Washington Football Team Vs. Cowboys Film Review - Tyler’s Takes

 

By Mark Tyler  Oct 27, 2020, 5:03pm EDT 

64 Comments

Brandon Scherff: Now healthy again, Scherff is back to being a complete mauler!

https://twitter.com/Tiller56/status/1321077946023661568

https://twitter.com/Tiller56/status/1321078943160696832

Lions' Trey Flowers provides 4,000 meals of gratitude to Henry Ford Hospital workers

 

Rod Beard

The Detroit News

Published 1:15 p.m. ET Oct. 27, 2020 | Updated 6:38 p.m. ET Oct. 27, 2020

 

As the pandemic continues to surge in Michigan and around the country, Lions defensive end Trey Flowers wanted to make sure that the work that first responders are putting in isn’t going unnoticed.

Through his foundation, Flowers of the Future, Flowers donated 4,000 meals over the past two weeks to workers at Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit. In a partnership with Happy’s Pizza, Flowers’ foundation served 1,000 meals of pizza, wings and fries to show their gratitude for their efforts during the pandemic.

“There are still people dying and still people who are sick and healthcare workers are still putting in energy, putting in the time and putting in efforts to try to get it under control,” Flowers said. “I just wanted to show a token of appreciation for them in this unprecedented time of the pandemic.”

The meals were split over the past two weeks, with 1,000 served each of the previous two Wednesdays and Thursdays, during a morning and evening shift. Each meal was individually boxed to reduce the risk of serving them in a bigger group setting and so the workers could enjoy them at their leisure.

Flowers said he developed a greater appreciation for healthcare workers after being around his sister, Jazzmine, who is a breast cancer survivor after being diagnosed at the age of 21.

“When she was going through her chemotherapy, there were people there to help her when I visited," Flowers said. "When I took her to some of her therapy appointments, I saw firsthand how important it is to just have nurses and a lot of other people behind the scenes that a lot of people don't really notice. We think about doctors and surgeons but there are a lot of people that help make it go. Just seeing them, I understand that there are a lot of people behind this and a lot of people working.

“There are families and kids who are missing their mothers and fathers who are out there working. It just makes me appreciate people in the healthcare industry that much more because it's really an unselfish act when you leave your family and come in to help someone who may be sick or may have a disease. They put their health at risk or their family's health at risk, but they still choose to do it.”

Although Flowers wasn’t able to be at Henry Ford Hospital in person to see the meals delivered because of distancing precautions during the NFL season, he was happy to see that his efforts made a difference.

Because of the distancing and precautions, it’s still difficult to put on events and to show his gratitude the way Flowers normally would. He sees through videos that the workers are thankful, but Flowers’ nature is more like he has to have with quarterbacks — up-close and personal with some contact.

“That's one of the things that I don't like about this pandemic, just the fact that I'm more of a hands-on type of guy. I like to feel the vibes, the energy, see the smiles, get the hugs,” Flowers said. “It's kind of hard for me. I'll do whatever but for me, it's just seeing people happy and seeing people appreciative, with joy and smiles on their faces.

“I still wanted to do something just to let them know that I and so many other people out here are looking out for them.”

Flowers of the Future typically seeks to serve children, including donating TVs and gaming systems to Methodist Children’s Home Society and Teen HYPE in Detroit.

The foundation also has done considerable work in Flowers’ hometown of Huntsville, Ala., including scholarships for students in the Huntsville City School and a program with the Boys & Girls Club of North Alabama.

 

Michigan voting online townhall to feature Detroit Lions Trey Flowers

 

Detroit Lions defensive end Trey Flowers (90) celebrates during the second half of an NFL football game against the Atlanta Falcons, Sunday, Oct. 25, 2020, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson) (Copyright 2020 The Associated Press. All rights reserved)

 

Published: October 27, 2020, 6:32 am

 

Detroit Lions player Trey Flowers and Lieutenant Governor Garlin Gilchrist will be part of an online voting townhall this afternoon titled “Your Vote Matters: How to Cast Yours in Michigan."

