the most handsome man in Allen Park joins us today I don't see him anywhere you are locked on lions your daily Detroit Lions podcast part of the locked on podcast Network your team every day what's good everybody mat der with you on a Tuesday edition of lock on lions lock on podcast Network indeed your team every day on a Tuesday September 10th and Wednesday September 11th thanks for making us your first listen and checking us out wherever you get your podcast those of you that subscribe on our lock online's YouTube channel we appreciate you doing that as well joining me today you see him on the screen if you're watching on YouTube I love this man he is uh I I just said it he's I think he's the most stylish guy to ever cover this team Kyle Mikey mlive.com I rarely bother this young man but here he is what's up man it's good to be here I'm only here for the compliments that's the only reason I here so over the summer there was a practice I don't know what it was I'm sure you saw my tweet about it you were in the background behind one of the players just some open collared shirt the chest hair is there I'm like look at I'm like just look at this man like come on do you ever like go in there and go maybe I'm just too stylish I'm just too casual or you like yeah I've been here long enough I could wherever I want well the funny thing about that is Matt um I think that might have been like day two of Camp if I'm not mistaken maybe even day one it was yeah early on and I had just to give you some backstory I had just spent like six weeks in Europe where yes I I was just letting the chest just just fly I was enjoying myself spending a lot of time on the water um wasn't wasn't so sober that summer yeah and I come back and you know I um put on the shirt I've been wearing it a lot when I was gone and um didn't think twice about like just how much chest was showing and I saw the photo and that was moment like okay I'm back in reality I I should probably Buton just a little bit does anybody from the lions like a player or aan or anybody ever say anything to you about it or just like hey that's Kyle he's you know no not so much the only guy who ever did was Matt Patricia he I'll just say wasn't a fan big big surprise but he was I did that's right you and uh and and and Mike yeah yeah I believe the term was homeless was the the term Matt Patricia used and um you know I think if probably just leave it there oh my goodness teach their own teach their own you know you and I were just talking about it off air but like how it's got to be a joy for you how many years this for you number one and number two what a joy to co to cover this team as opposed to what you went through before I've covered the team since 2013 and um just like all the fans can see if you watch any press conference you follow the team you watch the team play there's a culture um change underway that I mean it's been underway for a few years now um and it affects us on the ground obviously and you can feel that when you go into the building when you go into the locker room you go to the cafeteria you know anywhere like the the paranoia that once was in that joint and the negativity that was once in that joint um was perfusive and these days I mean you can see watch any any Dan Campbell press conference just click on any of them it doesn't matter which one you're gonna see a guy who yeah he does the the professional duty of um trying to answer questions in a nice way but um the personality the kindness the understanding the empathy it's definitely was in short supply from roughly 200 18 to 2020 what was your take on Sunday night what' you think obviously not a perfect performance had to come back to win after blowing a lead but uh how did you kind of see it I I saw it as obviously yeah not not cleaners you know I miss tackles for example I think Brian Branch had three of them ran out of the gate I'm looking at Ben Raven sitting next to me I'm like who's in 32 is this this is Brian Branch right we saw a drop picks um you know the the running game um was uh nonexistent for for most of that game I would say until the until until overtime yeah there's stuff to clean up I think what I come back to is what Dan Campbell said after that game which is it's week one like starters don't play in the preseason like they used to there's going to be sloppiness there's going to be mistakes week one it's a lot about keeping it simple having a game plan that makes sense for you obviously but keeping it simple and not making mistakes in the team that makes the fewest mistakes often wins in week one and I think we saw that the Rams are very talented the lions are very talented we saw two teams team that had some issues that I mean even J Jared G was talking about the Cadence being an issue and causing some of the issues you saw on offense and that's not usually an issue you have with a veteran quarterback and a veteran team and a veteran offensive line so yeah I I think what I take away from this is that you're one and0 you beat a NFC Contender that might come into play with seating and and Playoff scenarios down the road um and yet you've learned these lessons about where you're at where you need to clean things up you've got the first one out of the way and I expect you know a lot of improvement going forward you've been in the building for all these games and certainly the playoff games last year but how do you uh how did you assess the crowd and just was the hunger just as just as much even though it wasn't a playoff game like the Lions fans got to taste twice last year nothing nothing replaces a um a playoff game the the Do or Die scenario and then you have of course the the theater of the Matthew Stafford storyline the Shawn MCM story line Jerry