Derrick Barnes: We Would Be 'Fools' Not to Take Chris Spielman's Advice

Chris Spielman, who currently serves as a special assistant in the Detroit Lions' front office, has been regularly attending training camp practices at the Allen Park practice facility.

The ex-Lions linebacker has been observed providing insight to Detroit's linebackers, and has spoken to rookie Derrick Barnes on numerous occasions.

"All of the linebackers, we would be fools not to take his advice," Barnes told SI All Lions. "A guy that played the game for a long time. A guy that knows the game and knows exactly what he is talking about. You just take that in. It's beyond a blessing to have him here in the facility. It's just amazing."

Barnes explained further what Spielman has emphasized when they have had an opportunity to discuss playing the linebacker position.

"Just playing hard and effort," he said. "Knowing what to do is important. I just talked to the guys over there, and I let them know that Chris always tells me there's guys that run a 4.5-second (40-yard dash) but play at a 4.8. He doesn't know what to do, and he's playing slow. Then, you have a 4.8 guy who plays that 4.5, because he knows exactly what he's doing. Studying small things like not taking false steps. Knowing when there's a pass or run. Just small things and details that the linebacker should know."

Preseason debut on Friday against Buffalo Bills

The training camp experience of a couple of Detroit Lions rookies has been hampered due to lingering injuries.

For Barnes, his hamstring injury has been frustrating to deal with, since he did not miss much playing or practice time back in college.

"When I was in college, I never really had any injuries or had to sit out for any practices," Barnes told reporters on Wednesday. "Prior, maybe a few times for something here and there, but never for a hamstring. It was upsetting to me, but I knew that I had to get my body back in shape in order to come back and play with these guys. I've been taking care of the treatment, even though I'm not hurt anymore. I still make sure I get in there at 6:30 in the morning to get treatment to make sure it doesn't happen again. It's just something that I have to correct as a player and get with the guys in the training room, and hopefully, it'll never happen again."

With preseason games just around the corner, Barnes is excited to be able to suit up and play at Ford Field.

He revealed that he would be making his NFL debut, but did not reveal details as to how he would be used early in preseason contests.

barnes5 — © Junfu Han via Imagn Content Services, LLC

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