Lions using instant replay in camp as a training tool
Matthew Stafford dropped back and connected over the middle with Golden Tate. Before the Detroit Lions lined up to take another snap in the twominute drill, Stafford’s short pass to Tate was shown on a pair of huge TV monitors.
The Detroit Lions under firstyear coach Matt Patricia are part of a trend: NFL teams using instant replay to make quick corrections and observations during training camp.
The Oakland Raiders, Los Angeles Rams, Cleveland Browns and Miami Dolphins are also taking advantage of technology common in stadiums on game days.
Tate said the replays between snaps are shown too quickly for him to see them. But if the receiver is walking off the field while the second-string offence is coming on, he takes a peek at the previous play.
“I look at what the coverage was,” Tate said. “I can also pull a coach aside and say, ‘What could I have done differently?’
“It’s great to be able to go over something quickly when it is fresh in your mind versus having to wait and forget about it.”
The Lions, like a lot of teams in the league, have cameras perched atop towers higher than goalposts. Camera operators use joysticks to zoom in and out, tilt up and down, and pan the field to record the action. The Lions also have an operator with a safety harness on a scissor lift.
And closer to the ground, staff members hold cameras and put them on short tripods to get other vantage points.
Instant replays during practices potentially provide another way to help players on the sideline, who aren’t getting hands-on repetitions.
“It’s a great teaching tool for our team,” Oakland coach Jon Gruden said. “I think it’ll be better when we have one huddle going at a time. We had two huddles going at once, so it was a little bit chaotic.”