golf story line all that stuff it's pretty juicy we didn't really hear much about that stuff going into this game and I can tell you Jared go appreciated that yeah oh yeah but besides that in terms of the atmosphere and the building itself um man electric I mean just electric when I was when I went to the stadium it was about three hours and 20 minutes before kickoff and when I got to gate uh I think it's a where I went in you yeah yeah just I biked in I had to see the SES you know yeah so I came in that way and I'm telling you there all you saw was people both ways down Brush Street and then cross the street um I don't know along America I forget what the street is called but um it was just a mad house um three hours and 20 minutes before before the game and it just of course built and built from there you get to kickoff and I see I look at Ben Raven sit next to me he's putting in earplugs in the Press Box I mean I don't know how many places in the NFL where reporters in the Press Box have to wear earplugs but that speaks to um it's just an electric atmosphere and I think the Rams handil it very well I don't remember too many procedural things going on with them um but I think it has it has to be at this point one of the best home venues most intimidating venues in the league Kyle Mikey with us of course covered the team for like he said since 2013 so this is 11 Seasons from mea.com he mentioned Ben Raven of course they co-host the you guys still doing the Dungeon of Doom pod twice a week baby love it love trying to keep up with you and uh well we're working on it I'm just glad somebody text me today and said they listen to the show all the time and that they could tell my energy was up my buddy Joe Allen one of our every dayers said my Energy's up I said well yeah this we got games I mean you hit sometimes you hit that June July and it's it's tough but uh this team is so exciting and there's so much going on you mentioned golf before PFF had him graded the lowest of any player on offense I know it wasn't his greatest performance but I guess got it done when when when said but how did you view kind of his up and down night like you said just didn't seem time just didn't seem right and and he only hit St Brown three times I that's that we'll never see again yeah I mean I thought G did um enough to win the game you know um he wasn't great um there were some mistakes he had the interception he could had a second interception there late he got bailed out a little bit um made enough place to you know down the stretch to to get you to overtime I I like that the final series they've done this so many times now you're playing again I can't even tell you what the atmosphere was like in Ford Field you could feel the buzz in the air I already have a request out to the lines about decibel levels because I I don't think it was like the record levels we saw in the playoffs but it was um extremely high and you go out there in crunch time in game one you haven't played your best uh you don't have a lot of reps um live reps under your belt at this point in the year and it was a pretty good operation um hitting I think it was leor to get things going and um kicking the field goal and getting it overtime and I mean gof just had to hand off the football in overtime so I think he like that it's a nice luxury to have but um I thought it was fine I thought it was a fine First Step but yeah the the connection with st Brown obviously is something you have to get going because St Brown's a monster um I will say that La I mean when I watched the film it looked like they had double coverage on him almost every play and it looked like there's a lot of maybe not a true double team on laporta but um they had coverages shaded that way as well so looked to me like La did what I would do with a team that had a lot of questions in terms of the depth at receiver and maybe some unproven with consistency of Jameson Williams sell out against the guys who are proven you know um St Brown leap pora and make the other guys beat you and that's what J did and I give golf credit for that too even on the 52 yard touchdown was a little under thrown so you see these areas of improvement going forward but I thought hey you you got a good opponent in town tough game and you win the game um and you play well in crunch time it matters most it's it's hard to argue with that even if there's room for improvement Kyle mentioned Jameson Williams I want to talk about J Mo with coming up next and also the rest of the offense and uh and certainly we'll get on the defensive side and talk a little about Tampa Bay as well with Kyle Mikey from Emon and lock on Lions today brought to you by our friends at hyns men when we leave the house it's phone wallet keys but how's your hair look as well come on look at Kyle but you're experiencing hair loss you may not be so confident when you step outside your door it's time to get that confidence back and restore your hair with our friends from hyns h provides access to a range of hair loss treatments that work all from the comfort of your couch HS makes treating hair loss simple doctor trusted treatment options and clinically proven ingredients like feride and minoxidil they can regrow hair in as little as three to six months process is simple and 100% online just answer a few questions and a medical provider provider will determine if treatment is right for you if prescribed your treatment is sent directly to your door start your free online visit today with our friends at hyns at hs.com / lockon NFL that's HS hs.com lockon NFL for your personalized hair loss treatment options hims.com lockon NFL results vary based on studies of topical and oral minoxidil prescription products require an online