Josh Reynolds: Lions' Offense Is 'Feeling Real Ramsy'
Through the first quarter of the 2022 season, the Detroit Lions' offense has been ultra productive.
The team is averaging a league-best 35 points a game, and a large reason for that has been the play of veteran signal-caller Jared Goff.
He's looked like a much different quarterback this year than he did in his first year in Detroit, as he's been able to develop a solid rapport with seemingly each one of his pass-catchers through the first four weeks.
This was on full display in the Lions' Week 4 contest with the Seattle Seahawks.
Goff's top two receivers, Amon-Ra St. Brown and DJ Chark, were both out, and he still managed to pass for 378 yards and four touchdowns. In doing so, he helped Detroit score a season-high 45 points.
Goff didn't miss a beat, and tight end T.J. Hockenson was the biggest beneficiary of the former L.A. Rams passer's prolific day through the air. Hockenson recorded eight receptions, and set a Lions franchise record for receiving yards by a tight end with 179. He also logged two touchdowns.
While Hockenson stole all the headlines with his record-setting performance, there was another pass-catcher that Goff had an easy time connecting with Sunday: wide receiver Josh Reynolds.
Reynolds, who played with Goff with the Rams from 2017-2020, connected with Detroit's starting quarterback seven times for 81 yards and a touchdown in the loss to Seattle.
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It was a reflection of the chemistry the two have built up with one another, via the time they've spent together in both Los Angeles and the Motor City.
"To be on the same page, it's everything, especially being a quarterback-receiver duo," Reynolds told reporters Monday. "So, it's awesome to be able to kind of start from day one (training camp), to be able to continue to grow that and push each other. So, I think it's big."
Reynolds, a midseason acquisition of Brad Holmes and the Lions' front office a year ago, is reaping the benefits of having had an entire camp this summer where he caught passes from Goff.
He's presently Detroit's third-leading receiver, with 243 yards and two touchdowns. And, so far, he's catching 70.8 percent of his targets from Goff.
Undoubtedly, he's played a key role in helping the Lions' offense become the high-functioning unit that it has been this season.
For as much as the offense's success has been about running backs D'Andre Swift and Jamaal Williams, as well as Reynolds and his receiving counterparts playing at a high level, it's also been due to the schemes devised by first-year Detroit offensive coordinator Ben Johnson. It was a sentiment echoed by Reynolds Monday.
"He's a great offensive coordinator right now, and he's just going to get better as he gets more comfortable calling plays in certain situations," Reynolds said.
One word that can be presently used to describe Johnson's unit is explosive.
Reynolds took it a step further during his press conference, and compared the Lions' offensive attack to that of his former employer's.
"It's feeling real 'Ramsy', for sure," Reynolds commented. "It's awesome. It's awesome to be a part of it, a growing offense, and being able to contribute."
Tom Kennedy is like '7-Eleven'
On Sunday, Kennedy played in his first game of the 2022 campaign, and received the start, as a result of the injuries to St. Brown and Chark.
The longtime practice-squad receiver stepped up with a solid performance, hauling in three of Goff's passes for 54 yards. The 54 yards matches his entire offensive output from a season ago, during which he played in 12 games.
Reynolds came up with an interesting nickname for Kennedy Monday.
"TK's like 7-Eleven, man," Reynolds said, while chuckling. "He's always going to be in the spot that he needs to be in. So, he's just one of those dependable guys that you can always count on, to do his job and just execute it. You know, he's going to be in the spots that you need him to be, and he's not going to bust many plays. So, you need guys like that, especially (over) a long season."
