Lions’ Jarrad Davis using offseason to improve upon strong rookie year

A year ago, in the whirlwind leading up to the NFL Draft, Jarrad Davis always had something to keep him busy.

Whether it was training for the Combine and his Pro Day, or making visits to various teams, the former Florida standout linebacker rarely had time for himself. But he knew there would be a payoff, and it came with his being a first-round selection of the Detroit Lions.

‘Definitely having to go back and look at what I did well and what I did bad and being able to be honest with myself’

Statistically, Davis had a strong rookie season. As a middle linebacker, he led all rookies and first-year players with 96 tackles in 14 games. Now, with a new defensive-minded head coach, Matt Patricia, and much more offseason time on his hands, Davis is focused on having an even better encore.

“Definitely having to go back and look at what I did well and what I did bad and being able to be honest with myself and just say, ‘Hey, this is something that I’m willing to accept and get better at,'” he told Bruce Murray and James Lofton on the SiriusXM Blitz. “Sometimes it’s hard for guys to do that, and that’s something I really wanted to make a point of. I had notes from last season. Even though we changed the scheme and everything like that, football is still football at the end of the day. I’m still playing defense, you’ve got 11 guys out there, Cover Three is Cover Three. You can dress it up however you want to do it, but there’s certain ways that positions need to be executed.

‘Just always continuing  to learn’

“And just going back and looking at the film of myself and then going back and checking other guys out and seeing what they’re doing on my team, on other teams and just really getting a feel for how it’s supposed to look, how the game is supposed to flow, how linebackers move … just always continuing to learn.”

Davis insists his lofty draft status won’t have the slightest impact on his humble, hard-working approach.

‘I’m always working on my game, working on my craft, seeing what I can do better’

“I know I have a lot of room to improve,” he said. “I’ve got to continue to work and I still do it every single day. I’m always working on my game, working on my craft, seeing what I can do better. There’s always so many little, minor details to the game that you can really, really iron out to make sure that you’re the best athlete that you can be.”