consultation with a healthcare provider who will determine if a prescription is appropriate restrictions apply see website for details and important safety information back with Kyle Mikey from em live.com find Lions beat Rider who is with us today on a Tuesday lock down Lions team is off today back at it tomorrow we'll let the injury report for you tomorrow afternoon to get the week started Tampa Bay Comes to Town the Bucks and Baker Mayfield fresh off a win um as far as right you mentioned before by Jameson Williams that ball being underthrown he had no problem adjusting to it making the play uh we're seeing a different guy did you was there a time during training camp you went all right this is going to be a different J Mo this year I mean the first day of camp the first first week of Camp the first two weeks of Camp I I thought J that was the best two weeks I've seen from him on a practice field and I'm like man this offseason Buzz that we've heard about hey like J are number two we we liked a lot you know what we saw from him late last year um the trust was growing the snap count grew we saw in the championship game the NFC Championship Game running touchdown kep catching touchdown I mean he was one of the most explosive players on the field with a bunch of explosive players so um you get to camp and he starts off so fast and it's like man this guy might be for real um there was some struggles after that Matt he had a pretty bad week of practice I would say at one point um there was one day back in Allen Park I think it was right after the joint practices in New York we get back to Allen Park and he dropped four passes in the first 20 minutes of practice including one against air and I'm like man that anyone can have a rough day SE see brown drop drop three practice uh balls in a practice but how does this guy bounce back and he had kind of a bad week it really kind of sewed some doubt in my brain about where J Mo was at but he's been to come up since I mean you can see the athleticism we've seen the athletic athleticism since day one um the route running has come a long way since late last year the the drops I would say that dominated his early time in um in Detroit have improved quite a lot and you get to the opener um again I was really curious to see which version of J Mo we're gonna see uh and we saw the good one and I think that's really important for J Mo because he's such a momentum guy he's a Vibes guy you know and I think starting off the season the way that he did 36 yards on his first touch just there's nothing special about it he just inside leverage on a Crosser catches the ball and a play that goes for 20 yards for anyone else goes 36 because he's the fastest man in Detroit you know um and that's what makes him special can he put it all together is he a consistent guy um we saw in the game that the 52 yard catch I mean you mentioned um the ball being under thrown he also was illegally touched and the guys like okay I'm beat like I'm just going to grab just going to grab him exactly and he still scores the touchdown on an underthrown ball I mean that's how bad the dude was beat um I think the biggest test for me Matt with J is what do we see next week what do we see the week after that it's it with that guy the ability is is self-evident it's it's putting it together as an NFL receiver doing it week to week the like I'm on Rossy and brown you know you know what you're going to get from that guy every week and um that's to be proven so about the defense what stood out for you and what concerns you still um what stood out I I I liked their Bend but don't break it's kind of a cliche but it's you know not necessarily something we've seen from this defense before and they were pretty bad down the stretch um 311 passing yards allowed per game in the playoffs last year um so it's pretty amazing they made it as far as they did it was kind of a liability the offense was good enough to make up for obviously this year they've invested heavily in becoming more balanced between offense and defense um and there's a lot to like about the secondary I I actually was pretty encouraged by tyan Arnold and I know he had the two flags and he's got to learn um the lines of contact what's allowed in the NFL he was kind of a physical guy in college he's gonna have to figure out how they're gonna call him in the pros Carlton Davis um the other starting Corner was saying that when he came into the league it was kind of the same deal for him he's a physical corner and he had to figure out how the rest would call it and according to Carlton Davis you know sometimes they pick just a little bit on the rookie I don't know how much of that was going on the the the the pis were um light um I thought but they were there particularly the second one so I can't call those blown calls or anything tan will have to learn that but I thought throughout the rest of the game I mean like I think he allowed one 30 or 25 yard pass um to to copu Cup and besides that everything was in front of him sure tackler I thought he was sticky in coverage I watched him a lot in the second and third quarters live and I I was really impressed with the way he moved the movement skills are obvious um so I really liked what I saw from the debut of that guy he's obviously a guy the lines are really good to count on in terms of concerns maybe sticking in the secondary like Brian Branch was not himself in that game um he's a playmaker and he dropped a pick maybe should have had a second pick I think I counted him with three missed tackles in the first half of that game one one could have been a tfl so not the cleanest effort from him but I think it's also worth noting he missed most of the off season um while coming back from an injury