TWENTYMAN: 5 players who stood out in Lions’ first preseason game

East Rutherford, New Jersey – The Detroit Lions didn’t get the result they wanted on the scoreboard in Thursday’s 14-3 loss to the New York Giants in their preseason opener, but there were some performances head coach Dan Campbell was excited about.

“As always, you gather a lot of information in these preseason games and this was the first one. You want to see how they respond in a game like this,” Campbell said after the game.

“I would say we learned a lot on some guys, and I just told them that this is where you, as long as you want it and you’re willing to work, you don’t go in the tank for mistakes, you improve, you listen to the coaching and work at it and you grow.”

Despite the loss, there were some players who showed up and played well. Here’s a look at five players who stood out to me Thursday night:

Last season was a developmental rookie year for Martin coming out of Western Kentucky. The team loved his size (6-5, 330) and potential, but knew he was a bit of a project coming out of a small school. Martin played in just three games as a rookie and recorded three tackles.

He’s expected to play a much bigger role in Year 2 after adding muscle this offseason and improving some technique stuff. The addition of new defensive line coach and run game coordinator Terrell Williams, who has a proven track record of developing talent along the DL, was big for Martin.

He’s been taking some reps with the first-team defense in camp, especially with DJ Reader still rehabbing an injury, and he’s looked much more prepared to contribute. Martin tied for the team-lead with four tackles Thursday night and also chipped in a half sack and two passes defended. If he continues to develop good pad level and technique, he could be a wild card along Detroit’s defensive line rotation this season.