Lions GM Holmes excited about team direction

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Detroit Lions general manager Brad Holmes said the work is just beginning.

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Speaking to the media Tuesday, there were many things Holmes liked about his first season with the Lions, but also the reality that a 3-13-1 record left the team 31st out of 32 teams in the league. NFL.

“The reality is we won three games and that’s not good enough and never will be,” Holmes said.

But Holmes is also excited about the team’s progress in its first season under head coach Dan Campbell. After losing its first eight games, the club went 3-5-1 down the stretch and that was with 15 players, some of them key starters, out for the season with injuries.

“At the end of the day, we laid a foundation,” Holmes said. “Now, you know, it’s hard to practice patience sometimes to stick to the plan, but it’s a multi-year plan. It’s for sustained success and I think we laid the groundwork.

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“We’ve been through some tough stuff and I’ve said it all year, we’re going through some tough stuff, but I will say at this point the groundwork has been laid. We still have some work we need to do. We’re not overlooking it, but we’re excited about the next phase of this journey in the upcoming offseason and everything will be better than it was last year.”

While there were several key injuries to play with, it allowed the Lions to have six of the team’s seven draft picks in 2021 to break into the starting lineup at some point. Undrafted free agents — cornerbacks Jerry Jacobs and AJ Parker along with tight end Brock Wright, kicker Riley Patterson, guard Tommy Kraemer, center Ryan McCollum — started at some point in the season.

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“A lot of it, we didn’t have a choice at certain times,” Holmes said. “I mean, when adversity hit us, whether it’s injuries or other things, look, I have one, let’s call it an available free agent board with veterans who would be available to come in and help out. You know what, we stick to our plan. We let these youngsters play and gain valuable experience.”

That group not only gained experience, but also set the standard for the future.

“We’re still going to find guys that fit,” Holmes said of future roster additions. “Regardless of how many resources we have, we will still find people who are aligned, who really fit who we are.”

More experienced and with time to put things in place, Holmes hopes this offseason will be a big improvement for the team, from the coaching staff coaching the Senior Bowl to his staff having more time to prepare for the NBA Draft. NFL, where is the team. scheduled to pick twice in the first round and control free agency.

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“Free agency will be better, we’ll have a little more resources at our disposal,” Holmes said. “The draft will be even better. I thought our draft was good, but it will be better.

“We have a little bit more capital, so we’re very excited about that, starting the next phase of this journey. We’ll be coaching the Senior Bowl, so it’ll be a good place to start to watch the guys and our overall process.

“We’re much further along in our overall process than we were a year ago, whether it’s from free agency, draft preparation, all of that. We are in a much better position.

“Again, I can’t say enough. It is a brave group and I am excited about what lies ahead.”

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