Eligible Michigan voters can learn their options when it comes to registering to vote and casting their ballot.

The event is being hosted by the “Players Coalition” which is an independent advocacy organization made up of over 1,400 professional athletes, coaches and team owners.

The online townhall gets underway at 5 p.m. and to register to be apart of it click here.

Annual Ohio State Blood Battle comes amid blood shortages during pandemic

 

by Chris White

Monday, October 26th 2020

<p>FILE - 38th Annual Blood Battle between Ohio State and Michigan Nov. 2019. (WSYX/WTTE) {/p}

 

COLUMBUS, Ohio (WSYX/WTTE) — The 39th Annual Blood Battle comes as blood donations are in high demand during the coronavirus pandemic.

Two-time Heisman winner Archie Griffin and former NFL-star Andy Katzenmoyer are helping to kick off the battle at The Schottenstein Center this Wednesday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.

“As one of the top hospitals in the nation, the Midwest’s largest cancer hospital and the area’s only academic medical center, we treat the most complex patients and perform the area’s most complicated treatments and procedures requiring blood and blood products,” said Dr. Scott Scrape, a pathologist and director of Transfusion Medicine at Ohio State Wexner Medical Center. “Right now, that supply is low due to the pandemic, and this push to restock blood supply will help so many people across the state.”

 

In 2019, more than 3,400 blood donations were collected between Ohio State and Michigan during the competition.

The Blood Battle runs through Nov. 25, with a goal of 1,500 total donations. Organizers sat there will be dozens of Blood Battle drives in and around the campus during the months of October and November.

More details can be found online here.

Two Vrabel Calls Boosted Titans' Chances to Beat Steelers

 

David Boclair

14 hours ago

 

NASHVILLE – Mike Vrabel relies heavily on the notion that players win games and coaches lose them.

He stuck to that philosophy Monday, the day after his Tennessee Titans lost 27-24 to the Pittsburgh Steelers. It was the Titans’ first loss of the season.

“It's always going to be when we play well, it will be the players that determine the outcome,” Vrabel said Monday.

The outcome was not what he wanted, but Vrabel did his part to help the Titans win. According to the athletics analytics website EdjSports, he actually enhanced his team’s chances in the matchup between the AFC’s only remaining unbeaten teams with a couple of his fourth quarter decisions.

First, with the Titans behind by 10 points (27-17) with 10:19 to play, Vrabel elected to go for it on fourth-and-goal from the 1 rather than attempt a short field goal that would have made it a one-score game. The Steelers were called for defensive pass interference on the play, and on the next snap Derrick Henry scored on a 1-yard touchdown run.

EdjSports’ analysis determined that the decision to kick would have meant an 11.9 percent chance for Tennessee to win at that time. The decision to go for it improved the chance for victory to 18.1 percent, a difference of 6.2 percent in the Titans’ favor.

Based on the numbers, no other NFL coach made a single call on Sunday that improved his team’s opportunity for success as much.

The second-best call, according to EdjSports, came from Seattle’s Pete Carroll, who went for it on fourth-and-2 from the Arizona 3 with 6:50 to play and his team ahead by three points. That choice improved the Seahawks’ chances 4.9 percent in a game they ultimately lost.

EdjSports also highlighted Vrabel’s choice to accept an offensive pass interference penalty against the Steelers, which made it third-and-12 from the Tennessee 19 with 2:40 to go rather than fourth-and-1. Safety Amani Hooker intercepted a pass on the next play, which gave the ball to the offense and ultimately led to Stephen Gostkowski’s unsuccessful game-tying field goal attempt with 19 seconds remaining.

“I was talking to [referee] Shawn [Hochuli] there, he told me it was going to be fourth [down], and I said, ‘It's going to be really short,’ and he said, ‘Yep,’” Vrabel said. “I thought that just kind of having watched Pittsburgh and their philosophy that they probably would have gone for it. I felt like at that point in time, backing them up would have been the right thing to do.”

