Lions OL Colby Sorsdal keeps a cruel reminder of his worst game: 'I look at it every day'
Colby Sorsdal has had the memory of the game he was benched staring him in the face. Literally.
Sorsdal has the blue No. 75 throwback jersey he wore on Thanksgiving Day vs. the Green Bay Packers hanging in the closet of his metro Detroit apartment — a closet with no doors. He stares at it every morning when he wakes up, and every night before he goes to sleep.
"I’ve got it in my room and it’s like I look at it every day," Sorsdal told the Free Press this week. "It’s like, 'OK, that’s a reminder.' And so, yeah, I’m excited for possibly a next opportunity."
Sorsdal could get that opportunity Sunday when the Lions (9-3) play the Chicago Bears (4-8) at Soldier Field.
Pro Bowl center Frank Ragnow is out with a knee injury, right guard Graham Glasgow will move to center to take his place, and the Lions will start either Sorsdal or Kayode Awosika at right guard.
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Sorsdal played well in 37 fill-in offensive snaps last week against the New Orleans Saints, but the fifth-round pick out of William & Mary said he still is looking to atone for his personal Thanksgiving massacre, when Jared Goff lost three fumbles in part because of pressure he allowed.
"I think it’s all the fuel I need, just to go out there and dominate, show what I can do," Sorsdal said. "It’s just another opportunity to do what I’m supposed to do and (show) why I’m here. And to prove myself again, cause, yeah, I say I moved on from it and it’s in the past, but obviously we’re all football players here, we’re all competitive, it’s not something that you’ll never forget."
Sorsdal's struggles against the Packers were due largely to a breakdown in fundamentals. He was late passing off a handful of stunts and occasionally slow getting off the snap, but it's nothing that has soured the Lions on his long-term prospects.
Sorsdal played right tackle in college, moved to interior line this spring and has admittedly been more comfortable playing right guard than left guard in the NFL. He started at left guard against the Packers, and one week earlier in the Lions' 31-26 win over the Bears.
"I think with any player, especially a young player, you’re going to need to ... focus on the things that you’ve done well, and then here’s why you haven’t done well, like any player. And it’s fundamentals," Lions coach Dan Campbell said. "But as far as his psyche overall, I feel like he’s in a good place. I mean, I think he understands, that’s what we go back to. This isn’t because you’re afraid. It’s the fundamentals, it’s your pad level, it’s your first step, it’s passing the twist, it’s snapping with your hands. And he knows that, he realizes that, so I feel like he’s in a good place in that regard."
Lions offensive coordinator Ben Johnson said Sorsdal has improved "night and day" since he saw his first offensive snaps as an emergency right tackle in the Lions' Week 3 win over the Atlanta Falcons.
He allowed one sack against the Packers, to Rashan Gary, and had a drive-stalling holding penalty against the Bears. But Sorsdal said he sees progress, too, and is excited to show his improvement.
"I think it’s in my nature to not be complacent with that because there’s so much farther I can go," he said. "And so I can appreciate the fact that I've come a long way, but it’s also, I’m not done yet. So I appreciate the words and all that, but I appreciate what I can do and I know that it’s cool to take a moment and appreciate how far I’ve come to know there’s a whole hell of a lot more work to do."
Contact Dave Birkett at dbirkett@freepress.com. Follow him @davebirkett.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Detroit Lions' Colby Sorsdal looking forward to atoning for benching
