By Michael Stets
ALLEN PARK–T.J. Lang played the first nine seasons of his NFL career for the Green Bay Packers before signing with the Lions this off season on a three-year deal worth $28.5 million. There were reports on his former coaching staff being upset with the Green Bay front office for not re-signing him, but now that the Michigan native will be playing for the team he grew up watching and rooting for, he doesn’t wish to look in his rear view mirror.
“I read some articles and I heard some things, and honestly, I tried to stay away from it all because for me it was a decision I was very happy to make,” said Lang. “I was very thrilled to be coming home and, obviously, playing for this organization. I just feel like if I continue to address those [stories involving him leaving the Packers] I’m always looking back and that is something that I don’t want to do. I’m here. I’m excited about that. My sight is set on the future. It was definitely a tough decision, but with that being said, I couldn’t be happier. I’m excited to be here. My family is excited that we are staying here at home. I’m just thrilled to be a part of this organization.”
Lang, 29, said his transition to the Lions has been a “pretty big adjustment” so far, but one that has been a “positive” one. The Pro Bowl guard will miss OTAs due to still being on the mend from a January hip surgery, but says he is currently ahead of his recovery schedule. As far as when he will return to action, he said “the goal is to be ready for training camp.” In the interim, he will continue getting acclimated to his new surroundings and is looking forward to however else he can aid his teammates before he can step back on the field.
“Hopefully I can just kind of prove my worth by showing up every day and working hard and just earn those guys trust,” said Lang, who played locally at Brother Rice High School and Eastern Michigan University. “And really what it comes down to is I’m excited to learn a lot from these guys and build it [chemistry] just as I am to teach them and share some of the experiences I had throughout my career. Hopefully it’s something that can just be done by working hard and helping the guys out.”
When asked about the Lions’ offensive line, Lang gave a glowing review of the men he will soon be joining in the trenches.
“Smart guys,” he said. “A lot of energy too. Just watching the way they talk and go back and forth in the meeting rooms and watching them working out in the weight room, those guys have a lot of juice to them. It’s a hungry group of guys and I’m just glad to be a part of it.”
In addition to signing Lang this offseason, Lions general manager Bob Quinn also added a new right tackle in Ricky Wagner, who played his first four seasons with the Baltimore Ravens. Lang and Wagner will assuredly be a big improvement on the right side of the offensive line over departing free agents Larry Warford and Riley Reif, but the clock is already ticking on the start of the season. And Lang said he’s shared his concerns with Wagner on making sure the two of them live up to their reputations by getting accustomed to playing along side one another as soon as possible in order to insure they both play at a high level when the season begins.
“I was telling Ricky we don’t have really a grace period to build chemistry,” said Lang. “We’ve got to show up day one and we have to be firing on all cylinders, obviously, based off of the contract and everything why we came in here. So I think that is going to be the big key for him and I, especially to make sure we are helping each other out along the way. We are building chemistry even though we can’t be on the field together at the same time. We gotta find a way to do that whether it’s in the meeting rooms, after practice, getting together just trying to find a way to be successful from day one.”
His veteran leadership will be a welcomed addition to the Lions offense, but Lang will be able to help on the defensive side of the ball as well. The former Packers guard is used to playing against Detroit two times a season from being in the NFC North division his entire career. Now that he is a Lion, he explained how his knowledge of playing against the defense will be of great benefit to them now that he is a member of the Honolulu blue and silver.
“I was talking to the defensive line coach [Kris Kocurek] actually just yesterday. He was asking me, ‘I kind of felt like you guys knew what we were doing.’ I just gave him some tips,” Lang explained. “When you guys lined up a certain way, I mean, we kind of studied film. It was a great conversation because he’s like, ‘We do a great job of switching it up.’ So, I bring a little bit of knowledge to obviously some keys and tips of what I’ve seen throughout the years, but also just what offensive linemen are looking at when they watch you guys on film and how we try to attack you guys and what we really feel about you guys.
“So it’s been some good conversations so far. And hopefully once we get into OTAs and get on the practice field and start running around, I’ll just be watching and not participating much. But yeah, like I said, I’m kind of excited to share that information with those guys, and also on the flip side, learn something from them, too. How they used to attack same and what they think about going against offensive linemen. Yeah, it’s going to be pretty positive and it’s only going to make us better.”
The huge reception that Lang received after signing with the Lions was “overwhelming at first,” he said, before mentioning he had to remind people he was a guard, making the room erupt in laughter. He knows it’s a unique and rare situation being able to play for his hometown team. So while he is excited, as well as his family, he’s just trying to keep it in perspective and just focus on getting healthy and getting back to work.
“It’s great to be back home. It’s been awesome being able to work here for the last week and a half and it’s only going to get better.”