Lions linebackers coach Al Golden wants to dispel a notion about Jahlani Tavai.

When Jarrad Davis suffered a leg injury in the third preseason game, there was a general assumption that Tavai, a rookie second-round draft pick from Hawaii, would slide directly into Davis’ spot as the starting middle linebacker with all the same responsibilities of setting the defense.

“Everybody’s making it sound like it’s a swap, one-for-one here. It’s not,” Golden said Monday. “There’s a bigger picture involved. The game plan is going to be different each week. So whenever J.D. gets back, he gets back. But until that time, we knew this is part of the game.

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“So whether it’s J.D. now or somebody else later, we’re going to have to adapt (to injuries). And that’s really the mantra inside this building, is the ability to adapt and just take concept learning and push it forward to the field on game day.”

In essence, Golden is talking about a group effort.

“Collectively, we have to answer the bell, not just on the field but in the leadership capacity,” he said. “We’re going to need some other guys to step up. I know they’re willing to do so. It’s not going to be just on one individual."

Defensive coordinator Paul Pasqualoni knows as well as any coach the value of helping a young player.

“I mean, you’re talking to a guy who redshirted Donovan McNabb and Marvin Harrison,” said Pasqualoni, who served as Syracuse’s head coach from 1991 to 2004. “I mean, I’ve redshirted Hall of Fame players. And just think about that for a minute.”

Then think about this: He asked for his own son to be redshirted on the Bryant University lacrosse team.

Patience with young players, Pasqualoni believes, pays off.

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“I think with any young guy,” he said, “you don’t want to throw him to the wolves and initially that’s exactly what you put somebody in before they’re ready or too soon or whatever, you’re setting a guy up, you’re setting him up for failure. …

“So I think for most guys, I think for most people, having a chance to ease into it, it really is the best way to go.”

Not all players are the same; Pasqualoni admitted he played Dwight Freeney right away at Syracuse “ 'cause he was just so mature.”

With Tavai, at least initially, the Lions plan to keep him away from the wolves as much as possible, which shouldn’t be too hard with so many veteran players surrounding him on defense.

“We’re not going to put too much on him,” Golden said. “We’re just going to let him play. He’s a smart young man, so he’ll be able to adapt. He’s doing a good job in practice when he does have to make calls. But again, he’ll be surrounded by guys that have been out there and have the experience that can just be a calming presence for him, if you will.”

That might result in moving players around in the formation or just better communication throughout the 11 players on the field so that setting up the defense doesn’t fall entirely on Tavai.

“There’s a lot of veterans on the team, whether it’s (Quandre) Diggs or (Tavon) Wilson on the back end maybe making some more calls,” Golden said. “You’ve still got Christian Jones and Jalen (Reeves-Maybin) who’ve been out there in big games. They can make calls. (Devon Kennard) can make calls.

“So I don’t think it’s any one element. I think a bunch of guys can help him and then a bunch of guys are flexible enough to play some different spots. So it’ll be a combination of the two.”

What the Lions hope to do is bring out the best in Tavai, who possesses a unique blend of size, speed and versatility as a 6-foot-2, 250-pound linebacker.

“He can play on the edge, he can play in the pass game, he can fit inside in the run,” Golden said. “That’s a hard guy to find. You can find some big guys that maybe can’t defend the pass really well or maybe don’t have the instinct that Jahlani has in the play-action game. Or you find some smaller guys that can cover but can’t go play on the edge with the bigger guys.

“I think this young man can do all those things. So I think we just have to be judicious about how much we ask him to do.”

After working with Tavai through the offseason, the Lions have gotten a good sense of how much he can handle. Golden said the transition to the NFL’s sophisticated systems is the biggest adjustment college players experience, contrary to the popular belief that it’s the speed of the game. He sensed the challenge Tavai faced in the Lions’ demanding defensive system.

“You could see there were moments earlier on where it was kind of … it’s a lot,” he said. “A couple, too many bricks on the pile, if you. I think he really pushed through that and now he gets it and he understands it and now we’re starting to see his personality again, which is big because he needs to play with that spirit and that energy and be a great finisher for us. And he will be.”

Contact Carlos Monarrez at cmonarrez@freepress.com or follow him on Twitter @cmonarrez.