'Everybody's Ass Was Tight': Detroit Lions' Defense Loosened Up

Second-year defensive coordinator Kelvin Sheppard agreed regarding how important it was for players to remain loose out on the field.

"It's ultra important, man. This game's hard enough. I tell the guys, 'This job and what we do is hard enough. You should get to Sunday and go out and cut it loose and have fun.' And that's when I say guys, that kind of encompasses when I talk about it's the players," said Sheppard. "This is a player's league. The coaches do the work during the week. We present them things. We show them things that we've seen. We present the plan to prepare them and try to make Monday through Saturday as stressful as possible so Sunday it's easy, so to say."

Sheppard explained there is still room to grow, but he is starting to see the growing confidence of the defense, especially after their best performance against the Cardinals.

"Nothing's easy in this league, but you kind of get what I'm saying. Sunday should feel free. You should go out and have fun with your brothers doing something that a small percent of this world gets blessed and fortunate enough to do," said Sheppard. "So absolutely. And I saw that and that kind of trickles into the swagger, especially on the defensive side, man. When you take the field, you want to have a bounce in your step. You want guys to feel your presence out there, but all that's built off confidence.

"I think that's what you're starting to see with these guys. And I'm just excited for them, man, because this is what I've always believed. Like I said, this is what we always believe we could be. And there's still so much growth and things we need to improve on moving forward off of that.”