and he's also moved from slot corner to safety so he's making a position change while not practicing a lot and I think once it gets more comfortable back there we'll see the Brian banson remember what do you think and I I didn't even bring this up on the show Sunday or Monday but James Houston inactive and yeah probably not a surprise to you right it's the numbers game right so I mean you know Aiden Hutchinson's Aiden Hutchinson we saw that on day one I mean I guess I probably could started there with the what impressed me with the defense because you had 11 11 pressures I mean he lived in the backfield and I'm telling you right now mat if Matthew Stafford didn't have the quick game going that was a conscious thing because they had a backup offensive line basically out there they knew he was going to get murdered so it's just quick passes quick passes if that wasn't the game plan from La you you would have seen more production uh from Aiden he would the film is dominant as you'd expect from a guy like him versus backup offensive tackles um and then you have Marcus Davenport who I thought had a really nice debut a really solid debut I think he had six pressures and then you have Levi anzer who I thought was the most improved player in training camp this year um and talk any coach talk to any player ask him that question they're probably going to tell you Levi an Zer because he was that good and we saw it right away with him five pressures he had a a sack on the second series of the game kind of killed a a potential touchdown drive there deep in the in the red zone so um where do you go beyond that I mean James Houston you could have him up but he's gonna be your last guy in the in the rotation and he only does one thing Matt and that's that's he rushes the passer he they tried in Camp to make him off ball linebacker uh it didn't take I think he's just failed I would say in his attempt to carve out a bigger role he's specialized guy he'd be a packag guy and when you have Davenport anzar even Pascal can move outside Hutchinson obviously um there's just not room for him right now Kyle Mikey with us from M live this new kickoff rule I I just don't get it I now you got most of the teams don't even want to deal with it they're just booming it in the back of the endone I'm going and put it on the 30 it's like what what are we doing um how have the Lions approached it and you know uh I guess you know vaky was back deep and I'm sure they're going to rotate guys but I know the league is trying but it seems like the teams don't care the league is trying I I I liked what I saw in in Camp it's definitely interesting when you see these kicks actually returned which I know no fans did this week really not Detroit um in practice they were obviously in the preseason we saw it a little bit with with backups and whatnot um I think it has potential to be interesting if teams actually elected to bring the kick out but um you know Dave FIP the Special Teams coordinator in Detroit he kind of hinted that this is what we were going to see because yeah you kick it through the end zone to get it at the 30 but even if you get make it a playable play maybe you save yourself five or 10 yards if you're excellent coverage and the potential downside is you have 70 yards going the other way past the 30 um that you can allow so for Dave FIP and Detroit I mean I kind of saw the runting on the wall because for them it's the risk doesn't outweigh the reward Dave FIP by the way might be I mean Dan Campbell's entertaining Dave fi's right up there if he's head coach one day whoever's covering him is going to love that he said before he doesn't have those motivations um and the the jump from Special Teams coordinate to head coach is kind of a difficult one I know John Harbaugh did it he's kind of a rarity um but I would I mean I would I'd sign up for that that job covering him because he's such he's such a good guy and he's good talker he probably talks a little too much I would say no I know it's uh he he's fantastic all right Buck coming to town I want to get Kyle's thoughts on that as well as what's going on in the division we'll do that next Mr M but first lock down Lions brought to you by our friends at FanDuel you've heard us talk a lot about FanDuel it's because it's America's number one sports book Tigers back at it tonight you want to put some money down play some player props for Tigers Rockies does it get does it get any better than September Tigers Rockies come on you do it at FanDuel plus they got something different for you now through September 22nd all FanDuel customers can bet $5 and get a three-week free trial of NFL Sunday Ticket from YouTube and YouTube TV then with a YouTube TV based plan you'll be able to watch every regular season Sunday afternoon out a market game all you got to do is get your Google account which you everybody has and a current form of payment you can cancel any time visit fanduel.com download America's number one sports book it is FanDuel Kyle Mikey with from.com I'd be remiss if I didn't bring up the Justin Rogers shirtless uh video I'd be remiss too I'd be remissed too what was what was the reaction it was him and Dan Skipper and the cold tub what was the were you Al were you alerted to this from Jr was this like oh no I'm scrolling through my Twitter and there it is I heard it was in the works I did not actually see it happen and I I'm I'm thankful for that wow I'm not sure you ever seen Dan Skipper um you know um without a without a jersey on but he's he's not exactly built like a um specimen yeah yeah exactly yeah exactly um so yeah it's it was an interesting interesting side I guess I heard Dan Campbell walk by when it was all going oh W did like a double take like you