The Detroit Lions are struggling on defense, but defensive coordinator Kelvin Sheppard isn’t worried about the outside noise concerning his unit.
“I couldn’t care less about perceptions. I couldn’t care less about the talk. It’s all poison,” Sheppard said in a press conference on Thursday afternoon about the negative view of his defense.” Every word of it is poison. The praise is the big poison. It’s not the negativity. It all comes in waves, and it’s all poison. We have a three-phase team here, and I firmly believe that, and I’m going to stand strong in that belief. And I think it’s ultra disrespectful to my unit to say somebody has to carry us.
“We’re going to do our one-third here, come hell or high water. Point, blank, period.”
Detroit, which is 2-2, is giving up the most total yards (423.8 per game) and passing yards (304.0 per game) in the NFL, while being 31st in opponent points (31.8 per game) and 21st in opponent rushing yards (119.8 per game). Yet, they’re second in the sport with 15.0 sacks.
In Week 1, New Orleans Saints quarterback Tyler Shough threw for a career-high 410 yards against the Lions; the Buffalo Bills rushed for 203 yards against Detroit in Week 2; New York Jets quarterback Geno Smith threw for 321 yards and three touchdowns and completed 31 of 37 passes against the Lions in Week 3; Carolina Panthers quarterback Bryce Young threw for 329 yards, the third-highest mark of his NFL career, and completed 70.7% of his passes against the Lions last week.
Meanwhile, Detroit’s offense is fourth in the NFL in points (29.8 per game) and sixth in total yards (389.3 per game); quarterback Jared Goff has thrown zero interceptions and boasts a 108.6 passer rating, while running back Jahmyr Gibbs has picked up 26 first downs on the ground, which leads the sport.
Sheppard, who was previously the Lions’ outside linebackers coach (2021) and linebackers coach (2022-24), is in his second season as Detroit’s defensive coordinator. He was promoted to the position after defensive coordinator of four years Aaron Glenn left to become the new head coach of the Jets in 2025.
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In Sheppard’s first year as the Lions’ defensive coordinator (2025), they were 22nd in opponent points (24.3 per game), 20th in opponent passing yards (217.4 per game), 18th in opponent total yards (331.9 per game), 14th in opponent rushing yards (114.5 per game) and tied for fourth in sacks (49.0).
The Lions will square off on the road against the Arizona Cardinals on Sunday afternoon (4:25 p.m. ET on FOX).
