For a moment there, Derrick Moore felt like he was back at Michigan. The Packers were facing third and long in the third quarter, and Moore was standing up over the offensive line. Sandwiched between Alim McNeill and Aidan Hutchinson, Moore shot past the left guard and closed in on Jordan Love. The pressure prevented Love from stepping into a deep ball to Matthew Golden and helped the Lions get off the field.
Rushing from an upright position on the interior might not sound like an edge rusher's strength, but "I like it a lot," said Moore.
"I feel like it’s a similar thing to what I was doing in college, kind of just off the ball. In college I used to walk off the ball when I wasn’t supposed to walk off the ball, so kind of treat it the same," said Moore. "But I feel like if you can get a 1-on-1 with the guard, you can’t get better than that, so I enjoy it a lot. Coach Shep is trying to find different ways for me to get on the field as best as he can, and that was one of the ways right there."
It's been a slow start for Moore, the second-round pick. He's beginning to find his stride. Last Sunday was his best game yet. He played 20 snaps for the second game in a row, after playing less than that combined the prior two games, and did his job on all of them. Defensive coordinator Kelvin Sheppard didn't mince words -- does he ever? -- when asked about Moore's role after the rookie barely saw the field in the Lions' Week 3 win over the Jets.
"There has to be merit to why we're playing you more," he said. "We're not just playing you more because you're a draft pick. We don't do that here."
If it sounded like a public challenge, the message from Sheppard to Moore has been the same behind the scenes.
"Me and Coach Shep, we talk about it all the time. He always told me, like, 'We see you putting that work in, continue to keep your head down, keep stacking days, keep building days, and as you keep getting better you’re going to continue to see more time on the field,'" said Moore.
The Lions drafted Moore, most immediately, to add some pass-rushing juice across from Hutchinson. That's been supplied so far by veteran D.J. Wonnum, who has five sacks through six games. Long term, the vision for Moore hasn't changed. But against the Packers, he played more against the run than the pass. And he held up well.
Moore got back to back snaps near the goal line on the Packers' opening drive. On the first, he set a firm edge and helped funnel Josh Jacobs back inside for a minimal gain. On the second, Moore drove back the tight end on the other end of the line to help the defense stuff Jacobs at the line. The Lions kept the Packers out of the end zone, and eventually off the scoreboard when Trey Smack missed his first of two chip shots.
"Really, I just saw the tight end in front of me and told myself, 'I gotta dominate the tight end.' That’s somewhere that I’ve always wanted to get better, affecting the run as best as I can," said Moore. "And down there in the tight red zone, Hutch needed a breather and I knew I was coming in, so I just said, I could be in for a play or two, let me go ahead and be the most disruptive that I can be out there."
Moore said his performance against the Packers was "one of my proudest games I’ve had in myself." He didn't pop off the film like others on the defensive line. But he was solid and assignment-sound in a way that will likely lead to more opportunities in the games to come. If he's being honest, he had been popping off the film for the wrong reasons earlier in the season.
Against Green Bay, Moore was "completely MA (missed assignment)-free," he said with a smile. "Coach was proud of me as well for that." In fact, right after the game, Moore laughed and said that defensive line coach Kacy Rodgers and defensive assistant Caleb Collins gave him a strong review: "My coach came up to me and was like, ‘I just checked the stats, I realized that you ain’t f**k up no plays — that’s a good job, man.'"
"You know, as a rookie you’re gonna go out there and mess stuff up," said Moore. "I’ve been messing up and that was my cleanest game so far. It kind of caught me by surprise, too, because I even told somebody after the game, ‘You know something, man, I ain’t mess up nothin' at all this whole game.' I was keyed in all last week, and it just went into the game and showed."
Detroit's defensive line has been a strength all season. Now that the secondary is starting to clean up its play, the entire unit is reaping some of the rewards. The Lions are tied for first in the NFL with 21 sacks, and tied for fourth in quarterback pressures. They've had lots of success rushing four, with Hutchinson and McNeill leading the way. Wonnum, Tyleik Williams and rookie Skyler Gill-Howard have been getting after it, too. Moore wants in on the fun.
"All those guys are going to find different ways to affect the game. And when you’re out there with Hutch and Alim, they’re going to take pretty much of all of the slides, so somebody gets cut free and that’s where I feel like D.J. and guys like Sky become involved out there. I'm just trying to make my way in and trying to find that rhythm with those guys. I see them out there rushing together and I’m just trying to find ways to keep it going when I’m out there," said Moore.
Gill-Howard, in particular, provides a little extra incentive for Moore to join the party -- "because he’s always talking s**t to me," Moore laughed. "Every day, and I always gotta hear it, that he got a sack before me, so it definitely gives me motivation." The sixth-rounder out of Texas Tech has already had a hand in a couple sacks, one against the Jets, the other against the Cardinals, so when Gill-Howard yaps, "I can't even say nothin," said Moore.
It might be not long before he evens the score.
"Definitely starting to get more comfortable in the game, and starting to feel more of a rhythm as I’m going in," said Moore.
This is an ongoing adjustment. While Moore didn't play as frequently at Michigan as most of the other top edge rushers in his draft class -- in some cases not even close -- he hasn't played this little since his freshman season. He's still getting accustomed to a more sporadic role on defense. The benefit is that he has fresh legs whenever he's out there, but it becomes more challenging to find a flow.
"In the beginning it was kind of difficult because I was never used to it, but as time went on I just got adjusted to it, didn’t let it get to my head too much," said Moore. "I just told myself, 'Whatever opportunity that you get out there, you just gotta make the best of it, no matter if the play comes to you or goes away from you.' It’s just, can you dominate the man that’s in front of you until the whistle is blown?
"So that’s my mindset going into every game moving forward. Whether it’s five plays, 10 plays, 20 plays, 30, I’m just trying to go out there and put the best me on film."
The more he does that, the more he will play. And eventually, the Moore he will produce.
