By Michael Stets
ALLEN PARK–The Lions missed the playoffs in 2017 after finishing with a 9-7 record and guard T.J. Lang is tired of talking about it.
Speaking to reporters on Thursday, Lang, 30, admitted last season was “Frustrating,” but said he and his teammates just want to put it to bed and focus on 2018.
“There is not one guy in that locker room that is talking about last year,” he said. “Everybody is focused, and there’s new optimism and new excitement around the locker room, and we don’t care about last year anymore. It’s well documented the things what we went through, especially as an offensive line injury-wise and, obviously, performance. So we are not going to hinder on that. We are going to try and learn from our mistakes. But we got some new guys in that room and it’s a totally different team this year. So, we are going to have to figure out what we do well and go from there.”
When asked if there was anything he could point to from last season, the 2017 Pro Bowler said, “The biggest thing that jumps out is the injuries.”
He added: “And I’m not speaking for anybody else, just myself. It was a couple of things here and there and it seemed like I couldn’t shake it. A big part of that in the NFL is luck, you know? But that’s last year. I know everybody else is excited just like I am to get back to work. We are going to try not to talk about last year a whole lot. We know it wasn’t a great year for us, but it’s a new day, it’s a new year, and we are ready to turn the clock forward.”
Lang, who missed three games in 2017 with back and ankle injuries and also a concussion, among other ailments that kept him on the injury list throughout the year, said he needed “A couple of weeks of just resting and lounging around” after the season came to a close to fully heal up and return to health.
“Luckily for me, all the injuries I had last year I didn’t need any surgeries or anything,” said Lang, who is entering his 10th season in the NFL. “I just needed a little bit of time to rest. It came pretty quick. I want to say by February I was feeling pretty good. Just compared to where I’ve been the last couple of years, last year was hip surgery, the year before that was shoulder surgery. I’m not making any big predictions here, but this is the first time I’ve done an offseason workout in three years, so I’m definitely excited about that.”
It’s not exactly a secret that the Lions run game was ranked dead last in the NFL in 2017. And many are wondering how exactly the offense will be able to turn it around for the upcoming season. While Lang had complimentary things to say about new head coach Matt Patricia, “[He] knows how winning football looks.” New offensive line coach Jeff Davidson, “He’s done a lot of good things wherever he’s been.” And new running back LeGarrette Blount, “Any time you can add a guy like that to your roster it’s going to help.” He didn’t have much to say in regards to a plan of attack for the upcoming season. He just stressed that the season is still several months away and right now the focus is solely on “Taking care of ourselves and getting better as individuals.”
So it’s going to be a while until he and his teammates hit the field. But once they do, he said, they will start setting goals for 2018.
“We haven’t really gotten to dive into a lot of things from last year and things that we are going to try and do this year. Everything right now is mostly in the weight room and running on the field. I’m sure that’s a step we will take here soon. It’s no secret, everybody in that room, especially in the line room, wants to be responsible for our part of having a well-balanced offense and that requires you to run the ball effectively. That’s probably going to be an emphasis of ours as we move forward to some on-field drills.”