Detroit Lions notes: Special teams key for Miles Killebrew; injury update

Detroit Lions head coach Jim Caldwell gives directions to his players during the first half of an NFL football game against the Houston Texans, Sunday, October, 30, 2016, in Houston. (AP Photo/George Bridges)
Washington Redskins wide receiver Jamison Crowder (80) rushes past Detroit Lions strong safety Miles Killebrew (35) during an NFL football game at Ford Field in Detroit, Sunday, Oct. 23, 2016. (AP Photo/Rick Osentoski)

By Paula Pasche | The Oakland Press

PUBLISHED: November 3, 2016 at 3:19 p.m. | UPDATED: June 17, 2021 at 6:41 a.m.

ALLEN PARK >> Miles Killebrew is quite aware that playing well on special teams will be his path to maybe one day being a starter on defense.

The Lions rookie is good with that.

For now he’s getting spot duty on defense while getting the bulk of his time on special teams where he’s on every unit.

“I love special teams, I feel like special teams are very important to a team’s success. If that’s one more way I can help contribute I’m all for it,” said Killebrew, a fourth round pick out of Southern Utah.

He understands the link to the defense.

“Special teams kind of embodies the mindset of the defensive player. We love to attack, we love to keep our leverage, it goes hand in hand with a good special teams player.’

Defensive coordinator Teryl Austin has had him play a variety of defensive roles – linebacker, safety, nickel and dime.

“Who knows what’s next I’m just trying to play what they want me to play,” Killebrew said.

Austin seems pleased with his progress.

“He is going to be inconsistent because he is a rookie, there’s a lot of things he hasn’t seen, but what I like about him is he’s real diligent in his preparation, he’s a great worker, he’ll run and he’ll hit and I think the thing we have to do to try to develop him is continue to get him in situations where he learns something,” Austin said. “He can’t learn anything standing on the sideline. He’s got enough talent that we figure if we can get him in this role and let him grow that way, he’ll continue to develop as a football player. He’s doing a great job on special teams, which helps his development as well.”

His variety of roles has helped him learn the defense which is night-and-day more complex than it wa in college.

“I have played different role each week, it’s a lot to learn but since I’ve had to play each role my understanding of the dense has skyrocketed,” Killebrew said. “I feel I’ve made tremendous gains from where I was Week 1. I’m continuing to try to learn how I can play better, not necessarily what I’m doing but how I can do it better. That’s my goal right now how I can help contribute the most to the team.”

Coach Jim Caldwell said he has talked to some of the rookies about playing on special teams as a springboard to more snaps on defense.

The coach said he hasn’t seen a really good defensive player who wasn’t outstanding on special teams at one point in time.

“When you look at Tahir (Whitehead), he was a really good special teams player and all through the years I’ve been involved in this game those young guys that may not have been getting a whole lot of playing time, just in terms of their positional rotation, but special teams, they have to be very good in that area,” Caldwell said. “Miles getting an opportunity to play there has helped our team, it certainly helps him and I think he’s getting better all the time. He’s got size, he’s got speed and he’s coming along.”

Injury report

DeAndre Levy (quad/knee) and Riley Reiff (illness) remained out of practice on Thursday.

Reiff came down with the illness last week and was in and out of Sunday’s game at Houston.

Also cornerback Adairius Barnes (hamstring), who was limited in practice on Wednesday did not work on Thursday.

Darius Slay (hamstring) and Haloti Ngata (shoulder), who didn’t play on Sunday, were practicing in limited fashion for the second straight day. Others who were limited: Ziggy Ansah (ankle), Taylor Decker (ribs) and Theo Riddick (ankle).

Marvin Jones Jr. (foot) who was limited on Wednesday had full practice on Thursday.

Bynes calming influence

Since DeAndre Levy has not practiced this week, it’s expected he’ll miss his eighth straight game.

Expect to see more of linebacker Josh Bynes who was signed on Wednesday last week and started on Sunday.

“Josh is good. Real smart, heady, competitive, probably a little bit rusty in some things, but I thought he did a good job, I thought that overall defensively he helps calm us down a little bit. You’ve got a guy that’s really smart in our system. Obviously he’s been in it for a long time, so I think that helps in terms of, you have two guys there in the middle now that can kind of direct things, so I think he was good and I expect him to be better moving forward,” defensive coordinator Teryl Austin said.

Is it Lions turn now?

Jim Caldwell grew up in Wisconsin bordering Illinois. He was Chicago Cubs fan from the get-go.

He was able to watch the Cubs dramatically win their first World Series in 108 years after briefly falling asleep during the rain delay.

The Cubs have carried the biggest loser title for years.

Now there’s talk that it’s time for the Lions to step up and win a Super Bowl.

“Obviously, it would be a huge lift. I mean there’s no question about that. I’ve been involved in a couple, so I know what it does for a city, what it does for the enthusiasm of the players, the entire gamut,” Caldwell said on Thursday. “So that’s why we work so hard to try to bring one home.”