ALLEN PARK, Mich. -- When the Detroit Lions drafted Miles Killebrew in May, they knew they were getting a safety who could eventually turn into a productive run stopper given his reputation as a devastatingly hard hitter.

When that would come, though, was a bit of a question. Killebrew was making the transition from a small school and had not shown much in pass coverage, which would theoretically make him a liability on the field. In training camp, though, he started to flash more.

Lions rookie Miles Killebrew has been on the field more since Week 7, recording 11 of his 15 tackles over the past three games. Photo by Scott W. Grau/Icon Sportswire

He didn’t do enough to win the strong safety job from Tavon Wilson or Rafael Bush, but he began to make an impression and turn into a fan favorite. Then, as the season progressed, so did Killebrew.

"I’ve had to be patient and had to be diligent in how I’m learning," Killebrew said. "I have to listen to a lot of different guys, because there’s experience everywhere on this team and, yeah, it’s just been a long process. But it’s fun."

Killebrew has become an increased part of the defense as coordinator Teryl Austin has searched for ways to turn his struggling unit into a productive one. That included getting the 6-foot-2 rookie involved more, particularly on third down as a hybrid linebacker-safety.

Since Week 7, Killebrew has played in the vicinity of 10 snaps per game every week. Last week against New Orleans, he had a career-high 19 defensive snaps and his first career interception. In the past three weeks, he’s had 11 of his 15 tackles and has found a way to become a productive member of the defense.

That’s in addition to his continued special teams work, where he has six special teams tackles -- tied for second on the Lions.

"It’s the typical pace I think that you see with young players," Lions coach Jim Caldwell said. "You know, some started for us, like [Taylor] Decker was in there right at the beginning, but I think that’s kind of unusual.

"But for the most part players that are young, that are learning, it’s a steady progression and they get better and better as they go along, have a little better understanding of things. But still, you know, it’s kind of a three-year process to be honest with you, in terms of improvement, but he’s improving about what you would anticipate you’d see from a guy during the course of the season."

The improvement has been a byproduct of Killebrew’s own studies, with an assist from the rest of Detroit’s safeties. Between Wilson, Bush and Glover Quin, he has consistent mentors who can answer whatever questions he has, because they have each played in more than one system with many NFL years behind them.

It’s a resource Killebrew uses often, and the older safeties have responded by helping him with added communication to make sure everything is right whenever he steps on the field in practice or during games.

"We just try to make his job easy," Bush said. "Communicate for him, give him reminders and tips because me, Tavon and GQ, we’ve been in this league for some time. We’ve seen a variety of different things from GQ to Tavon to myself.

"And we just try to give Miles a heads-up on those kinds of things, and he’s been learning well and he’s getting more and more comfortable."

Those reminders aren’t big things like where to go or how to position himself, but smaller reminders of nuances picked up in practice or something the Lions might have gone over in film study during the week. Quin does that with everybody, from star cornerback Darius Slay on down.

But the Lions understand how important the improved communication has been to their recent defensive success, so with a young player like Killebrew they would rather over-communicate and potentially become annoying than under-communicate and get beat on a play.

Killebrew doesn’t mind, anyway, because he’s been asking just as many questions as they’ve been offering pointers. See, Killebrew is part of Detroit’s future, so it behooves him to learn even more in the present.

"You figure guys like GQ, GQ especially since he’s been around and he’s been on this team for a long time, he’s one of the guys I look up to, just naturally," Killebrew said. "Guys who have been in the league for a long time, like Bush, that’s senior leadership to me.

"And I just try to tap into the different wealth of resources that are around me."

So far with Killebrew, that’s continued to work every week this season -- so expect those questions and the tackles to keep coming.