Detroit Lions' Alim McNeill playing best football, doesn't 'ever want to leave' Detroit
Alim McNeill walked out of the Detroit Lions' locker room Friday with three footballs in his hand — painted game balls he received for his play in wins over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Green Bay Packers and Las Vegas Raiders.
"I think I've got a couple more (coming), too," McNeill said.
The way he has played this season, it figures.
A third-round pick out of North Carolina State in 2021, McNeill is second on the team with four sacks and has 16 tackles and one forced fumble through eight games. He has been a force in the Lions' 6-2 start, and he's playing the best football of his career, even if he'd rather not admit it.
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"I really don’t feel like I’ve done enough, if we’re talking individually," McNeill said. "I always try to put my best ability and put my best work out there on the field. But me, you can’t ask a question like that. I’m always going to deflect it. I never say I played good."
After showing steady improvement in his first two seasons, McNeill has blossomed this fall into a more consistently disruptive player.
He had two sacks in the Lions' Week 8 win over the Las Vegas Raiders. He already has surpassed his sack total from his first two years combined (three). And he has been a key cog in a run defense that ranks third in the NFL at 76.8 yards per game allowed.
McNeill said his offseason body transformation has contributed to his improved play, but more than that, he has made huge strides in the mental approach to his game.
"I was just doing too much thinking that didn’t even apply to me," McNeill said of the past two seasons. "I was just wondering like, 'What if they do this?' I just need to do my job, worry about what’s in front of me, and that’s what I'm doing now.
"I was making up scenarios in my head, just thinking way too much. But now I’m a lot more comfortable out there, I know what’s going on, I know what I'm doing, I know what they’re doing, stuff like that."
With a strong finish to the season, McNeill could be in line for a contract extension when he first becomes eligible this spring.
He said he's open to that possibility and doesn't "ever want to leave" Detroit, though it's not on his mind now.
"I mean, I would be a fool to say I haven’t thought about it, but, like, am I thinking about it? Nah," he said. "I just want to play ball and win, do my job the best that I can. When I start thinking about stuff like that, that’s kind of like how you’re a junior in college, you start thinking about going to the league, stuff like that. You just don’t think about that stuff, you just play."
DPJ delay?
Coach Dan Campbell said he's not sure yet if wide receiver Donovan Peoples-Jones, acquired in a deadline trade with the Cleveland Browns, will make his Lions debut Sunday against the Los Angeles Chargers.
Peoples-Jones was limited in practice this week by a rib injury he suffered in his last game in Cleveland and is officially listed as questionable for Sunday. Campbell said Peoples-Jones "looked pretty good" in practice, but is still getting "up to speed ... with what we're doing offensively."
“I think more than anything it’ll be talk to him, talk to (wide receivers coach Antwaan Randle) El, talk to (offensive coordinator) Ben (Johnson) and just kind of gather all the facts and see where we’re at. I want to make sure he’s comfortable, too. I do. We have that luxury right now. We’re pretty good in the receiver room, so we’ll see.
Fade to Black
Campbell said he likely was not going to be able to attend the first night of Metallica's two-night concert in Detroit on Friday, but he said his love for the metal band stems from his days growing up in rural Texas and getting to know their music through a couple of his guitar-playing cousins.
"They’d come see us, I’m out in the middle of nowhere, dirt roads, and here they come with the electric guitar and he — and they loved Metallica," Campbell said. "They played all of them back in the day, so that’s where I began to really love them, and then over time, they just stood the test of time, right? One of these bands that just, they always I guess reinvent themselves. They never get stale, they never get old, they just adapt, adjust and just keep putting out hits. And I love that and respect that."
Along with Friday night's show at Ford Field, Metallica is scheduled to play the stadium again Sunday.
Injury report
Offensive guard Halapoulivaati Vaitai will not play against the Chargers; Campbell said he's not sure when Vaitai will return from the back problems that have limited him for much of the past two seasons. Defensive tackle Levi Onwuzurike is doubtful with a hip injury.
The Lions did not list running back David Montgomery (ribs) or starting offensive linemen Jonah Jackson (ankle) and Frank Ragnow (calf/toe) with injury designations after they practiced in full all week, clearing the way for them to play Sunday.
Contact Dave Birkett at dbirkett@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @davebirkett.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Detroit Lions DT Alim McNeill doesn't 'ever want to leave' Detroit
