Kelvin Sheppard is coming under fire for some comments he made about his unit on Thursday.
During media availability ahead of the Detroit Lions‘ game against the Arizona Cardinals this coming Sunday, the defensive coordinator was asked about the lack of success he has generated on blitzes, especially last Sunday against the Carolina Panthers. He said:
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“Those calls were the right calls… and I leave it at that.”
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Outrage soon spread from and among the fanbase:
“Bro, fire this man. I mean, come on,” one demanded.
“No accountability 😂 he’s supposed to be a leader of men acting like that 😂,” one snickered.
“Body language? Terrible. Tone? Defensive. Attitude? Arrogant,” another outlined.
“Bro is never gonna land a job in the whole league if he f—- up this weekend. This is awful,” another warned.
“NGL this is kind of a bitter change of pace from Dan Campbell, who’s usually very transparent as to where the failures are. This dude’s first response was to get completely defensive,” one compared.
“Don’t worry, the Lions will fire him after it’s too late and the season is lost. Probably have a top 5 offense and won’t make the playoffs,” one “assured”.
Lions DC Kelvin Sheppard goes on rant amid unit’s struggles
In the same media availability, Kelvin Sheppard lashed out at the reporters amid growing criticism of his unit’s inability to stop big plays.
After the first four weeks of the season, the Lions are dead last in average yards allowed per game with 423.8 and second-to-last in total points allowed with 127. They have also allowed at least 30 points in all but one of those games, including their 31-30 overtime win against the New Orleans Saints in the season opener.
When asked about the defense’s struggles, Sheppard said:
“I can care less about perceptions. I can care less about the talk. It’s all poison. And I mean that. Every word of it’s poison. And I told the players, so is the praise. The praise is the big poison.”
He continued:
“We have a three-phase team here, and I firmly believe that. And I think that’s ultra disrespectful to my unit to say somebody has to carry us. We’re going to do our one-third here, hell or high water, point blank, period.”
Kickoff for the Lions-Cardinals game is at 4:25 p.m. ET on Fox.
Edited by Andre Castillo
