Lions think Kenny Golladay’s return is “close”

[Roary]

Getty Images

Lions coach Matt Patricia needs all the help he can get at the moment.

The good news is, he thinks leading receiver Kenny Golladay‘s on the verge of making his debut after missing the first two games with a hamstring injury.

“Yeah, I mean I expect us to keep pushing forward and arrow up on that,” Patricia said, via Carlos Monarrez of the Detroit Free Press. “So we’ll see what it looks like, obviously, but I think we’re close. And we’ll get him out and get him in some of those situations.

“And a lot of times it’s always just how does the body react after we’ve put guys in those situations that we really try to gauge because we certainly don’t want to maybe do something and then have it in a weaker state and then go out and have an injury that’s maybe more substantial after.”

Golladay, who led the league with 11 touchdown receptions last season, is also entering the final year of his contract.

And while Patricia defended his replacement receivers, it’s clear the Lions miss Golladay’s big-play potential.

“I think what [having Golladay] definitely does do [is] sometimes it affects how defenses play you maybe in that particular situation and you see some different coverages,” Patricia said. “I think when you have players out on the field that really impact the vertical game of a defense you might start to see very specific coverages in those situations to try to make sure they don’t get run by or run through. When those players aren’t on the field, then those coverages tend to go away.

“But certainly for us, we’ve got a lot of really good skill players out on the field and just one guys doesn’t make the entire team and everyone else has to go out and execute at a high level. And we have full confidence in those guys to do that, maybe in different forms or different positions, but we still expect those guys to go out and perform.”

Not many of the Lions have so far (at least not through the ends of games), so having an added spark to their offense can only help.