Josh Reynolds can laugh now about his first game with the Lions, far enough removed from the disappointment. Plucked off waivers midway through the 2021 season to breathe life into a dead passing attack, Reynolds didn't make a catch on a cold, wet day in Cleveland. Tim Boyle threw for 77 yards and the Lions lost 13-10 to the Browns to fall to 0-9-1.
"Yeah," Reynolds said with a self-effacing laugh after Detroit's over Carolina on Sunday. "It didn’t go well."
The next week, Jared Goff was back under center for the Lions, determined to play through a sore oblique in his first Thanksgiving game in Detroit. On his first pass to Reynolds since they were teammates with the Rams, Goff hit him for a 16-yard gain. On his next, they connected for a 39-yard touchdown.
Goff had spent his first nine games with the Lions throwing short and going nowhere, with no one to help him stretch the field. Reynolds had spent five games with the Titans barely getting the ball. Reunited, they have found themselves in Detroit.
"Just making plays, baby," said Reynolds. "That’s the rapport we’ve had for a long time. It’s awesome to be able to get to clicking on it for real, and we’re just going to keep it rolling.”
With Amon-Ra St. Brown sidelined by an injury Sunday, Reynolds stepped up again for Goff. He caught four of five passes for 76 yards, including a sure-handed, toe-tap touchdown that put the Lions up 21-7 late in the first half. (He also redeemed his only drop of the year by making a 27-yard back-shoulder catch on the very next play.) Asked about the toe-drag-swag grabs he seems to be making a habit of, Reynolds grinned and said, "Receiver drills! Doing your work, man."
Goff came back to life with the Lions when Ben Johnson took over the passing game in 2021. It's not a coincidence that Reynolds arrived at the same time. A precision passer who relies on timing, Goff throws to receivers he trusts. One misstep can turn a completion into a pick. Reynolds runs clean routes with crisp breaks. He has soft hands, and long, spindly arms when he needs them. All 16 of his catches this season have gone for first downs. He's fifth in the NFL in yards per catch (18.2). Tyreek Hill is sixth.
"He and Goff are in unbelievable sync together," Dan Campbell said Tuesday on 97.1 The Ticket. "Goff’s got a real good bead on what he’s doing by how he runs routes and comes out of them, and he trusts that he’s going to be where he’s supposed to be. He is, right now, you can’t argue it, our most explosive receiver. The proof's in the pudding."
It took Reynolds and Goff time to build this chemistry over four seasons in LA, where the "schemes were a little different, so there weren’t as many jump-ball opportunities for me," Reynolds said. He said he used the experience to hone different skills as a receiver, which has helped him in Detroit. At the same time, he and Goff have picked up where they left off.
"I do feel that, and it’s been nice, man," Reynolds said. "I think I’m a good safety cushion for him. I’m just hoping to keep making plays for him so he keeps throwing me the ball."
There was concern, at least externally, about what might happen to Detroit's offense this season in the event of an injury to St. Brown. The receiving depth looked thin, especially with Jameson Williams suspended to start the year. Reynolds shook his head at this suggestion after Detroit scored 42 points on Sunday. He pounded his chest with a smile and said, "Love my boy Saint, man, but we got some dogs in our receiver room. So we had all the faith in the world."
Without St. Brown, Goff only had his best game of the season. He completed passes to eight different players and threw three touchdowns, including two to rookie tight end Sam LaPorta. Even after a no-show in the box score in the Lions' Week 3 win over the Falcons, Reynolds is on pace for career-highs across the board. A 1,000-yard, 10-touchdown season is within his reach if he stays healthy, which is legitimate WR2 production in the NFL. In fact, on Reynolds' two-year, $6 million deal, the Lions are getting borderline WR1 numbers for WR3 money.
In an offense with a bonafide star in St. Brown and shiny weapons in Williams and Jahmyr Gibbs, Reynolds, 28, is the unsung hero. He doesn't make many headlines, but he keeps making plays. Asked if he feels like he's proving himself this season, Reynolds channeled Goff and said, "To tell you the truth, I don’t care."
"I don’t got anything to prove to anybody, man. Every day I work hard and I try to make the plays that come to me. And all that outside noise, that’s all it is," he said. "People have their opinions, they don’t see the day-to-day grind that we go through. ... It’s tough to lose a guy like Saint, but we pride ourselves on being able to make plays top-down in the receiving room. So that’s what we did."
Thanks to Campbell, Reynolds is a man of many legs and arms in Detroit. In one breath last summer, Campbell called him "the praying mantis, a spider of death, and a freaking serpent." In other words, Reynolds is "a different athlete. He's slippery, man." This season, Reynolds' face is plastered above the entrance to Ford Field. When he's introduced to the fans before games, he strikes the praying mantis pose, one leg raised, arms outstretched, ready to strike. He's a confident player, doing confident things.
"He just shows up for us," said Campbell. "I told him the other night, ‘You are about as trustworthy a player as we have on this team.’ We trust the hell out of him. And the other thing is, he can line up in every one of the (receiver) positions without having to practice them. I told him it’s a blessing and a curse: sometimes we ask you to do things you hadn’t done because you’re the guy who can handle all that mentally. To have him is a true asset for us."
Two years ago, Goff was kicked to the curb by the Rams. And Reynolds was tossed aside a few months after signing with the Titans. Both players arrived in Detroit with their reputations at stake. Was Goff a starting quarterback in the NFL? Was Reynolds a reliable receiver? The league was beginning to tell them no. They've responded, together, by making the league pay. (It might be the Lions paying them next.)
"It's certain situations," said Reynolds. "What happened to him in LA to end up here, you can go one way. You can either fall into despair or rise to the occasion and really have that chip on your shoulder, and I think that’s what he’s done. And then for me, going over there with the Titans and not working out, to come over here with a chip on my shoulder and finally get believed in, I think that’s what’s big."
They're too deferential to make proclamations. Reynolds and Goff will stand on their play, and let others decide where they stand in the NFL. But allow Reynolds to pound his chest. That's the loudest anyone's banged the drum for him in Detroit.