The Detroit Lions traded up to acquire Terrion Arnold in the 2024 NFL Draft, a sign of their confidence in the young player.
While the initial returns were rocky, Arnold seems to be settling in comfortably as a starter in Detroit’s secondary. The Alabama product was hit with several pass interference penalties early in his career, but has begun to show signs of comfortability.
This week, Arnold described his adjustments since entering the league.
“My biggest adjustment has just been trusting myself looking for the ball,” Arnold told SB Nation. “At first, a couple of them–actually, (Lions coach) Dan (Campbell) came up to me after my Arizona penalty and was like, ‘The league has actually put in the rulebook that when you look back for a ball, receivers can’t jump into you.’ So a couple of them I had, those were arguably not pass interference. But I look at it like–even (defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn) AG was telling me–look at it from a point of view where if you’re getting a pass interference, that means you’re there.”
As Arnold has adapted to the speed of the NFL game, he has found more opportunities to make plays. He’s had key pass breakups in each of the last two games, including one on a fourth-down attempt against the Tennessee Titans in Week 8.
On the season, he has allowed 34 completions on 51 targets, and opposing quarterbacks have a passer rating of 102.2 on passes in his direction. He has a 52.2 overall Pro Football Focus defensive grade and a 51.8 coverage grade.
“I would say also the game speed. Some of these routes and some of these concepts, I’ve never seen before. Now it’s the second half of the season, and the beauty of it is nothing is new under the sun (anymore),” Arnold said. “So, you can just expect and be breaking on balls faster, making more plays inside the scheme, because I’m getting more comfortable. I think AG and Dan, they do a great job of–I’m already hard on myself, but they just allow me and tell me, ‘Dude, you’re a rookie. You’re a rookie playing in a system unlike most rookies.’ Most rookies, they send back playing cover-3, cover-4. I’m playing man.”
The rookie was picked on by opposing teams early in the year, and was a frequent target of defensive pass interference penalties. These whistles can be commonplace when playing the style of coverage that defensive coordiantor Aaron Glenn deploys, but he’s found new techniques to overcome being too reliant on his hands at the catch point.
Though he struggled early, his confidence remained unwavered and he was able to battle back from early difficulties.
“Nah, I never lost confidence. I’m one of those ones that I know who I am and I’m sure of myself,” Arnold said. “I know what they brought me here for, and then on top of that, I knew I was only going to get better. So if you go look at my play in Week 2 compared to the game we just played in, it’s way better (now), and I’m only going to improve.”
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