Detroit Lions' Jalen Reeves-Maybin: 'Definitely dope' to be in playoff hunt in 7th season

The Detroit Lions are closing in on their first playoff berth in seven years and no one is more excited than Jalen Reeves-Maybin’s 7-year-old daughter.

“She has really, really high hopes,” Reeves-Maybin said Tuesday. “Sometimes I got to tell her like, ‘Oh, we just got to play the game this Sunday. Let’s worry about later down the road.’ But she’s enjoying it.”

Reeves-Maybin, in his second stint in Detroit after spending last season with the Houston Texans, is enjoying the Lions’ place in the NFL standings, too, and in position to make a big impact in the season’s final four weeks.

One of the Lions’ best special teams players, Reeves-Maybin has taken on a new, bigger role on defense since the start of December as a coverage linebacker in some nickel packages.

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He had two tackles, one quarterback hit and one pass deflection in 20 defensive snaps in the Lions’ Week 13 win over the New Orleans Saints, and a sack and another pass breakup in 11 defensive snaps in last week’s loss to the Chicago Bears.

In the season’s first 11 games, Reeves-Maybin played a total of seven defensive snaps.

“He’s a great player,” linebacker Alex Anzalone said. “And I hate — I don’t hate it, but I probably dislike it when people say, ‘Oh, he’s a great ballplayer.’ I think he’s a great linebacker in the NFL and I think that’s more than serviceable to be a starter and he’s just definitely, when he goes in he makes plays and that’s what he does.”

Reeves-Maybin has been making plays on special teams most of his career.

He’s tied for second in the NFL with 11 special teams tackles this season, had four against the Saints when he pulled double duty on defense and won NFC Special Teams Player of the Week, and converted a fake punt with a 3-yard run from the personal protector spot in a Week 1 win over the Kansas City Chiefs.

But Reeves-Maybin’s recent defensive play has been a revelation for a Lions team that's given up tied for the seventh most points in the NFL.

Asked Tuesday why it took so long for the Lions to find a role for him on defense, Reeves-Maybin said sheepishly, “I don’t know, man.”

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“Just the opportunity came up the last couple weeks and I just try to go out there and make a play whenever I’m out there,” he said. “Limited snaps, so just trying to be impactful in the game. It’s kind of like the standard of the linebacker room. It starts with Alex and trickles down to everyone else. We set the standard and when you go out there, the standard is that and everyone’s trying to meet that.”

Anzalone, Jack Campbell and Derek Barnes have played the majority of linebacker snaps for the Lions this season and are in no danger of losing their roles going forward.

But Reeves-Maybin has unique coverage skills and an ability to play in space that the Lions have found to be an asset of late.

Reeves-Maybin said his goal still is to “go out there and energize the group and energize the team with some special teams plays,” but he’s found his niche on defense, too.

“I think it’s kind of just a natural thing that’s kind of where my skill set is,” he said. “I think I can help the team on third downs and the coaches have seen that and they’ve put me in some good positions to make plays. Hopefully I can just keep going out there when my number’s called and making those plays.”

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If he does, he’ll help the Lions reach the postseason for the first time since 2016, the year before he joined the team as a fourth-round draft pick.

“It’s definitely dope,” Reeves-Maybin said of possibly making the playoffs for the first time in his career. “I make the joke with some of my friends, but like it keeps your football spirit high. You know you’re playing for something and I’ve kind of always been like if I get an opportunity on Sunday, it’s time play. So I don’t really try to make too much of it, but it definitely keeps you prepared and you know there’s something at the end of the season that you’re fighting for so I’m just keeping that in mind every day.”

Contact Dave Birkett at dbirkett@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @davebirkett.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Detroit Lions' Jalen Reeves-Maybin 'trying to be impactful' in new role