Breakout defensive back ready and willing to add more blitzes for Lions

ALLEN PARK -- Brian Branch, the NFC’s reigning defensive player of the week, has been doing a touch of everything to open for the Detroit Lions this season.

“It’s crazy because the night before (the Cowboys game), I dreamed about this happening,” Branch said Thursday in the locker room. “Close to a damn near perfect game, and God was able to play with how I did. Shoot, shoutout to God.

“In this scheme, AG puts me in the right positions where I’m able to get more picks, and I think that’s what I like about safety more than nickel. I got more eyes on the quarterback instead of just being playing in man. Just more stuff I can do at safety.”

And the breakout defensive back is cool with adding even more to his plate, especially in the aftermath of Aidan Hutchinson’s injury and trip to injured reserve. Branch is the second-best pass-rusher among all safeties through five games, per Pro Football Focus. He’s added only one pressure on five pass-rushing snaps, though, landing a quarterback hit on Dak Prescott last week to go with two interceptions and a forced fumble.

When the Lions moved Branch to safety, it was all about finding ways to keep him on the field, and that’s been a hit through the season’s first five games.

Back in training camp, when MLive asked Branch how he feels when he gets the chance to blitz, the second-year pro said hearing his name on those calls is “music to my ears” -- a feeling that hasn’t changed.

“I feel like -- I hope they blitz me more,” Branch said. “I just got to capitalize on when they do blitz me.

“Going to get the quarterback (is what I like most about blitzing).”

With Hutchinson out, the Lions aren’t just losing their best pass rusher. They’re losing someone who was playing like a no-doubt defensive player of the year. And outside of an outside addition, the Lions are going to have to find ways to manufacture pressure to help lift the defense, at least in the short term, with so many injuries across the front seven.

Branch had one sack, three quarterback hits, eight pressures and seven tackles for loss in 15 games as a rookie last year. Before the season started, Branch said he wasn’t satisfied with that, saying he wanted more and there was still “a lot” he could do to be better in those certain situations.

Ifeatu Melifonwu played a large role in manufacturing pressure last season, too. He and Branch were performing like two of the best blitzing defensive backs in the game on Detroit’s march to the NFC title game. But while he’s on injured reserve trying to work back from an ankle injury, the Lions will look elsewhere.

“Every week, we put a plan together, and the plan is about players. It’s not just about this scheme that we have,” Aaron Glenn, the team’s defensive coordinator, said. “And I say this every week, we do everything we can to put the players in the best position that we can to where it shows their strengths, and it limits their weaknesses. So, that’s what we plan to do and that’s my job.

“Even when we had Aidan. We moved Aidan around to put him in position so he can be successful, too. So, that’s my job and that’s the fun part about being a coordinator is being able to do that week in and week out ... The coaching staff that I have do a really good job of giving me the information I need also, to help me go out there and build a plan that’s going to help these guys go out there and play.”

BETTING: Check out our guide to the best Michigan sportsbooks, where our team of sports betting experts has reviewed the experience, payout speed, parlay options and quality of odds for multiple sportsbooks.