The Detroit Lions are struggling on defense, but defensive coordinator Kelvin Sheppard isn’t worried about the outside noise about his unit.
“I couldn’t care less about the perceptions. I couldn’t care less about the talk. It’s all poison,” Sheppard said in a press conference Thursday afternoon about the negative view of his defense.” Every word he says is poison. Praise is the big poison. It’s not negativity. It all comes in waves, and it’s all in waves, and it’s all, I believe in three, and firmly in this team. Stay strong in that belief and I think it’s extremely disrespectful of my unit to say that someone has to hold us.
“We’re going to do our third here, come hell or high water. Dot, blank, dot.”
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 ranking 31st in opponent points (31.8 per game) and 21st in opponent rushing yards (119.8 per game). However, they are 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 scoring (29.8 per game) and sixth in total yards (389.3 per game); Quarterback Jared Goff has zero interceptions and boasts a 108.6 passer rating, while running back Jahmyr Gibbs has posted a sports-leading 26 first downs.
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 four-year defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn left to become the Jets’ new head coach 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 4.9 yards per game (114) and 14th at 4.9 yards per play (114).
The Lions go on the road against the Arizona Cardinals on Sunday afternoon (4:25 p.m. ET on FOX).
