Detroit Lions second-round rookie Derrick Moore finally had a breakout performance with two sacks against the Miami Dolphins. Defensive coordinator Kelvin Sheppard did a good job of mixing in praise for Moore while also letting the first-year edge rusher know that he expects more.
“Derrick Moore putting the time in during bye week, I found out that he’s at the facility every day,” said Sheppard on the work that Moore put in to get to the point of having his best game. “Those are guys who you root for. Those are guys you know it means something to. And if you work that hard, eventually it’s going to show up.”
Sheppard noted that while he was pleased with the work that Moore put in, he also told him he expected more from him.
“But I told him you had two sacks; you should have had 5, and you really had a breakout performance,” said Sheppard with a smile on his face.
Moore finished the game with five pressures. So, if he finished every play he forced the quarterback off of his spot, he would have had the game that Sheppard projected.
Detroit Lions Defensive Coordinator Has Message for Edge Rusher Derrick Moore
The 44th overall pick has been eased into his role with the Lions. He has often been the Lions’ third rusher and has only played 27% of the defensive snaps this season. So, he has not had many chances for this type of performance.
He played a career-low eight snaps in Week 4, but the team has started to see more snaps after that. He played 20 snaps, amounting to 27% of the snap share the next week, and then 20 snaps again, but with a 29% share the following week.
In Week 8, D.J. Wonnum suffered a concussion, and he was up to 22 snaps, which was a career-high 41%. Wonnum missed the entire game the following week. Moore played 33 snaps, which amounted to 58%. This led to his five-pressure, two-sack performance.
Lions Have Decision to Make With Moore in Week 10
Now, Wonnum is expected to return in Week 10 when the team takes on the New England Patriots. It will be an interesting question of how much the team plays Moore after his strong performance.
They could ease Wonnum back in and give Moore a decent chunk of his work. The other good news is that the team does not have competition behind the top three. Tyler Lacy can shuffle in but also plays along the interior. The Lions called up Anthony Lucas with Wonnum out but he only played 12 snaps.
We will see what the snap disparity is between Wonnum and Moore in Week 10. The Lions take on the New England Patriots in Germany.
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