Phillip Buchanon hopes to turn fans' sneers into cheers

ALLEN PARK --Almost every day in training camp, in front of hundreds of Detroit Lions fans, veteran cornerback Phillip Buchanon is the bad guy.

It isn't because he's playing poorly.

Buchanon often is lined up across from Lions star receiver Calvin Johnson, and the fans like to watch Johnson catch passes, especially deep ones. When he makes a catch, the fans cheer. When he doesn't -- usually because of Buchanon's defense -- they groan.

"The NFL is about scoring touchdowns, and Calvin Johnson is definitely the man so they want to see Calvin catch passes," Buchanon said. "My job is stop receivers from catching passes ,so if they take it the wrong way, I'm sorry."
In about a month, Lions fans will hope Buchanon can stop just about every pass thrown his way.

Detroit opens the regular season Sept. 13 against the New Orleans Saints, who rang up 42 points on the Lions last year. Buchanon is among the many new additions to the Lions' secondary, and he's one of the most experienced.
Buchanon is an eight-year veteran who has 18 career interceptions and was a two-year starter for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers before joining the Lions as unrestricted free agent in the offseason.

"He's a fast guy and he's got really good recovery speed," Johnson said. "It's good to go up against a guy like that who's been doing it for awhile."

Buchanon was a first-round draft pick of the Oakland Raiders in 2002 and was a full-time starter there for three years. He was dealt to the Texans for a second- and third-round draft pick in 2005 and his career took a nosedive in Houston.

He started just six games in his first year with the Texans. Then, after being a backup for the first five games in 2006, Houston released him.

Buchanon quickly resurrected his career when he was signed by the Bucs, starting the last four games for Tampa that season. After winning a starting cornerback job for the last two years, Buchanon left the Bucs because they wanted him to be the No. 3 cornerback, phasing him out for former No. 1 draft pick Aqib Talib.

"Tampa wanted me to be the third guy, and I don't consider myself to be a third guy right now. I'm a starter," Buchanon said. "They wanted me back and I loved playing in Florida, because that's where I'm from. There's no better place for me -- other than northern California -- but I wanted to come here and do my thing."

Buchanon has gotten a break in recent days because Johnson has been sidelined with a jammed right thumb. Buchanon said he's not really enjoying the "time off'' because he loves going against top-flight receivers in practice -- something that started during his college days with the Hurricanes.

"I remember my Miami days when I had to see three Pro Bowl receivers in practice every day: Santana Moos, Andre Johnson and Reggie Wayne,'' Buchanon said. "Those are three pretty good receivers, and they all brought something different to the game.

Andre's a stronger type receiver, Santana was more a jittery, quicker type of guy and Reggie was real smooth with great hands. Dealing with those guys in college definitely helped me get to where I am today."

Buchanon acknowledged that Calvin Johnson poses an even bigger threat.

"It's a little bit different because Calvin's taller. Andre's about 6-2 or 6-3, but Calvin's 6-5, and that's a difference," Buchanon said.

For his part, Calvin Johnson said he enjoys the battles with Buchanon.

"I've been going against him all summer and all spring," Johnson said. "He's a good coverage guy with good recovery speed, so it's hard to burn a guy like that. And he's got good hands for a defensive back."



(mlive.com)