Detroit Lions CB D.J. Reed has a message for Madden football rating team

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3 days ago

Jahmyr Gibbs took a handoff from Jared Goff in the Detroit Lions' intrasquad scrimmage last week, bounced outside when Derrick Barnes lost contain of the edge and shot down the sideline for what looked like it might be a 52-yard touchdown.
And then D.J. Reed entered the picture.
Reed chased down Gibbs and shoved him out of bounds around the 30-yard line. Later, when the defense watched film of the play, one of Reed's teammates asked the question that was on everyone's mind: What was your 40-yard dash time?
Reed ran a 4.51-second 40 at the NFL combine coming out of Kansas State in 2018. He said he did so on a sprained MCL, without much training, and he hasn't run one since — something he's still paying for in the eyes of fans and the makers of the Madden football video game who underestimate his speed.
"Tell Madden," Reed said after practice Sunday in Allen Park. "Yeah, tell Madden to watch these practices. ... They had my speed at a 90, which is abysmal."
A few days after chasing down Gibbs and his 4.36-second 40-yard dash, Reed ran stride for stride with receiver Jameson Williams, one of the fastest players in the NFL, on a handful of deep routes Sunday.
Reed bottled up Williams in seven-on-seven and team drills, adding to what has been a very good training camp for him so far.
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The Lions signed Reed to a three-year, $48 million contract this offseason and paired him with Terrion Arnold at cornerback in a secondary that new defensive coordinator Kelvin Sheppard said is "the strength of not only the defense, but that's one of the deepest spots on the team."
Reed has missed practice time this summer with a tight hamstring, but has shined when he has been on the field.
"I'm at a point in my career where I'm just grateful to still be playing football and I'm grateful to be playing football at a high level in a good environment — in a great environment," he said. "And the goal is to play for something, the goal is to win the Super Bowl. So for me, I'm just taking it day by day and I just want to get better every day."
After playing primarily as a right cornerback with the New York Jets, Reed has played both sides in Detroit.
He played as the boundary cornerback in practice Sunday, with Arnold out with a hamstring injury, and has been alternating sides with Arnold all summer.
"So when we get in the season, if we want to match with receivers based on body sizes or whatever we can," Reed said. "And we've got practice at it."
Reed, who became a new father at the start of training camp — he and his wife have three kids under 3 — and is over his hamstring injury, said playing for the Lions and in Kelvin Sheppard's defense should bring out the best in him this fall.
"I definitely haven't showed my best film, so I'm definitely looking forward to putting it all together this year," he said.
He said he's not worried about silencing the critics who doubt his speed or chalk his solid play with the Jets up to playing opposite Sauce Gardner (Detroit King) the past three years. He has a curiosity to see how high he can take his level of play.
"That's the reason why I really want to play is just to see how far I could take it individually and ultimately to help our team win the Super Bowl," he said.
Dave Birkett covers the Lions for the Detroit Free Press. Contact him at [e-mail]. Follow him on Bluesky, X and Instagram at @davebirkett.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: D.J. Reed has message for Madden football rating team