Analytics agreed. From EdjSports’ Week 7 analysis:

The Titans trailed the Steelers by three, and Pittsburgh faced 3rd and 2 at the Tennessee 9-yard line, giving the Titans 14.2% GWC. The Steelers gained one yard setting up 4th and 1, however, there was an offensive pass interference penalty on Pittsburgh. Vrabel chose to accept the penalty, giving Pittsburgh 3rd and 12 on the 19-yard line, increasing Tennessee’s GWC to 22.3%. Had Vrabel declined the penalty, Steelers coach Mike Tomlin would have had a decision to make: go for it on 4th and 1 (Titans GWC 10.2%) or kick a field goal (Titans GWC 28.0%). Vrabel must have expected Tomlin to go for it and made the correct call to accept the penalty. The interception on the next play increased the Titans’ GWC by 14.7%.

In his first two seasons as an NFL head coach, Vrabel has taken some heat for his decision-making.

Increasingly, though, he has started to build a reputation as a coach who gets the most out of every game and gives his team every opportunity to win. The NFL even implemented a rule change during the offseason based on his ability to manipulate the clock.

He likes to say that any loss is on the coaches. In this case, it simply is not true.

Lions observations: T.J. Hockenson, Trey Flowers rise up vs. the Falcons

 

By Chris Burke and Nick Baumgardner Oct 26, 2020

 

There’s an old saying in baseball, reserved for check-swing singles or 400-foot fly-ball outs: “They all look the same in the scorebook.” It applies to wins and losses, too, across all sports. Did the Lions catch a huge break late in Sunday’s 23-22 escape at Atlanta? Absolutely. Does it make the win count for any less in the standings? Nope.

No matter how it happened, Detroit has clawed its way back to .500 at 3-3, matching its win total from a season ago. Ten observations off a wild Week 7 game:

1. The past two opponents have been far from dynamic rushers, but the Lions’ adjustments after the bye week continue to help. Moreover, the Lions are starting to get more consistent physicality at the line of scrimmage from their rotations up front. John Penisini has been able to help set more of a tone early, as he did Sunday in a package with Danny Shelton and Nick Williams. This might have been Da’Shawn Hand’s best game from a run-defense perspective.

Detroit is no longer asking its middle linebacker to two-gap the center as much, and while the Lions went with more odd fronts again vs. Atlanta after sprinkling in some last week against Jacksonville, the fight at the point of attack felt better. Atlanta has rushed for more yards this season than New Orleans, for whatever it’s worth. The Lions allowed just 66 yards on 26 carries. It wasn’t perfect. It got worse as the game wore on. The tackling still comes and goes.

But most important: The Lions are forcing teams to earn what they get. Just do that. Against Green Bay and New Orleans, Detroit’s schemes and disorganization resulted in far too many free yards. The last two weeks have been better. — Nick Baumgardner

https://twitter.com/Lions/status/1320547361366695936

2. Offensive coordinator Darrell Bevell said last week that the next steps for T.J. Hockenson — how the second-year tight end could earn a bigger share of the passing attack — were “to continue to gain some separation and kind of come through with some big plays for us.”

Check and check on those notes.

Obviously, Hockenson had the game’s biggest catch on the final play from scrimmage. All told, though, he finished with five grabs for 59 yards and that TD, which put him back in line with his Weeks 1-3 performances (4.3 receptions, 57 yards on average). Better yet, ahead of the Monday night game, here are the players who created more separation on their targets in Week 7, per Next Gen Stats

• Deebo Samuel, 49ers (7.0 yards)
• Evan Engram, Giants (5.2 yards)
• Christian Kirk, Cardinals (5.1 yards)

That’s it. That’s the whole list. Hockenson checked in at 5.0, matching Seattle’s D.K. Metcalf, Carolina’s Curtis Samuel and Atlanta tight end Hayden Hurst. It marked a big jump from performances like he had in, for example, Week 6 (3.5 average yards of separation) or Week 3 (2.3).

