ALLEN PARK, Mich. (AP) -The Lions and cornerback Leigh Bodden agreed on a $27 million contract extension just after training camp started, yet he’s still seeing most of his practice reps with the second team.
Don’t expect that to last.
“We look at Leigh as a starter, but when we go to a base defense and there’s only two corners on the field, Brian Kelly’s starting at left and Travis Fisher’s starting at right – currently,” defensive coordinator Joe Barry said Monday.
“If we started the game tomorrow and the offense (required three cornerbacks), Leigh Bodden would start the game.”
Bodden, acquired with a third-round draft pick from Cleveland during the offseason in the trade that sent defensive tackle Shaun Rogers to the Browns, signed a four-year extension two days into training camp. The deal, which added club options through 2013, included a $2 million signing bonus and an $8.6 million bonus if he’s on the roster in March.
The cornerback, who’ll turn 27 later this month, had two years remaining on his deal with Cleveland when he was traded.
Though Bodden acknowledged he understands he’ll be on the field a lot this fall, it wasn’t hard to see he’d rather be alongside Kelly when the Lions use only two corners.
“I’ve just got to do what I’ve got to do,” he said. “If I make plays, what happens happens. I know I’m a starter in this league.
“It’s definitely a pride thing, but it’s not my decision. I can’t worry about what I can’t control. I just have to do it on the field.”
Bodden was unhappy with Browns management before the trade when the club didn’t offer him a long-term deal after the best season of his five-year career. Bodden, an undrafted rookie when he started in the NFL, played all 16 games last fall and had six interceptions and 76 tackles.
Already the likely starter when he arrived, Bodden’s presence and durability are even more precious now that veteran Stanley Wilson is gone. Wilson, who started five of the 10 games he played last season, tore his Achilles’ tendon during last week’s preseason opener.
That leaves Kelly, an 11-year veteran signed as a free agent during the offseason, Fisher and Keith Smith as the only other corners with significant NFL experience. The latter duo played each played 15 games last season in Detroit.
Barry doesn’t mind the jockeying for a starting job, especially after his secondary gave up 258.2 yards per game while managing just 17 interceptions. Only seven of those picks came form the corners.
“Our starting positions aren’t written in Sharpie; they’re written in pencil,” Barry added. “We have four really good corners right now. In this league you can’t have enough good corners.
“When you’ve got someone nipping at a starter’s heels, that competition can be a great motivator.”
Much as he wants to start the game on the field, Bodden agreed.
“It’s a lot of talent in the backfield,” he said. “We can be the strength of this defense.
“We go a long way if we can eliminate the big plays.”
The Lions continue preseason play Sunday night at Cincinnati.
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