After watching Brian Branch practice just one time following his 10 month rehab from an Achilles tear, Detroit Lions defensive coordinator Kelvin Sheppard couldn\u2019t hold in his excitement.<\/p>\n
\u201cHow many positions can he play and how fast?\u201d Sheppard joked with the media on Thursday.<\/p>\n
And while that was a joke, Sheppard insisted that Detroit\u2019s Pro Bowl safety looked so locked in and ready on Wednesday that he believes Branch could play a game on Thursday, if cleared.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf we were playing tonight, it would be realistic,\u201d Sheppard said. \u201cLike, this dude\u2014it\u2019s like he hadn\u2019t been out. I\u2019m serious. It literally looks like he hasn\u2019t been out. It\u2019s unbelievable. So, it\u2019s just a matter of I\u2019m going to lean on (Director of Player Health) Brett Fisher, (Head Trainer) Mike Sundeen, and our medical staff here. They\u2019ve always done a tremendous job, and whatever they tell me. If that\u2019s 20 plays, if that\u2019s 30, if it\u2019s 50\u2014I want it to be 60\u2014but whatever they tell me, I\u2019m going to lock that, and we\u2019re going to roll.\u201d<\/p>\n
It would be pretty unorthodox for the Lions to put Branch into the starting lineup after just three practices, since he hasn\u2019t been on the field since early December. And even Sheppard admitted they need to make sure they don\u2019t put Branch in a tough position.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe also gotta do right by that player,\u201d Sheppard said. \u201cSo just make sure we pick and choose how much, how soon, where, what\u2019s best for him right now, and just kinda take that approach to him.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Lions have taken a somewhat conservative approach with Branch throughout his rehab, ensuring that he was fully ready before they even put him back on the practice field. While Branch has been eager to get out there, he said Wednesday that he appreciates them keeping both his short and long-term health in mind. That said, he feels like only a few things stand between him and playing time on Sundays.<\/p>\n
\u201cJust catching my wind. That\u2019s the only hurdle, I feel like,\u201d Branch said. \u201cCatching my wind and contact with each other. Just getting more contact with each other. Yeah, more one-on-ones.\u201d<\/p>\n
When Branch is back, he can have a significant impact on the Lions\u2019 bottom-ranked defense. Not only will his presence help out a safety group that has struggled through four weeks, but Detroit believes his playmaking and discipline can have a trickle down effect.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s an instinctive, aware player and he\u2019s a violent player,\u201d coach Dan Campbell said this week. \u201cAnd so, he\u2019s got a knack for the football and his production, even if it\u2019s not what it was in the immediate as he grows back to that will have an impact, I believe. And then with that, then it helps the guys around him. It makes the guys next to him better because this guy will be where he\u2019s supposed to be. He\u2019ll be able to make some plays and alleviate a little stress and whether it\u2019s the other safety, the corner, Jack (Campbell), some of those things.\u201d<\/p>\n
It still seems like a long shot that the Lions would opt to play Branch on Sunday against the Cardinals, but it\u2019s clear that Sheppard wants him as soon as possible.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m ready for him to go all 70-80 (snaps). However many we play. Saints game, that was 90? Let\u2019s go 90, BB. As much of Brian Branch as I can get right now, I want it.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"After watching Brian Branch practice just one time following his 10 month rehab from an Achilles tear, Detroit…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1022102,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2071],"tags":[146,113,153,1889,2506,7,147,6],"class_list":["post-1022101","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-detroit-lions","tag-detroit","tag-detroit-lions","tag-detroit-lions-news","tag-detroit-lions-quotes","tag-detroitlions","tag-football","tag-lions","tag-nfl"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/117406186082370081","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1022101","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1022101"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1022101\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1022102"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1022101"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1022101"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1022101"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}