OC Bevell unsure what Lions offense will look like in 2019

Detroit — What will the Detroit Lions offense look like under the guidance of Darrell Bevell? Well, the new offensive coordinator isn't quite sure yet. 

Still in the process of learning his roster, and not quite sure what kind of talent general manager Bob Quinn will further stockpile this offseason, Bevell would like to hold off on any proclamations about his schematic vision for 2019. 

"I hope it's one that scores points," Bevell said Monday, at the Lions season ticket holder summit at Ford Field. "That's the first thing we need to do. But right now, it's still something we're trying to build. It's easy to say what we want to do in the run game, what we want to do in the pass game, but we need to build around our players. We're going to do what Kerryon (Johnson) does well, we're going to do what our wide receivers do well, what Matthew (Stafford) does well.

"At this point, to make big, bold statements, it's a little bit early because we need to discover a little bit more about our personnel."

The Lions finished 25th in scoring last season, averaging 20.3 points per game. 

Bevell has already had conversation with some of top players he's inheriting, including Stafford and Johnson, but the coach is prohibited by the collective bargaining agreement from talking in about scheme at this time of the offseason. Instead, the chats are an opportunity for the two sides to get to know each other. 

In his first comments since being hired last month, Bevell explained he reached out to Matt Patricia about the job opening and interviewed with both the coach and Quinn over a day-and-half period in Orlando, Fla. 

"We went from beginning to end, my philosophy, what I believe in, also what they believed in, and it meshed very well, just where they saw each position and each position going," Bevell said. 

Since being hired, Bevell has been working tirelessly to teach his terminology to the coaching staff while asking them to fill him in on the roster.

"I've asked the position coaches to put some tape together on each guy and talk me through it," he said. "Try to give me a little bit of cliff notes on what his strengths are, what his weaknesses are and how we can push them to get better and the best way to use these guys in our offense."

Bevell said it all starts with the quarterback and he knows he has a good one. But the coordinator made it clear he plans to asks more of Stafford this upcoming season. 

"In my conversations with him, we want to make sure we're doing the things he's been successful at, but I talked about with him stretching him a little bit, maybe putting him in positions that he hasn't been before and being able to push our offense to new heights," Bevell said. 

Stafford is coming off one of his worst professional seasons, throwing for 3,777 yards, 21 touchdowns and 11 interceptions. 

"I'm really excited just to build this thing," Bevell said. "I don't even know where we're going to go, who we're going to be, yet, because we're going to build this around our players."
 

jdrogers@detroitnews.com

Twitter: @Justin_Rogers