Three reasons Detroit Lions fans should panic, and three reasons they should not.
By Ash Thompson
The veteran linebacker
Christian Jones has filled a few different linebacker roles in his career. He filled in all over the linebacker corp in Chicago. He is a solid if unspectacular, legitimate NFL linebacker.
Jones is a capable run and pass defender. He showed the ability to get on his horse and beat a running back to the edge Friday night, and followed it with his trademark. He made the ugly wrap tackle, not the clear out hit.
Has called the defense for the Bears in the past, so if Davis is not up to the task, Jones is there to step in. The Lions got rid of their old safety net in Tahir Whitehead. He moved on to the Raiders in free agency. Jones, however, fills a similar role now for the team and is more experienced than Davis in a similar scheme.
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It would be better for the Lions if Davis stepped up, but Bob Quinn got the team ready for the event that it didn’t happen. It may be that the Lions best three-man linebacker group is Davis at SLB, Jones at MLB and Reeves-Maybin at WLB. That would relegate the Lions first-round pick from only one year ago to about 40% of the defensive snaps, however.
The Lions are going to figure this out. If Davis flat out can not cover decent receivers, the Lions will find a way to prevent him from having to do so. Matt Patricia managed to keep it together with Kyle Van Noy, who couldn’t cover a bed with a blanket.