The Detroit Lions brought in several new faces during the offseason, both on the field and on the sidelines. And among the new faces patrolling Detroit’s sidelines is Todd Wash, who had been the Jacksonville Jaguars’ defensive coordinator for the past five years.
And he’ll be working with defensive end Da’Shawn Hand, who is entering the final year of a four year contract and will be looking to play a full campaign after having been limited to 13 games the past two years. And so far, Wash is liking what he’s seeing from Hand.
“We challenged him about playing the run,” Wash said.” We know he can rush the passer when he’s healthy, so this offseason we really challenged him on getting in there, having the grit to play a 4 technique, a 3 technique vs doubles. He’s shown he’s willing to do it. Like I said, we just challenged him. It’s going to be a big year for him.”
“If he comes out and lays well, good things will happen. Not only for him, but for us as a team. We challenged him and we put pressure on him because he’s a taltendetd player.”
It was easy for Wash to describe Hand physically in a positive light after he’d worked on getting his weight back up to an ideal mark after admittedly slimming down.
“You see a really good athlete, first of all,” Wash said. “He’s got great explosion and flexibility in his hips and ankles so he can rush the passer.”
Wash also then specifically pointed out nose tackle Alim McNeil, whom the Lions drafted earlier this year and highlighted his athleticism.
“He’s (even)better than I thought when we drafted him,” Wash said. “He’s not just an A-gap to A-gap player.”
– – Quotes via Detroit Lions Link – –
