Lions safety James Ihedigbo has a better idea than his teammates about what kind of defense they’ll be running in Detroit this season, as Ihedigbo has previously played with new Lions defensive coordinator Teryl Austin in Baltimore. Ihedigbo says it’s a defense that’s going to make life rough for opposing offenses.
“Our defense, we dictate what offenses are doing,” Ihedigbo told Josh Katzenstein of the Detroit News. “We don’t let them dictate to us anything. We control the game, and that’s our mind-set. When you go against us, you’re going to be going against a hard-hitting, vicious, physical team on defense and on offense.”
Lions linebacker Stephen Tulloch has similar expectations.
“We’re going to be aggressive, there’s no question about it,” Tulloch said. “We’re going to get after it — zone coverage, man, blitz; we’re going to do it all. We’re going to be able to mix things up.”
So if you were hoping for the first-ever case of an NFL team promising that its new defense would be passive and soft, you’re out of luck. The Lions are vowing that their new schemes will bring a new toughness to Detroit.