NFL Analyst: Jeff Okudah 'Can't Cover People Man-to-Man'
NFL Network analyst Steve Smith offered his opinions regarding the coaching staff of the Detroit Lions' treatment of Jeff Okudah during a recent interview with the Detroit Free Press.
When asked about his early opinion of how the Chicago Bears are using rookie quarterback Justin Fields, Smith also offered up his unsolicited opinion of the Lions' coaching staff and what he observed on Sunday.
The television broadcast caught a heated exchange between Lions defensive backs coach Aubrey Pleasant and Okudah, following a 49ers touchdown.
Smith was not fond of the exchange, noting that a team's true culture is revealed when a player does not make the necessary play out on the field.
He compared Okudah's treatment to Fields and questioned why a quarterback needs to be protected while Okudah's position coach was "dog cussing" him on the sideline.
"He can't cover people man-to-man. Why in the hell are the Detroit Lions putting that man in man-to-man coverage? They need to protect him the same way they need to protect a quarterback, because we all know if the way that coach was talking to him, if Jeff would have responded in a way that, that coach was, they’d be suspending (him) and saying that, that player is detrimental," Smith told the Free Press. "So, I think we need to start holding coaches accountable and ... start calling some of these coaches out to show that you can’t expect us players to be a certain way and then you not be that certain way."
Smith does not truly believe the culture in Detroit has changed, and even likened the Lions' situation to a "train wreck waiting to happen."
"Again, I question the culture," Smith said. "Has it changed? Nah, it hasn’t changed. And probably after this article, Coach is going to say I’d love to have Steve come and observe. Bro, I don’t need to observe. That’s who you are. The same thing a player gets, I’m throwing it and flipping it and giving it to the coaches. If that was a player, he did that, he don’t get a second chance, and you and I both know that’s true."