Those numbers can be juiced a bit — Hockenson’s final grab, on Detroit’s final drive, featured a sizable cushion as Atlanta tried to prevent anything deep. They also can look more impressive when a defense plays a lot of zone, as the Falcons appeared to do Sunday. Still, pass catchers have to find the space within those zones.

Bevell’s critique of Hockenson was a bit of self-scouting, too. The Lions have to keep working to help get Hockenson open, be it via alignment or motion.

His catches Sunday spread the field, sideline to sideline. That’s a good sign. — Chris Burke

3. The injuries to Desmond Trufant and Justin Coleman have heaped so much work on Amani Oruwariye and Jeff Okudah. There have been some hair-pulling moments of frustration on the back end, but you can already see what extra time is doing for Oruwariye’s growth. And while it doesn’t seem like it as much on the surface right now, this should help Okudah so much as he goes forward.

Okudah’s far from a finished product and is still struggling in certain spots. But he’s improved each week. He does need to trust himself more, though. He got flagged for defensive pass interference Sunday on a route that he covered perfectly. He shoved a receiver at the last second and didn’t have to. If he trusts his technique there and doesn’t panic, it’s a pass breakup or an incompletion.

We’ve seen this a few times from Okudah, but he has to continue to find ways to build his confidence. Oruwariye, meantime, was a bit more up-and-down Sunday. But he’s still growing, too. Getting one of Trufant or Coleman back should help at corner. But Oruwariye and Okudah still need more reps, as there’s plenty of growth potential with each. — Baumgardner

4. Matthew Stafford had been fine through the Lions’ five games, but the passing attack as a whole was struggling to attack two key areas: downfield and between the hash marks. Then, Sunday, this:

The Falcons gave Stafford a handful of those throws, on Detroit’s drives at the end of the first half and end of the game. But the Lions’ QB also looked a lot more like his old self in his willingness to attack tight windows. That was especially true with Kenny Golladay, at all levels, and with Marvin Jones, across the middle.

“It felt like everybody had 50 yards at least,” Stafford said. “Everybody was involved. Still some plays out there I wish we could have back, but from a pass-game standpoint, it felt good.”

With just Monday night’s game left, Stafford sits atop the Week 7 leaderboard in average completed air yards (per Next Gen Stats) — how far downfield his throws traveled before reaching their receivers. He clocked in at 9.8 yards Sunday, at least a full yard out in front of every other quarterback, save for Carson Wentz (9.3).

It’s a massive uptick from Stafford’s first five games: 7.1, 5.5, 5.1, 7.5 and 6.1. The Lions’ late-game desperation offers some of the explanation, of course, but not all of it. According to that chart above, Stafford hit on 13 of 15 throws beyond 10 yards, and on all seven of his attempts of 10-plus yards between the hash marks. — Burke

5. Halapoulivaati Vaitai can be really impressive in the ground game, when he’s fresh. He’s big, powerful and bends pretty well for someone with that frame. A lot of power both in his base and upper body. Vaitai still has the occasional swing and miss in the run game. But when he engages, it can be impressive.

Health has been an issue up front all year. As this game got longer, Vaitai’s effectiveness at the point of attack seemed to wear off. He wasn’t alone there either, but it felt far less dominant. He’s had a foot injury to work through. He was dehydrated last week in Jacksonville. It’s hard to say where his health is at right now, but it’s probably not 100 percent.

So, now, the question. If/when Joe Dahl is ready to come back, do the Lions push Vaitai out to tackle and essentially replace Tyrell Crosby with Dahl? Tough call. Crosby has been up-and-down, too. Both he and Vaitai allowed a pair of pressures last week. The Lions’ offensive line is fighting through injuries right now, but it’s still fighting. — Baumgardner

6. Where would this Lions pass rush be without Romeo Okwara? He had both of his team’s sacks in Atlanta, including the forced fumble that helped Detroit to a 16-14, fourth-quarter lead. He also accounted for half of the Lions’ six QB hits, he’s leading them in QB pressures for 2020 (10) and he’s already halfway to his career high of 7.5 sacks for the season.

