(Bromont) Mathieu Betts has already circled the date of August 8 on his calendar.
On this day, the Detroit Lions will play their first preseason game of 2024 against the New York Giants. Among these Giants, we find Canadian quarterback Nathan Rourke, former teammate of Betts with the British Columbia Lions in the CFL.
The quarterback hunter doesn’t hide it: he would like to add Rourke’s name to his already well-stocked list of achievements with a vigorous sack during this duel at Metlife Stadium.
“That would be on my bucket list! », he said on the sidelines of the golf tournament organized Monday at Domaine Château-Bromont by the Fondation l’Originale, chaired by cornerback Benjamin St-Juste, of the Washington Commanders.
The Lions won’t meet the Giants again during the season this year, but who knows if Betts won’t have another opportunity to defeat his former colleague in the near future?
The 29-year-old Quebecer actually returned from the Lions mini-camp last week. On this occasion, he was sometimes used as a defensive end, sometimes as an outside linebacker, as well as on special teams. And he seems to have left a nice business card for his bosses.
“I’ll tell you what, he’s got good hips for a big guy. And he can run, he can run, and he’s smart. So, there’s some versatility there,” head coach Dan Campbell said, as quoted by Detroit daily The Morning Sun.
“It’s all the better if I’ve done good things, but what’s going to matter is the next things I’m going to do in the future. In camp, in preseason games, in Week 1 against [the Los Angeles Rams]. It always has to be repeated,” he emphasizes.
“It’s flattering, it’s good to be pulled forward,” he continues. “When things aren’t going so well, it’s good to be told that too. But my approach is to have a vise-like vision. Not to look too far ahead and to work hard every day.”
Betts is trying for a second time to carve out a place in the NFL, after an unsuccessful tryout with the Chicago Bears in 2019. But this time, he arrives on the field with a better background of experience, and as a holder of the CFL record for the number of sacks in a season (18), set in 2023 with British Columbia.
If he does manage to stay with the Lions, he will have the chance to play alongside Aidan Hutchinson, one of the best defensive wingers on the Goodell circuit.
“The reality is that in my position, I have the impression more and more that everyone is a little different in their style of play,” notes Betts. Yes, I can look at what he [Hutchinson] does well. Not necessarily to replicate it, but to adjust a few things in my game. For me, it’s not to be like Hutchinson or another good player. It’s about focusing on what I do well. »
Furthermore, with the success the team had last year, the internal objective is already clear: we are aiming for the Super Bowl. This is a sentence that we would never have thought to write about the Lions in a time not so far away.
“In Detroit right now, we see that the atmosphere and the culture of the team is positive. There’s a lot of talent on the team, a good coaching staff. […] You feel that there is a good culture and that we are moving in the right direction. You can feel it, they want to win now, this year,” he describes.
There is no doubt that Betts will want to prove that he has what it takes to be part of this winning culture among the Lions. But he will continue to take it one day at a time.
