ALLEN PARK, Mich. – Anthony Lynn has still been settling into his role as the Detroit Lions offensive coordinator, but he’s already seen enough of one of his future players to get a sense of how good he can be.
Lynn has spent time digging into the game of Pro Bowl tight end T.J. Hockenson, who had 67 catches for 723 yards and six touchdowns last season. Lynn believes Hockenson will continue to grow, an ascent that already has made him one of the NFL’s Top 10 tight ends.
“T.J. did some nice things last year and I think his ceiling is even higher,” Lynn said. “I know he made the Pro Bowl and all that, but he can play even better and that was the encouraging part. I like what I saw on tape.”
ALLEN PARK, Mich. Quarterback Matthew Stafford gathered his team in a huddle before its Week 17 home game against the Minnesota Vikings, doing what he had done so often before in his career with the Detroit Lions. As he did, it’s not clear if he knew this would likely be his last game in Detroit.
“Whatever you got left in the f -ing tank today, let’s go,” Stafford said in a video published later on the team website.
QB Matthew Stafford urges on his teammates in Week 17 pic.twitter.com/3c4Qx7e Detroit Lions (@Lions) Jan. 3, 2021
It felt like that’s what Stafford did in Detroit: He made the Lions competitive. Every game, every season, he gave Detroit everything he had. You saw it in his battered body, with busted-up fingers, a broken back on more than one occasion, bruised ribs and massively taped ankles.