“I think Romeo has been unbelievable,” Matt Patricia said. “Really, he and Trey Flowers are two guys that come to work every single day and they make each other better.”

Flowers, by the way, is playing at an extremely high level right now, across the board — see: the fourth-down pass break-up he had while dropping into zone coverage Sunday. But Patricia trusts both in all situations, which is more of a revelatory statement on Okwara, whose exact role this season was uncertain headed into training camp. He’s only logged one official start (New Orleans), but he’s playing upward of 60 percent of the defensive snaps.

Under-the-radar example of Okwara’s impact: On multiple occasions Sunday, Atlanta QB Matt Ryan ran a play-action and bootlegged to his right … only to find Okwara waiting for him, having read the misdirection. Ryan threw at least two incompletions off those setups. — Burke

https://twitter.com/Lions/status/1320451407959511040

7. It feels like this has to stay as close to situational as possible. But when Jarrad Davis comes in as a third-down bull-rusher — preferably up the middle against a running back — the Lions’ pass rush basically doubles in effectiveness. Davis had two quarterback hits in this game, both at critical times.

The Lions have started to carve out more of a specialty rush role for him the past few weeks and when he’s been able to focus on that and little else, Davis has been effective. Same time, Detroit also had him on the field for non-rush reps last week and things were — as they have been the last few years — inconsistent. He can’t be trusted much in coverage and his dependability as a tackler against the run is just too hit-or-miss right now.

If he can pick up the rest of his game as he focuses on pinning his ears back and causing havoc in the backfield, the Lions can absolutely use Davis as a complementary piece the rest of the season. — Baumgardner

8. OK, it can’t all be fun and games. The Lions were at the absolute brink against a 1-5 team under an interim coach, so a few things went wrong before the Stafford-led, late-game miracle.

Atop the list: Detroit’s continued insistence on force-feeding Adrian Peterson, especially in short-yardage spots. Were it not for the offense’s heroics on the final drive, it would’ve been easy to point way back to a fourth-and-1 attempt from the Atlanta 3 — Stafford under center, Jones motioning across, Peterson as the single back for a telegraphed run. The Falcons stuffed Peterson in a similar situation (third-and-1) in the fourth quarter, only for a too-many-men-on-the-field-penalty to save Detroit.

Plain and simple, the offense is more predictable with Peterson on the field, especially in those likely run situations.

That’s certainly not all on Peterson, either. The Lions left Dante Fowler unblocked on the fourth-down try, expecting Jones’ motion to hold him — it didn’t. Multiple Falcons came crashing through the B-gap on third down, as Jonah Jackson lost his balance. But when the Lions have between 1 and 3 yards to go, Peterson is converting about 54.5 percent of his carries; Swift is at 62.5 percent. The rookie has a much smaller sample, but he’s shown he can be effective in those spots.

And his presence alone forces opposing defenses into different looks and personnel, because they have to account for him as a receiving threat. The Lions still need to be able to run in short yardage. There’s no rule, though, that says they have to go with heavy looks and a bigger back when they do. — Burke

9. The coverage mixing felt pretty darn close to even in terms of man vs. zone. The Lions really had Ryan crossed up early in this game. Atlanta was clearly expecting man in a few situations where the Lions surprised them with zone looks.

The Lions are also mixing up some of their standard man-free looks as well. On one third down early in the game, Detroit showed two deep safeties only to roll into man coverage with a robber in the hole just before the snap. Ryan was late to adjust and there was nowhere to go with the ball. Eventually, though, adjustments were made. The Falcons started to find underneath stuff in the middle of the field, yards the Lions were going to give them so long as they weren’t allowing deep shots.

And while the overall discipline with regard to technique in coverage is still, at times, suspect — again, defensive coordinator Cory Undlin has done a better job of giving the team a chance the last two weeks. They’re not as predictable. Sometimes the call gets beat, but that’s football. When the same call gets beat over and over again and it keeps coming back — that’s problematic. Undlin and Patricia have started to settle in with what this group can and can’t do, and they’re finding ways to keep the team alive. — Baumgardner

10. Big-time bounce back performance by Jones, who caught five passes for 80 yards. Four of those receptions moved the chains. This was much more reminiscent of the Jones we’ve come to expect, and the Jones who was on display during training camp: a still-exceptional physical specimen with the body control and positioning to make difficult catches.

