Lions Rookie OL Learned Valuable 'In-Season' Speed Lesson

Detroit Lions rookie offensive lineman Tate Ratledge did not have his best performance, when he made his NFL debut against the Green Bay Packers.

Veteran Taylor Decker took accountability this week for also running the wrong play on a viral clip that featured Graham Glasgow and the second-round pick at the goal line in the same area blocking.

“I ran the same play that Tate was running,” Decker told reporters. “Everybody else, the other three, ran a different play. So, no, it’s not on the two guards. It’s everybody. It’s all of us together. There was just miscommunication. It’s not any one person or two people’s fault.”

Ratledge, speaking to a small group of reporters after practice on Thursday, shared his reaction to his poor performance.

"There was some bad mental errors on my part," said Ratledge. "Of course, there's always going to be a technique to clean up, no matter how good or bad of a game you play. But the big thing for me is cleaning up mental errors, because I had some bad ones on Sunday."

Offensive coordinator John Morton still remains confident in the former Georgia Bulldogs lineman.

“Yeah, you just take it game by game," said Morton. "You learn from what you did in the game and then you just move on. Okay, so it’s correctable and you just stay on top of it. The more he plays, the better he’s going to get. You’ve really got two rookie guards and I’m not worried about him because I liked what I saw in training camp. I don’t think it’s going to be a problem with him.”

Like many, Ratledge is anticipating his debut at Ford Field.

"Everybody told me it was going to be exciting," Ratledge said, when asked by Lions OnSI about playing in front of the home crowd. "They said it's one of the best environments they've ever played at and I'm looking forward to it."

After participating in training camp, Ratledge is now tasked with quickly adjusting to the speed of the game played during the regular season.

"I feel like I've been told from the vets here, there's a preseason speed, there's an in-season speed and there's a playoff speed," said Ratledge. "So, getting a taste of that in-season speed and knowing what it's going to be like when you're all going out, I think it was a great thing for me."

Communication has been a theme for the entire offense this week. The aim is to drastically cut down on errors that can easily be avoided.

"Just make sure there's no reason for someone not to get the call, like I did a few times," said Ratledge. "I think it's just -- we got to be better at communicating and making the point to get everybody on the same page."

He later added, "Just gotta go out there and play better than I did last week. Go out there and play as physical as I possibly can, as smart as I possibly can, and be on the same page as everybody."

In an effort to improve the rushing attack, the team's offense has spent extra practice periods on the running attack.

"I think all the reps that we can take together as a unit is, is great," said Ratledge. "Working our combos, this, that and the other. "So, those extra, extra reps are going to be great."

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