“The greatest corner I’ve ever played with is Aaron Donald.”
That odd statement from new Lions defensive backs coach and passing game coordinator Aubrey Pleasant raised some eyebrows in his press conference this week. Donald, of course, is a perennial All-Pro defensive tackle for the Los Angeles Rams, where Pleasant coached before coming to Detroit.
“In order to be a successful football team things have to marry, they have to collaborate,” Pleasant explained. “I think the pass rush as well as the ability to play sticky coverage, no matter what your philosophy is, they go hand in hand.”
What Pleasant is insinuating is that a good pass rush helps the coverage. The Lions have worked hard at upgrading the pass rush, adding veteran Michael Brockers and switching schemes to a base 3-4 that will attack with five (or more) rushers, not three or four as it commonly did recently.
It’s a revolutionary change in defensive mindset. The prior regime under Matt Patricia built the defense around the concept of a “coverage sack”, where the defensive backs and linebackers covered well enough, and long enough, for the pass rush to get home and impact the quarterback.
It didn’t work. The coverage wasn’t up to snuff even if the pass rush had been outstanding, and the pressure up front was inconsistent–especially after Trey Flowers went down with a season-ending injury.
Pleasant also clarified that his passing game coordinator role is only on the defensive side of the ball. The Flint native consistently showed a good sense of the media room and an understanding of how important the team’s success is to Detroit.
