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Former Bucs corner Johnthan Banks tries to tackle Calvin Johnson during a game against Detroit in 2013. Banks is now hoping to resurrect his career in Detroit.

(Melanie Maxwell | MLive.com)

ALLEN PARK -- What happened to Johnthan Banks?

He was the nations's top defensive back at Mississippi State in 2012. He was a second-round pick of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 2013. He started right away, too, and picked off seven passes his first two years in the league.

But he lost his spot this year. Didn't record so much as a tackle in five games. And then

for a seventh-round pick at the deadline.

Banks, though, insists he can still play.

So what happened to him in Tampa?

"What was holding me back in Tampa? Coaches. That's what was holding me back. Coaches," Banks told MLive after practice Thursday. "I mean, I can play. If you go and look at this year's preseason, nobody in that secondary made more plays than me. Every game in the preseason, I got a PBU or interception. I don't know if I had a ball caught on me all preseason.

"I mean, it is what it is. I'm past Tampa. I'm glad to be out here, and I wish them well."

Banks blames the coaching, and frequent coaching changes, for his fall in Tampa. And he believes the change in scenery could re-ignite his career.

It appears the Lions think so too.

Banks has made some tremendous strides since joining the team Nov. 1, and coaches believe he could be ready to contribute soon. His playing time likely would be as a reserve behind Darius Slay and Nevin Lawson on the outside.

"He's more of an outside corner, so he would do some things outside if we needed him outside," defensive coordinator Teryl Austin said. "Just like we were doing earlier -- at some point, we were rolling (Johnson) Bademosi in there. I think a lot of times, some guys you've got to make sure you give them a little break, give them a couple reps in there. I think that's where he could fit in."

Banks credits his improvement to reuniting with Tony Oden. He initially worked with the Lions' cornerbacks coach during his first year in Tampa, when he started all 16 games, defended five passes picked off three others.

Oden made Banks a better player that year, and has already made him a better corner in two weeks this year, fixing some bad habits that had gone uncorrected in Tampa. Reminding him to stay low, to keep his shoulders over his toes, keeping the front shoulder down.

"I feel like he's readjusted me all over again," Banks said. "I'm a new corner again. Just changing me, getting me low, getting me into a better stance. I've had so many coaches, I've been changed so much, I feel like I was changed the wrong way. And, you know, I feel like I'm being coached right again.

"I'm not throwing shade at nobody, but I just feel like T.O. knows me. He's studied me. And he wants me here. So he's going to take the time out and get me adjusted and get me in the proper place and get me in the proper footwork, and do whatever he needs to do to make me a better player."

Slay is entrenched as the club's No. 1 corner, and Lawson has played well in recent weeks alongside him. Barring injury, they're expected to carry Detroit down the stretch.

But the Lions did rotate in Johnson Bademosi for Lawson for stretches earlier in the season, and they foresee a possible role like that for Banks if he continues his ascent.

"I hope to get something out of him," Austin said. "Like anything, you don't want to trade and bring a guy in and not be able to use him. At some point we're hoping to use him. When that is, I'm not quite sure."