Jim Schwartz says Brandon Pettigrew needs to do better catching passes in traffic
By Mike Dyce
Detroit Lions tight end Brandon Pettigrew hasn’t had quite the start to his season he’d hoped for. He has been targeted 10 times and caught the ball just 5 times for mere 38 yards, and zero touchdowns. Take away a 17 yard reception and he has caught 4 passes for 21 yards.
Detroit Lions head coach Jim Schwartz isn’t too thrilled and when asked if Pettigrew’s role would transition from receiver to blocker, Schwartz said he needed to do better catching passes in traffic.
From the Detroit Free Press:
"“But there’s some tough catches in traffic that he’s made in the past,” Schwartz said Monday. “He needs to get back to making some of those.“Tight ends, there’s always going to be contact and (on) a lot of those balls there was contact. Guys are jostling for position, they’re getting hands on the ball. But our guy’s got to be stronger than their guy when it comes to that.“And those are the things that he needs to bring to the offense, because there’s not going to be very much clean-air production for a tight end.”"
The good news for Pettigrew is that they’re playing the Washington Redskins. According to ESPN the Redskins have the 23rd ranked pass defense in the NFL and have given up an average of 310.5 yards per game. Last week they gave up 65 yards on 6 receptions to Packers’ tight end Jermichael Finley. In week one Eagles tight end caught 2 passes for 56 yards, and Zach Ertz caught one pass for 11 yards.