Ennis Rakestraw went from relieved to aggrieved. Hard to blame him.
After dodging an injury scare in the Lions' preseason opener against the Bengals last week, Rakestraw learned that he was the lowest-graded player in the game by Pro Football Focus. He could accept it if he felt the same way, but Rakestraw -- and Dan Campbell -- felt like he played pretty well in his first live action in two years.
PFF charged Rakestraw with four completions and 44 yards on five targets in his 13 coverage snaps and slapped him with a grade of 29.3. Per his responsibilities in the Lions' scheme, Rakestraw says he was guilty on one of those, an eight-yard out route from Joe Flacco to Colbie Young on 3rd and 9 in the second quarter.
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Rakestraw was also in the area on long catches by Ja'Marr Chase, an in-breaker over the middle on the second play of the game; Young, a 20-yard comeback on 3rd and 16 in the second quarter; and Andrei Iosivas, a 12-yard out route in the second quarter.
"I think I had one man (coverage) rep with a catch, it was the out route. Other than that, it was zones. I just hate how PFF did me," Rakestraw said Saturday. "But it is what it is. They don’t know what they’re talking about anyway. They couldn’t even tell me what coverage we were in. But like I said, I just gotta get better, we’re all going to get better, and just get ready for the next game."
Rakestraw's best play of the game was a pass breakup on a back-shoulder ball to Young in the first quarter where he was tight to the receiver the whole way and jumped to knock it away at the point of the catch.
Rakestraw said the third down out-route to Young "was probably my biggest play that I felt bad about because of my leverage, I should have just stayed to the outside. I was too high and shoulders were too tall. That’s just a technique thing. Just gotta fix the little technique issues.
"All that PFF stuff, man, they got it, cool, y’all grade how y’all wanna grade. But it is what it is. I’m just here to do what I gotta do. And whatever the plays says for me to do, that’s what I’m gonna do."
Campbell said Saturday that he liked the way Rakestraw played in coverage. He also pointed out that the completion to Young on 3rd and 16 "where it looks like it's on (Rakestraw), it's not on him." The play called for Rakestraw to have help underneath, likely from linebacker Devin White, which is why Rakestraw was playing so far off the receiver.
"We told him to play high over the top of that. There's supposed to be somebody insulating, so we had a mental error underneath it," said Campbell. "But, I thought he had a couple of really good challenge reps outside. And then it was unfortunate that we couldn't get a full dose with him because of his injury. But it's not serious."
Indeed, the Lions had to be holding their breath later that drive when Rakestraw went down after making a tackle and struggled to get up. Injuries have basically erased his first two years in the NFL, including shoulder surgery last year that cost him the entire season. He bulked up in his shoulders and neck this offseason to better withstand the blows that come with playing corner in a physical defense.
It might have helped him in this case. Rakestraw, about 190 lbs, went low on 220-pound running back Tahj Brooks after Brooks caught a screen and rumbled downhill. He took Brooks' knee to the shoulder/back and was down for a long time while being tended to by trainers, before getting to his feet and walking to the sideline. It wound up being a contusion.
"I already kind of knew it was a contusion, but they gotta go through tests regardless. And when it came back negative, just a good sigh of relief," said Rakestraw. "I prayed. I never thought I wasn’t going to play again, I’m just happy to be right."
The fact that Rakestraw made the tackle was another positive in his performance.
"Big back, gotta bring him down somehow," he said. "Just the nature of the game, it’s part of the business. If I didn’t make the tackle he probably would have scored, so sometimes you gotta throw your body in there. That’s what I signed up for."
It was one of five tackles Rakestraw made in the game, including a couple where he came in hot and took care of business: "I’m not scared to throw it up in there, and that’s what we're all about, DBs that can tackle, run and hit."
Rakestraw still has work to do with two weeks left in camp. He started it splitting reps with Rock Ya-Sin for the CB2 job opposite D.J. Reed and is now repping with the second team. He's been passed on the depth chart by Nick Whiteside. He's yet to take advantage of the opportunity that arose when the Lions released Terrion Arnold this summer.
If Rakestraw doesn't pick it up and carve out a role for himself, the Lions will be trying to win this season without contributions from their top two draft picks in 2024 -- possibly even their top four depending on roles for oft-injured backup running back Sione Vaki and injured backup offensive lineman Giovanni Manu.
That's now how Rakestraw is thinking, of course. He's focused on the short-term over the long-term. He admitted he was a little "anxious" taking the field last Thursday for his first game since November of 2024, and felt better after getting the "jitters out." His only goal this season is to make it through each day, each game healthy.
Rakestraw figures the rest will take care of itself.
"Another preseason game coming up," he said. "The thing I gotta do out here is stack days and get better. I had some up and down moments."
He raised his hand on an upward plane and said, "Now I’m just trying to stay here."
