Lions CB Terrion Arnold Is Dealing With 'Growing Pains'

The Detroit Lions are not punishing second-year cornerback Terrion Arnold for his play the first three games of the 2025 NFL season.

Defensive coordinator Kelvin Sheppard expressed to reporters the team has wanted to get veteran Amik Robertson far more playing time. Since his arrival in Motown, the former Las Vegas Raiders defensive back has impressed the coaching staff.

"Let me first start with Amik. It has nothing to do with Terrion Arnold's player performance. Let me start there. Amik has always earned his keep with me," said Sheppard. "I saw it last year. That's a player that's earned the right to be on the field. And just with the frequency of base defense that we're playing right now, he's losing snaps. And to be honest, he's earned more than what he's gotten so far. So, we were doing this regardless."

Sheppard indicated playing cornerback on an island is extremely difficult. He wanted it stated that Arnold was a big factor in the reason the team had success in the run game against the Baltimore Ravens on the road.

"Let's get to T.A. It's the same thing. I stood in front of the unit and said, 'Everybody can point the finger at T.A. But, do you know why we were able to knock out the run game? Because he was playing with no help behind him for probably 50% of that game.' Now it's no excuse. It's the job you signed up for. You signed that contract as a corner in the NFL," Sheppard explained. "You're expected to do that.

"But let's make no mistake about it, I told the defensive line, 'How would you like to go out there on that island? You guys are having fun in here in the box knowing there's nobody back there.' So, I want that to be said."

Despite the early struggles experienced by the former first-round NFL Draft pick, the coaching staff have remained quite patient.

The expectation is for Arnold to continue to develop and to bring the same confidence he showcases against his teammates in practice to the field against opponents on game day.

"It's not like with this kid that I'm down on T.A. or T.A. is having a bad year. That's not it," said Sheppard. "We're talking a few plays, but when you play out there, those few plays get exposed and highlighted a lot more. An interior d-linemen might have gotten reached five, six or seven times. The same amount of times he's got beat on the perimeter. But nobody's putting that in the tabloids, because it's not seen and exposed like a corner.

"So, it's just growing pains. This kid is very young. I don't know what is he, 22-years old? He's very young, and he's still in the developmental stages," Sheppard explained further. "All we have to do right now is find a way to bring the confidence that we saw when you were out there against Jameson Williams and (Amon-Ra) St. Brown all camp to game day. That's all we gotta do. And it's our job as coaches to help the player and find a way to get that done."