Golden Tate Assesses First 4 Games With Detroit Lions

Golden Tate feels his Detroit Lions can still get better. 

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That’s what Tate — the new Detroit wide receiver — mentioned in his Oct. 2 blog on the team’s official website: 

“It’s no secret that Calvin is an amazing talent — very blessed in the way his body is built and the way he plays the game. But he is human at the same time. When I signed the contract here, I knew I was coming here to complement him. Realistically I’m not going to take his job, nobody is going to take his job. 

“I came here to compete with him, to help him get better and help myself get better. With that being said, it was unfortunate he was limited for the most part of this past game. So I took it upon myself to go out there and and be a leader in the receiver room and try not to miss a heartbeat. I think I did a decent job stepping up. I’m happy for the opportunity, but can’t wait to get Calvin back out there full health.

“This whole week, up until today, people in this organization have said, ‘Hey, good job, great game’ and that feels good to have guys and notice it and feel like I contributed big in this game. And most importantly, we got a victory.

“Four games into the season, I think we are a long ways away. I don’t care if we were sitting at 4-0, I’m always going to take that mindset that we have a long way to go to get where we want to be. As long as you have that mindset, you are going to continuously get better. 

“I think the way we practice in itself, we can’t help but to get better. And that’s one thing I appreciate about how Coach Caldwell handles practice. He definitely takes care of us, but when we are out on that field, we are definitely working hard to get better.

“We played a solid game last week, but we can always play smarter. With the explosive running backs we have, I would like to see our run game pick up a little more. That starts with me blocking better on the outside. I think our offensive line has done a great job. And our defense has shown up magnficently every week so far. We just have to keep grinding. 

“The (Buffalo) Bills defense has a lot of talent. Their front seven is very, very strong. But at the end of the day, regardless of who we are playing, even if we are playing the ’85 Bears, if we just do what we need to do, that is always going to be good enough.

“If we play fundamental, sound, disciplined football and win the turnover battle, we are going to be right there in any game with a chance to win it. So it’s never really about who we are playing, it’s about what type of practice I’m going to have that week to prepare myself for the game. I watch film to see techniques, but at the end of the day, Cover 1 is going to be Cover 1, if it’s the Bills, (Green Bay) Packers, whoever, it doesn’t matter.” 

ALL HAIL GOLDEN TATE HAHAHA https://t.co/sYGAjdFPd1

— suck it (@MaltbyMVP) October 5, 2014

The Detroit Free Press’ Dave Birkett reported on Oct. 3 that Tate, who has been hampered by a hamstring injury, was expected to take the field against the Bills on Sunday:

“Golden Tate showed up on the Detroit Lion’s injury report for the first time Thursday, but coach Jim Caldwell said the wide receiver’s hamstring injury is not the type that will keep him out of action this week. 

“‘If he can’t go, obviously, we’ll have other guys taht will step in and do the job,’ Caldwell said. ‘We don’t anticipate that being the case. But if that does, indeed, happen, we have guys that have been preparing and been working at it and improving and we expect them to play well.’ 

“Tate led the Lions (3-1) with eight catches for 116 yards in last week’s 24-7 win over the New York Jets, when Calvin Johnson was limited mostly to decoy duty because of a sprained right ankle.”

Tate racked up 134 yards on seven receptions and recorded his first touchdown as a Detroit Lion in his team’s 17-14 loss to the Bills on Oct. 5. Detroit dropped to 3-2 on the season. 

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