What did look different Sunday was how he made those grabs — as mentioned before, several came over the middle of the field. Too often in previous outings, the Lions allowed opposing defenses to take Jones out of the mix simply by draping deep safety coverage over top of him. Against the Falcons, Bevell utilized his veteran receiver instead as a zone-busting weapon between the second and third levels. (The Falcons employed a similar tactic with Julio Jones as the game progressed.)

The resulting 80-yard performance was Jones’ best since Week 9 in Oakland last year, Stafford’s final game of 2019. — Burke

(Photo: Dale Zanine / USA Today)

Trey Flowers' elite all-around showing boosts Detroit’s defensive line in dominating win

 

Updated Oct 19, 2020; Posted Oct 19, 2020

Jacksonville Jaguars wide receiver D.J. Chark is sandwiched between Detroit Lions defensive end Trey Flowers (90) and cornerback Jeff Okudah, right, after catching a pass during the second half of an NFL football game, Sunday, Oct. 18, 2020, in Jacksonville, Fla. (AP Photo/Phelan M. Ebenhack)AP

 

By Benjamin Raven | braven@mlive.com

ALLEN PARK -- The Detroit Lions made some critical defensive adjustments in Sunday’s win against the Jacksonville Jaguars. Detroit sent more pressure and dropped back in zone coverage more than it had all season.

While Matt Patricia’s defensive adjustments deserve credit, it’s hard to look past what Trey Flowers accomplished in Jacksonville. The Lions defensive end was a monster against the run and turned in a picture-perfect strip-sack of Jaguars quarterback Gardner Minshew. Flowers even left his mark dropping back in coverage, which drew his head coach’s attention on Monday.

“Trey is someone that shows up every single week and does stuff that you’re just like -- it’s almost clinic-like teaching,” Patricia said via Zoom. "Phenomenal play on the edge -- they ran the stretch over to him, he sets the edge on the tight end and knocks the line of scrimmage back by 2 yards and escapes off the play and makes a very violent tackle. That was phenomenal. He had a great rush off the edge, obviously, and turned the ball over with the strip-sack, which was good. I’d say one of my more favorite plays I saw -- he actually had a play where he was in coverage.

“There was a crosser coming from the other side and, I mean, he looked like he had been doing that naturally all the time. Maybe less coaching is better right there because he played that thing phenomenally. I just think that he’s a guy that pays attention to the details. He goes out and works extremely hard every single day to just be the best that he can be. I think it’s a great example for everybody that’s around him of how you need to approach every single week. You don’t know what plays are going to impact the game, but just go out and focus on that play, and if it’s not a great play, then go out and do the best you can on the next play. I think that’s just how he is. That’s how he’s wired. That was good to see.”

Someone order a Chark sandwich 🥪❓@III_Flowers X @jeffokudah 😤 pic.twitter.com/G4nF1JSubm

— Detroit Lions (@Lions) October 19, 2020

Flowers was credited with two pressures and three tackles to go with that perfectly executed strip-sack. Pro Football Focus ranked him as the top overall edge defender from Sunday’s games. He slotted second in the pass rush and seventh against the run. Flowers even brought home PFF’s fifth-best coverage marks at his position with the fine play.

Detroit’s defense sacked Minshew only once but hit him another four times while racking up a ridiculous 21 pressures. The Lions entered with only 43 pressures on the season through their first four games, which was quite the turnaround performance.

It was even better against the run, with Detroit’s league-worst run defense holding Jacksonville to just 44 yards on the ground. James Robinson could not get it going, with the rooking running back running 12 times for 29 yards. Heading into the Week 6 matchup, Flowers said he thought the pass rush would improve once the Lions stopped the run. Well, it certainly worked out that way on Sunday.

