The Detroit Lions played a hard-nosed game against the Minnesota Vikings but couldn’t pull out a win. Unfortunately, they were also without much of their rookie class. Only three rookies took snaps for Detroit against Minnesota and none of them made much of a splash.
While he didn’t make many big game-changing plays, Malcolm Rodriguez got the start once again at linebacker and was quietly productive for the Lions. The sixth-round rookie led the team in tackles at the end of the first half with six.
Rodriguez looked decent in coverage against Minnesota but struggled along with the rest of the defense against the run. He finished the day with eight tackles. His biggest play of the day was in the third quarter, where he blocked a Vikings offensive lineman into Dalvin Cook, which helped his teammates force a fumble.
Aidan Hutchinson couldn’t replicate his successes from the prior week. While he was applying pressure on Kirk Cousins all afternoon, he failed to record a sack or tackle. He is capable of displaying all of the physical tools that made him worthy of the second-overall draft pick this year, but his production needs to be more consistent for the Lions defense.
Safety Kerby Joseph did not take any snaps on defense but did get the nod at one of the starting gunner spots on Detroit’s punt unit. Joseph recorded three tackles on special teams while taking snaps on punts and kickoffs. His spot on the defensive depth chart was made clear as Juju Hughes took over for the injured Tracy Walker instead of Joseph.
Rookies Chase Lucas, James Mitchell and Demetrius Taylor were all inactive for this game.
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