The first time he played in Detroit, the Lions made a strong impression on DeShon Elliott. This was Week 3 of last season when Elliott and the Ravens came to Ford Field and nearly left with a loss, saved at the buzzer by Justin Tucker's record-breaking field goal.
The Lions played their tails off that day, as they did for most of last season under Dan Campbell, which is one of the reasons Elliott signed with the team earlier this month. He's expected to grab a starting job at safety next to Tracy Walker.
"We played Detroit last year and it was a slobber knocker," Elliott said Thursday. "They played so hard and I could just tell from that game how much they loved their coaches. You can always tell that from teams by the way they play. They really bought in and loved the experiences they have in the building. So that was one thing, just on the outside looking in."
Here was another thing. When the Lions reached out to Elliott in free agency, Elliott reached out to former Lions safety Quandre Diggs. The fellow Texas products share the same agent and Elliott, 25, said the 29-year-old Diggs, now a two-time Pro Bowler for the Seahawks, is "like a big brother to me."
Elliott wanted the scoop on playing in Detroit, where Diggs spent the first five seasons of his career. And despite the way his tenure with the Lions ended, kicked to the curb by the prior regime, it comes as no surprise that Diggs spoke highly of the city, its fans and everything they represent. As he told Penei Sewell last season, "I love that place." His message resonated with Elliott.
"It was more of like, the way they play here gives you the character of the city. Saying, gritty, hard-nosed, hard-working people, and that reminds me a lot of Baltimore," Elliott said. "So that was another reason I came here, because I wanted to go somewhere that matched my game. I’ve heard people have been saying Coach said, like, biting knee caps off people, so I feel like that matches how I play."
The way Elliott plays is the way Campbell and defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn want all their guys to play, physically and fearlessly. "I'm aggressive," he said. "I'm gonna put out what I want." Or, in the words of D'Andre Swift, "The safety we just bought in, a dog. You need them type of players." Elliott also comes off as smart and selfless, another thing that matters in the culture Campbell intends to establish in Detroit.
"My style of play and the type of person I am mattered the most, because they want to build a certain type of character in their locker room and I think I bring all the right type of traits," he said.
When healthy, Elliott has been productive in the NFL. In Baltimore, he started all 16 games for the NFL's second-ranked scoring defense in 2020 and racked up 80 tackles, four passes defended, 2.5 sacks and two forced fumbles. That's across-the-board value. And he started six games last season
before a torn biceps and torn pectoral ended his season. That's the thing: Elliott hasn't often been healthy.
In fact, he's suffered season-ending injuries in three of his four years in the NFL, a broken arm as a rookie, a torn-up knee in 2019 and the biceps/pec in 2021. He's hoping his run of misfortune is behind him.
"You can’t predict injuries," Elliott said. "It sucks. I had to get the injury bug out of the way. Hopefully with this fresh start I can work that out, because when I’m on the field I’m very productive. Hopefully I can bring that to Detroit, compete for a starting role and just make this defense better, make this team better and bring the culture that I learned from all the vets in Baltimore."
Campbell has referenced the Ravens a few times as a model for the Lions. A player like Elliott can serve as part of the template. In his short time with his new team, which kicked off optional offseason workouts this week with near-full player participation, Elliott gets the sense that "everyone in this building, they want to prove that Detroit can be great." The same sense he got in Week 3 of last season.
And the same sense he got when he visited with Campbell and the Lions last week, shortly before signing his deal.
"Being with the coaches and really feeling like they love and care for each one of their players, and they want to be great. They’re not out here just collecting a check. They want to make a change, and that was the biggest thing for me. And them just believing in me and giving me the opportunity to compete and to play in Detroit," Elliott said.