know um which I I understand see see what happens Justin leaves ganette and now he's just a free man he's doing whatever he wants it's a little wild he's enjoying it he's enjoying it he's doing a good job no doubt that's our buddy all right uh Sunday bucks come to town we can call it the Carlton Davis Revenge game you know interesting Vegas had the Lions as three and a half Point favorites for the Rams game six and a half with the Bucks and this is with no Antoine Winfield what do you expect this week I think Tampa's a good team I thought Baker played really well down the stretch last year I like the you know what I saw from that that offense in playoffs last year that was a tough game I we all remember the Rams game um obviously unfortunately the 49ers game but maybe in that mix Tampa get talked about a little bit less um but that was a tough out um I thought the Lions played exceptionally in that game and they were still a tough out that's it's a good team their defensive line stood out to me as well it's very physical like maybe the most physical defensive line um they play and so I think that'll be a good test for Lion's offensive line that I thought was decent it certainly was like fine in week one I wouldn't call it like a problem or anything but when you expect an elite offensive line as you know like lions have I thought maybe it fell short of the expectation uh until overtime right and they just hauled that I'm not sure if I can say that but okay yeah um and it was impressive I mean David Montgomery yeah like doing his thing but like those last two runs the massive push you saw up front on the last play of the game you got Frank ragnell pancaking a guy into the end zone in the middle I mean you're gonna win a lot of running plays like that um I think this week against Tampa will be a stiffer test the Rams don't have Aon Don anymore some young guys up front I think that Tampa is exceptional at that area and that'll that'll pose a challenge for the Lions I do like this match up for the lons so I'm I'm picking them to win this week it's interesting Mike Evans resigns with the Bucs many people thought he was going to leave in free agency stays Baker stays and there's something to continuity there I mean Todd BS some Bucks fans wanted gone the start of last year it's a better you know everybody people talking about Atlanta people talk about Green Bay in the NFC the Bucks could be a problem it's yeah it's something there's something to be said right Kyle about consistency it's what the Lions have had now the last few years you you gave people time to work through progress right I mean like I think at some point I mean they won three games in Detroit and you're won at some point next year you're like what one in seven or something um a lot of places around the NFL you get fired I remember hearing um in these parts some of those talks including on on the radio here people are they what is this guy doing um you know look at these fourth down play calls and now everyone loves it because they're winning um and the Lions gave them time to work through all this stuff Tampa did the same thing you alluded to I mean Todd Bulls was on the ropes at one point um they were working through some stuff um and Tampa gave the situation time and what I saw last year I mean I thought La was probably a better team in playoffs last year but Tampa they played Detroit tough and Detroit played an almost like Flawless game no mistakes no turnovers um and but it was just a tough game they didn't go away until the Derrik Barnes interception lay in that game so yeah I'm with you like people talk about Jordan love um you know obviously Caleb Williams entering the division and um and and Chicago being tough this year I'm like Baker Mayfield play really good football last year um and I mean almost took out Detroit in Detroit all right you look at the NFC North obviously the question mark is how long is love gon to be out they host the Colts this weekend and it's doubtful he plays but you look around the you know Bears won their offense was pathetic Caleb Williams won't play that bad again and the Vikings uh who I said are not gonna be as bad as everybody thought wups are giants not that beating Danny dimes is that is difficult but what's your take on the the rest of the division through through the first week I I mean I thought it was lions and Packers um going to this game I I love uh the direction of the Bears or if you're a lions fan maybe fear the direction of the Bears I think they're really doing some smart things there they're building out around kale blims in a really great way I think the the receiver core that they have is exceptional one through three Cole ket's a really nice tight end I just think with a rookie first year quarterback it's really like CJ Stroud situation is pretty rare in the leag like like as we saw in week one like Caleb Williams is going to need some time for me it was really the Packers that I feared and now they're going to have a backup quarterback situation for a few weeks so I think the Lions have some opportunities here if they take care of business uh to build an early lead I I still think the lions are the the class of The Division come on backup quarterback it's Malik Willis remember when everybody was saying the Lions should draft Malik Willis at number three or two I was like wait a minute come on yeah and it never made sense to me I think I don't I don't even think I had in the first round of my mock draft and I I heard the same calls as you did it never made sense that was a that was a classic so all right brother great to see you thanks uh for doing this and keep up the great work always Matt good to see you man Kyle Mikey with us mlive.com on a Tuesday locked onlines