Despite a slow start to the 2025 regular season, Detroit Lions head coach Dan Campbell has continued to express confidence in cornerback Terrion Arnold. Campbell did that again during his weekly radio appearance on 97.1 The Ticket on Wednesday.
But that doesn’t mean Arnold won’t see a reduction in playing time as the result of his struggles. Campbell suggested during the radio appearance that could be the case.
“He’s a young player, and he’s working at it, and he’s going to get better,” Campbell said of Arnold, via Pride of Detroit’s Jeremy Reisman. “He’s going to get better. It’s just going to take a little bit of time here. We’re going to work through a few of these things.
“And look, we’ll probably use Amik [Robertson] on some stuff too. “Amik’s a good player. So, we’re going to mix it up a little bit.”
Amik Robertson and other Lions cornerbacks are arguably already cutting into Arnold’s playing time. Last season, Arnold played 91% of Detroit’s defensive snaps in his 16 games.
This season, Arnold has yet to play that percentage or higher in a game. Overall, Arnold has played 78% of the team’s defensive snaps through three games.
Entering Week 4, the second-year cornerback owns a 130.1 passer rating against, which is the worst on the team.
The Lions drafted Arnold at No. 24 overall during the first round in the 2024 NFL Draft.
Lions CB Terrion Arnold Struggling to Begin 2nd NFL Season
There was a lot to like about Detroit’s defensive performance Monday night against the Baltimore Ravens. Arnold’s play, though, was not one of those things.
The Pro Football Focus player grades have Arnold rated 72nd out of 78 cornerbacks in coverage who have played at least 50% of their team’s defensive snaps through three weeks. Overall, PFF has Arnold ranked 70th among those 78 cornerbacks.
Against the Ravens, Arnold allowed a touchdown pass and committed a pass interference penalty that led to another Baltimore touchdown.
Arnold has committed 12 accepted penalties in 19 NFL games. Of those fouls, eight of them have been defensive pass interference.
What Amik Robertson Could Bring With More Playing Time
The Lions haven’t asked quite as much of Arnold to begin this season. Brian Branch, who lines up all over the team’s secondary, is the team’s top defensive back. Free agent signee D.J. Reed has arrived to be Detroit’s top outside cornerback this offseason.
Robertson is Detroit’s starting nickel cornerback, but he’s actually played less this season than 2024. Robertson has received 51% of Detroit’s defensive snaps, which is down from 57% last year.
But that means there’s an opportunity for Robertson to play more if the Lions don’t want to deploy Arnold in as many situations.
Robertson has started 25 of his 72 career NFL games. He started four contests during his first season with the Lions last year.
While playing 17 games in 2024, Robertson posted 50 combined tackles, including four tackles for loss and eight pass defenses. He also forced three fumbles.
Robertson played mostly slot cornerback for the Lions last season. But if he is going to replace Arnold in some situations, he could line up along the outside more often in the next few weeks.
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