New Detroit Lions’ coach Jim Caldwell laid the hammer down on his thoughts of the team’s 13th overall selection from 2011. Nick Fairley has not played well this preseason, dispelling any thoughts of a super group between he and all-pro defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh at the interior of the Lions’ defensive line.
Fairley has shown flashes of brilliance accruing 12.5 sacks and 58 tackles with three forced fumbles in his short NFL career. Yet the nearly-300 pound defensive lineman has drawn the ire of Caldwell thus far in camp.
Fairley’s practicing with the second team was played down a week ago, but it now seems to be hold some more significance.
#Lions: Nick Fairley is behind C.J. Mosley on the Detroit Lions depth chart at defensive tackle
— Sportsfeedia.com (@sportsfeedia) August 18, 2014
Caldwell had some strong words regarding a decision on Fairley’s role with the team on Monday, but offered that all was not lost for the Auburn product (via ESPN.com).
If you’re asking me whether or not Fairley is going to be a starter, he’s not starting right now…He’s second team.
But the rest of it, we’ll look. It’s a long week. We’ve got a lot of work to do in between and typically like most games, we’ll take a look at where we are and make an assessment on that toward the end of the week.
Fairley has struggled to find a comfortable playing weight and is a free agent following this season after his fifth-year option was declined by the team during the offseason. Inconsistency is the name of Fairley’s game, something which he must improve on or risk an early end to his starting role in Detroit.
Photo: CBS Sports