'Eager' rookies Jarrad Davis, Reeves-Maybin impressing Lions teammates

Dave Birkett | Detroit Free Press

Show Caption Hide Caption Lions rookies host football clinic The Detroit Lions finished their rookie orientation program with a Play 60 clinic for PAL football players. (Dave Birkett/Detroit Free Press)

At some point this summer, perhaps Day 1 of training camp, perhaps later in August, Tahir Whitehead will return from the knee injury that kept him out of practice all spring and take his expected place with the Detroit Lions' starting defense.

When he does, he'll be at a new position - weakside linebacker - and playing next to a new teammate calling defensive signals, rookie Jarrad Davis.

Davis, the Lions' first-round pick whose arrival forced Whitehead from the middle linebacker spot he occupied last year, said Thursday he and Whitehead have been working to develop a chemistry even with Whitehead sidelined this spring.

"To be honest with you, it just takes time," Davis said. "It takes time to develop that relationship. You got to put time in, and it’s something that we’ve been able to do in the meeting room."

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Davis and Whitehead are the favorites to start at the Lions' top-2 linebacker spots this fall, and with the off-season program finished, several veterans said they walked away with favorable first impressions of Davis and fellow rookie Jalen Reeves-Maybin.

"Smart guys," Whitehead said last month. "They’re athletic and they’re eager to learn. They ask questions. I give them feedback and I tell them as much as I possibly can. They’re definitely good players from what I see so far, and they’re smart."

Paul Worrilow, who took first-team reps at weakside linebacker in Whitehead's absence, said both rookies have the work ethic it takes to be successful in the NFL.

"They’re ballers," Worrilow said. "And they love ball. They’re in here a lot. They put in the time. There’s no mistake about why they’re here and why they’re successful and why they can be successful in the league. They put in the time and really take things from the meeting room to the practice field, which is big, especially on defense."

Davis said that preparation will be key for him to gain the trust of veterans like Whitehead once they take the field together later this summer.

"The biggest thing is just make sure you know your job, and that’s simple," Davis said. "That’s something that you’ve kind of been hearing your whole life. You’ve got to make sure that you know what you’re doing before you can go out and tell everybody else what’s going on. So that’s what I take pride in, knowing what I’m doing and that’s what I do every day, I work at that."

Contact Dave Birkett: dbirkett@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @davebirkett.

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