“We knew it was a task coming in here to Jacksonville; they were a running team. We knew it was a challenge,” Flowers said after the game. “We stood up to the challenge throughout practice and here today. Yeah, it definitely allowed us to control the game. Obviously, like I said in the past if they can run the ball. Why would they pass it? We got them one-dimensional by stopping the run. Got them one-dimensional, know we can pin our heads back as a defensive front (and) dial a lot of different things.”

https://twitter.com/erikschlitt/status/1318237168272289794

Flowers and Romeo Okwara have dominated snaps on the edge, and that continued in Week 6. Okwara led the team with four pressures, landed two quarterback hits and also recovered the fumble.

Sixth-round rookie John Penisini has continued to see his role grow on the interior, seeing another 21 snaps in Jacksonville. PFF was impressed with Penisini, ranking him as the fifth-best interior defender against the run. Patricia gave the rookie props in his Monday media availability, saying Penisini’s ability in the middle of the line opens up other avenues to move guys around in the trenches.

For those wondering what the rotation on the inside looked like, Nick Williams (33), Danny Shelton (32), Da’Shawn Hand (32) and Penisini (21) led an evenly split charge.

“I think John has done a good job all the way through from camp and just really steadily improving,” Patricia said. "That’s something that we saw -- his play was able to get better in through some of the practices that we’ve had. I thought it was good to kind of put him in the middle and see how that anchored some things for us to allow those other guys like you said to move around and maybe be in some different positions.

“It was good to see. I thought he played well. He’s strong. He can play very low to the ground. He does a good job with his hand placement, and it was good to see for his first chance to get a lot of reps out there and play really well. We’ll see how that goes moving forward, but I was proud of him for going out and competing hard.”

Trey Flowers earns PFF Team of the Week honors

https://twitter.com/PFF_Lions/status/1318374938139656192?s=20

The Lions Highest Graded Defensive Player in Week 6: DE Trey Flowers

 

https://twitter.com/PFF_Lions/status/1318369582332153858?s=20

The Lions Highest Graded Offensive Player in Week 6: TE T.J. Hockenson

 

https://twitter.com/PFF_Lions/status/1318369084732473344

Detroit Lions DE Trey Flowers donates 4,000 meals to hospital workers

 

• Kory Woods
• October 19, 2020

When Trey Flowers signed with the Detroit Lions, he immediately stated his intent to ingratiate himself in the community through community service.

Before the Lions grabbed their second victory of the season yesterday, he continued those efforts.

And he did it was a familiar brand in community.

Through his Flowers of the Future Foundation, he partnered with Happy’s Pizza to donate over 4,000 meals to staff workers at Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit. From their Oak Park and several Detroit locations, the Michigan-based pizza chain created food boxes consisting of “Happy’s Wings” and french fries.

Chelsea Phillips, director of public relations for Flowers of the Future, spoke about last week’s events’ eagerness.

“We were looking to give back in a major way.”, said Phillips.

“During the pandemic, we wanted to do something, but still figure out how to do it with being socially distanced. Trey decided to feed Henry Ford Hospital frontline workers, and it’s a total of 4,000 meals that we are giving back over four days. Wednesday was 1,000, Thursday was 1,000, and this week it’ll be 2,000 more.”

Last week wasn’t the first time Flowers’ foundation and Happy’s Pizza partnered together. In December 2019, they worked together on a tv giveback for Methodist Children’s Home Society in Redford.

Mark Wolok, vice president of business development for Happy’s Pizza, was eager to partner with Flowers and his organization again.

“Trey wanted Happy’s [Pizza] because he’s familiar with our product.”, said Wolok.

“And Happy himself reached back out. We created a partnership. And we wanted to give, wanted to support and show our love to the community. As you know, Trey is a big part of the Lions, which is Detroit. Happy’s is a Detroit-based company, 25 years. And they just wanted to put love together, bring the partnership together, and thank all of the Henry Ford Hospital people for all of what they’re doing right now in the current times.”

You can find out more about Flowers’ community efforts in Detroit by following its Instagram page @flowersofthefuturefoundation.