Three big winners for Lions in preseason victory over Washington

In a game where they played a good number of their starters, the Lions got some big contributions from their reserves to beat the Commanders 17-13 Saturday at Ford Field.

Here are three big winners for Detroit.

DT Skyler Gill-Howard

After the Lions’ first preseason game, defensive tackle Alim McNeill was asked if anyone in the trenches caught his eye. “Sky” he said. “But I knew he was going to do that.” Skyler Gill-Howard just did it again.

The rookie defensive tackle lived in the backfield on Saturday, racking up QB pressures and popping in the run game. Gill-Howard has been on the rise for a couple weeks now. Saturday was his latest and loudest statement that he could make a real impact this season.

"It’s all starting to click now," he said after the Lions' 17-13 win. "I feel pretty — not comfortable — but I just have a good sense of what’s going on out there. I can feel things really quickly and I’m starting to react a lot more quickly, just getting used to the NFL. Felt really explosive out there."

Gill-Howard got off to a slow start in camp, back on the field for the first time since a season-ending ankle injury last October: "It was rough at first, especially in those early days of camp, just acclimating." But he's clearly found his footing. He said that D-coordinator Kelvin Sheppard and D-line Coach Rodgers "want me to be that player that can get to the QB, so they just say, 'Go.'"

So that's what he did on Saturday.

Gill-Howard opened the second drive for the defense with a sack after knifing through the guard and the center, only for it to be wiped out by a holding call in the secondary. He ended that drive by generating a quarterback pressure between the guard and the tackle on third down that forced a throw short of the sticks.

He ended another drive in similar fashion, beating a tackle cleanly to disrupt a pass downfield. Later, Gill-Howard helped Derrick Moore generate a strip-sack by driving back two players on the other end of the line. The two rookie defensive linemen talked about it before the game, "like, it’s a race to the quarterback," said Gill-Howard.

"And I know how fast Derrick is. I had to work my motor through two guys — he only got one guy, so it’s kinda easier for him," he added with a laugh. "But no, it was awesome just to see him make that play. The ref blew the whistle way too early or I might have taken that for a touchdown."

And lest anyone limit him to being a pass-rusher, Gill-Howard capped his day by shooting through the middle of the offensive line and dropping the running back for a three-yard loss. As an undersized D-lineman at 6'0, 280, especially in the trenches, Gill-Howard knows that "I have to show that I can play the run, too,." He's trending in the right direction, with lots of snaps Saturday on early downs.

"Obviously I can move around guys (on the rush), but when that run game gets gritty I have to be better," he said. "Today I wasn’t the best in the run game, but I didn’t allow too much. I did a decent job against Cincinnati, and today I took a step back up."

On the tackle for loss, Gill-Howard said he "knew exactly what (the Commanders) were running" after it came up in a film session on Friday. He took advantage of the A-gap being open, shot past the guard and made the play.

Clearest way to tell Dan Campbell likes a young player? When he assigns that player a nickname, as he did with McNeill from almost the moment he showed up in 2021. First he was Buttercup, then Twinkle Toes. Amon-Ra St. Brown, that same year, was the Sun God.

Dan Campbell shows affection through nicknames. It's one of the clearest signs he likes a young player, like when he started calling McNeill "Twinkle Toes" from almost the moment he showed up in 2021, and, later, "Buttercup." That same camp, Campbell dubbed fellow rookie Amon-Ra St. Brown the Sun God.

And Gill-Howard is apparently now Sun Bleach, thanks to the blonde tips of his dreads.

"And Sun Bleach just continues to make plays," said Campbell. "You can feel him out there. He is just relentless, and he plays snap to whistle, and he's all-out. And he has to be right — he does —because he's not a huge guy. But he knows who he is and he knows how he has to play, and he plays with high effort, he's crafty, he’s explosive and he's violent."

Behind McNeill and Tyleik Williams, Gill-Howard has a real chance to earn a rotational role at defensive tackle as a rookie.

"I rushed good last week, but could I do it again?" he said. "And I’m proving not only to myself but to these defensive coaches, and the whole NFL world, that I belong in this league."

TE Jackson Meeks

Meeks is very much playing for a spot on the 53-man roster. Saturday will strengthen his case. He was a difference-maker on special teams and Detroit’s leading receiver.

