay has been the Lions’ best receiver through two weeks, but Tate is still Mr. Dependable in the slot with 14 catches for 188 yards and a touchdown. He’s a chain-mover, one of the best in the game at making yards after the catch, and maybe Matthew Stafford’s favorite target on third downs. Jones drew praise for his work in the slot in New England’s opener, but this is his toughest task yet.
