Phillip Buchanon's benching not 'wake-up call'

Cornerback Phillip Buchanon was one of the Lions' big off-season acquisitions. He signed a reported $8.5-million, two-year deal in March and was expected to beef up a depleted secondary.

He missed the opener at New Orleans with a neck injury. The severity caught coaches off guard. He started the second game against Minnesota and failed to contain Adrian Peterson on a long run. By the third game, Will James replaced Buchanon in the starting lineup. After three games on the bench, Buchanon started in place of Anthony Henry at Green Bay.

Buchanon has declined repeated interview requests but Friday he finally spoke about his benching and other topics.

"As far as I know, I was hurt," Buchanon said of his benching. "I'm going to leave it at that. No comment to what's going on with the whole benching thing. They're the coaches. They do what they think is best for the team."

Buchanon, a first-round pick of the Raiders in 2002, is a seasoned veteran who has spent the past seven seasons with three teams. Still, was the benching needed as a wake-up call?

"I wouldn't say 'wake up,' but just understanding, coming from a different scheme, what we expect from him, what we want from him," coach Jim Schwartz said. "I wouldn't say 'wake-up call.' But he does understand it more and he's getting more comfortable in our scheme at what he's asked to do."

One of the key requests is for the secondary to contain runs -- that will be crucial Sunday against St. Louis running back Steven Jackson, third in NFL rushing yardage.

"I don't think that's a problem," Buchanon said of his run coverage. "I never did think that's a problem but, you know, people felt that way. I just try to do my best and leave it on the field."

Schwartz said he has been encouraged by Buchanon's overall play.

"Phillip has always been a good cover guy, but the one thing he's done recently is he's taken his run fits and things like that a lot more seriously," Schwartz said. "He's a cover corner, but when you have running backs like Steven Jackson, those guys, defeating the run game isn't just the front seven's job; it's all 11, and our corners, our safeties are going to have to tackle well."



(freep.com)