The day started slowly for Meeks. He got beat in pass protection on a play that ended in a sack and dropped a pass in the flat a few plays later. But he came to life as a pass-catcher as the game wore on and handled most of his blocking assignments. He finished with four catches for 33 yards. His best was his last, improvising with Luke Altmyer on 4th and 3 to extend the Lions’ final scoring drive.

The Lions were running a "mesh-rail" concept on the play, said Altmyer, designed to beat man coverage on third-and-short. Then the Commanders dropped into a three-deep zone and took away everything underneath. The Lions were in trouble. Meeks had the presence of mind to shake free of a linebacker in the flat and get open for his quarterback.

"Luckily my O-line gave me a good amount of time, they rushed four, I was able to escape a little bit and Meeks just found an open space and I just tried to draw the play out as long as I could," said Altmeyer. "It was a gotta-have-it fourth down, so it was great to see him keep playing, stretch out the play. That's what you don't really get in practice a whole lot. It was a good moment."

Importantly for a player on the bubble, Meeks made two great plays on special teams. He stopped a kick return with a strong tackle to start the fourth quarter, flexing his arms as he emerged from the pile. And he forced a fumble on another kick return with a diving swipe at the ball-carrier after beating his man to the spot, erasing Washington’s chance to take the lead. It all but sealed the game.

Meeks has done everything the Lions have asked of him since making the switch from wide receiver to tight end last year, from bulking up to embracing the dirtier parts of the position. And he remains a real threat as a pass-catcher against linebackers and safeties, having arrived in Detroit as an X receiver. The athleticism is real, and the play-strength is coming. The Lions like him a lot.

"He continues to grow, and this tight end thing is still kind of new," said Campbell. "The good news for Meeks is he's strong, and he's willing, and he's smart. It's just time on task. But you see how he attacks special teams. He gives our guys fits. That was good to see. I thought he did some really good things today. He made some critical plays."

Sam LaPorta, Brock Wright and Tyler Conklin are ahead of Meeks on the depth chart, and the Lions might be hard-pressed to keep four tight ends on the 53. But with LaPorta coming off a back injury and his status for the start of the season in question due to a recent hip injury, it might make sense for the Lions to keep Meeks on the roster as insurance.

By now, he’s certainly on the radar of opposing teams.

RB Trayveon Williams

Before getting signed by the Lions, Trayveon Williams was putting himself through two-a-day workouts. (And it shows when you size him up.) When he finished his second of the day a week or so ago, he had six missed calls — a few from his agent, a few more from his mom, urging him to call his agent back. The Lions wanted to sign him, and wanted him on a plane to Detroit that night. The next day, Williams was at practice in Allen Park. So began Year 8 for Williams in the NFL.

He arrived in Detroit as a camp body, amid injuries at running back to Isiah Pacheco (knee) and then Jacob Saylors (ankle) in the preseason opener.

But Williams is proving to possibly be more than that. He’s 5’8 with a neck like a fire hydrant and runs with every ounce of his 206-pound frame. He had Jahmyr Gibbs, Jameson Williams and Lions running backs coach Tashard Choice fired up on the sideline Saturday after charging downhill for a 14-yard gain in the second quarter.

"After that first run, it was an outside zone and I cut back, I could see T-Choice and Jah over there pretty lit," Williams said with a big grin. "That's the type of thing you love, man. When you come into a new place, you gotta earn everybody’s respect. It’s an amazing team and there’s a lot of guys here that do their job at a very high level, and I'm excited to be able to have their respect in that regard. It’s a good feeling to look over there and see them lit. I love it here."

Williams has been a lot of places over his career. Last year alone he was with the Patriots, Chargers and the Browns. Before that, he spent six seasons with the Bengals, getting most of his work on special teams. He does have some experience as a kick returner, which could appeal to Dave Fipp and the Lions.

But Williams also has some juice on offense: "I feel like I can do everything. I can run the ball, catch the ball out of the backfield, I can be a bruiser, can make guys miss. Whenever you get the ball in your hands, just be a football player," he said.

He kickstarted a drive in the third quarter by ripping off 24 yards on a screen where he showed some shiftiness, then finished it by pounding the ball into the end zone on three straight runs starting from the 10. He finished with 60 yards on 11 touches.

Williams said the Lions offered him "no promises" when he signed, just the chance "to come in and compete like everybody that’s here."

"And today showed that," he said. "Didn’t take a lot of reps throughout the week, but they told me I'd have an opportunity to go out there and perform on game day, and that’s it. No matter how they come, it’s a league of opportunities, and you gotta take advantage of em -- because if you don't, somebody else will."