Mike Valenti Makes Bold Claims about Jeff Okudah
Rookie cornerback Jeff Okudah was eventually going to step out on the football field to attempt to prove why the Detroit Lions made him the No. 3 overall pick in the 2020 NFL Draft.
Unfortunately, the talented defensive back was picked apart Sunday by one of the league's all-time best quarterbacks in Aaron Rodgers.
The ex-Buckeyes defensive back was rated as his team's worst defensive player against the Packers in Week 2, according to Pro Football Focus.
Green Bay head coach Matt LaFleur and Rodgers targeted Okudah on 10 occasions. He allowed seven completions for 121 yards, and did not record a pass defensed.
“I mean, obviously, we’ll go back, and look at it," Lions head coach Matt Patricia said in his postgame press conference over the weekend. "I don’t think anybody on the field did well enough. I think all of us, coaches and players, have got to do better.”
Along with struggles on the football field, could Okudah be displaying issues off the field?
On Monday, popular Detroit sports radio host Mike Valenti claimed that Okudah may be displaying tendencies of a player that is difficult to deal with.
"I have got something that is pretty impeccably sourced," Valenti claimed on his show prior to explaining a couple of issues with Detroit's first-round pick. "Getting some reports here that Mr. Okudah may not have the best attitude. From what I was told, no one on player personnel wanted to take him (Okudah) at 3. Your head coach didn't want Okudah at 3. Bob Quinn decided, I am the smartest guy in the room. I'm taking Okudah at 3. And I got that from two different people. If the Lions are upset with it, too bad. Tell people in your building to stop saying it."
By all accounts, Okudah displayed professionalism all throughout training camp, and has been talked about positively by the coaching staff and his teammates.
There have been small whispers that Quinn and Patricia may not have been on the same page throughout this past year's draft, though.
Now, a popular talk show host has opened the possibility of Quinn overruling his head coach on a pretty major decision.
Detroit goes on the road to take on the Arizona Cardinals this weekend.
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