Injuries have negatively impacted Marcus Davenport’s career or late, but Lions coaches are confident he can move past them.
The Detroit Lions have faced a lot of questions about their depth at defensive end and who will start opposite Aidan Hutchinson. Marcus Davenport has always seemed to be the answer for the starting job, although that has come with plenty of skepticism. Due to injuries, Davenport has played in just six games over the past two years, and he’s only played more than 13 games once in his seven-year career.
But on Thursday, Davenport got a full-throated endorsement from both his position coach and his defensive coordinator.
Kelvin Sheppard did not shy away from the fact that the injuries are the biggest obstacle for Davenport, but he did say it’s the “only obstacle.”
“It’s never had anything to do with his play. I’m talking about since he hit the scene as a first-round pick for the Saints. It’s never been his play. It’s always been the availability piece,” Davenport.
At one point, Davenport’s career finally looked like it was taking off. He produced 9.0 sacks in 2021 before injuries derailed his career. But even last year, in the two games he played in Detroit, the Lions saw a glimmer of truly elite play.
“I’m sitting here watching the first few games before he got hurt, and he was playing dominant,” defensive line coach Kacy Rodgers said.
Injuries are fickle. There’s an element of luck involved that no one can control. But the Lions are confident they’re doing everything they can to ensure Davenport is protected as much as he can be, and that has already started with his attitude and commitment.
“He’s had some setbacks in his career, but I watched that player take no days off this offseason,” Sheppard said. “He’s been here just as long as the coaches have, and putting in the work, and his body looks different right now. I firmly believe in speaking with him, his mindset is different right now.”
What does that mindset look like?
“Just the confidence piece, and not holding back, not gauging, not throttling himself,” Sheppard said. “Training right now like he plans on being in the season in November, December, not kind of gauging to get there. He’s training right now in preparation for, ‘I’m doing this this year. I’m going to be available.’ Now there’s things that happen on the grass that you can’t control, but everything within his control, he’s doing everything of his ability to make sure he’s better.”
But there’s also a level of management required by the coaches to make sure Davenport doesn’t overdo it. The confidence and will is great, but so is rest and recovery.
“Where I can help him and take some of ‘em off of it. ‘Let him do that. You got this. Let somebody else get that,’” Rodgers said.
Ultimately, whether Davenport is able to maintain a level of health all season is dependent on a mixture of preparation and luck. But if there’s one thing the Lions coaching staff is confident in, it’s that if he managed to pull a full season out of 2025, Davenport is going to be a huge asset.
“We think if he plays 17-plus games, we’re going to like the results,” Rodgers said.
“What I see for you to try to kind of get to the long-term goal, which is to have him healthy in the postseason when we hit that stretch. But he’s all-in, and I have full faith in that player,” Sheppard said.