The Detroit Lions have another loud mouth in the room and I’m loving it.

New defensive backs coach Deshea Townsend came in all fire and brimstone during his first media session.

He wants physical corner backs who are wired to hit.

“If you won’t tackle, you won’t play,” Townsend said.

That should be music to your ears. Although the Lions enjoyed their best season in decades the secondary proved to be their undoing. It was troubling enough to see Cam Sutton turned around like a spinning top. However, the primary reason the Lions lost to the San Francisco 49ers in the

NFC Championship game was because they could not tackle.

How many times did we see Christian McCaffrey break tackles?

How many times did quarterback Brock Purdy elude the secondary for big gains?

The Lions keep trying to fix the defensive back field with little luck. Townsend becomes the third defensive backs coach under head coach Dan Campbell. Last off season the Lions overhauled their backfield with CJ Gardner Johnson, Emmanuel Mosely and Sutton.

The Lions are blessed with plus players in Ifeatu Melifonwu, Brian Branch and CJGJ. But the pieces don’t seem to fit.

Despite attention to detail toward the secondary the Lions still need secondary help. They are hoping that Townsend’s familiarity with defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn helps the entire defense.

Townsend sounded the alarm. Hopefully players are listening.

“When I get in the room, I tell the young guys it’s your job to take the starters’ job, and the starters, it’s your job to hold them off,” Townsend said. “And that’s the same way in coaching. You got to make sure you’re doing your best at every opportunity, you have to prove yourself daily and I wouldn’t expect anything different from myself that I expect from them.”

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For more from the author Terry Foster, check him out on Twitter here: @terryfosterdet

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