Lions defensive lineman Israel Idonije used to play for the Bears, which means he was familiar with the calls used by the Chicago defensive line to set up stunts when he was a member of the team.
After last Sunday’s 40-32 win, some members of the Bears reportedly said that they thought Idonije shared those calls with the Detroit offense to give them a heads up about what was coming their way. According to those Bears, it worked as Lions running back Reggie Bush made plays whenever they made their “power” stunt call. Lions coach Jim Schwartz said it was “ridiculous” to suggest that his team was benefitting from inside information, but Idonije didn’t deny sharing what he knew with his teammates.
“I mean, I did anything anyone would do in a transition situation. Nothing out of the ordinary or unique to any situation,” Idonije said, via Kyle Meinke of MLive.com. “I’m a Detroit Lion, period. My allegiance is to the Detroit Lions. I’m inside here. I have nothing to do with the other 31 teams. My focus is to help my team Sunday in, Sunday out, period.”
Idonije doesn’t think any information he passed along was as important as the offense’s overall game planning and execution, but it would be silly to think any player wouldn’t share what they know about an opponent in hopes of giving their team a leg up. Every little bit counts in a divisional matchup, which is probably why teams should change any compromised calls before games if they’re worried about what the opposing offense will do with them.