DETROIT, Mich. — There wasn't much to salvage after Sunday's embarrassing 34-11 loss to the Cincinnati Bengals on Sunday afternoon at Ford Field.
However, perhaps the one thing is rookie linebacker Derrick Barnes, who was impressive in one of his first games getting real NFL reps.
Barnes led the Lions with nine total tackles, six of them being solo and he also broke up a potential touchdown pass from Joe Burrow to Drew Sample in the endzone.
While he's still extremely disappointed in the team effort on Sunday, head coach Dan Campbell says some of the young players have been impressive over the past few weeks, including the 2021 fourth round pick.
"Derrick Barnes is doing pretty good," Campbell said on Monday during his media availability, "Alim McNeill is getting better, Tracy Walker is starting to get on this elevation right now, he's getting better."
It's a promising sign for first year General Manager, Brad Holmes, who was hired with the idea of finding hidden gems in the later rounds of these drafts.
"There are guys making improvement that are quietly coming into their zone," Campbell added, "they've got to keep going."
