"That's a pretty big guy to have returning," Lions coach Matt Patricia said recently. "If he was out there in the free agent market with some other team right now that would be their front headline."
Detroit designated the defensive end from Ghana as its franchise player nearly two months ago.
"When we were going through the process and Matt got on board, Ziggy was the No. 1 conversation," Lions general manager Bob Quinn recalled last week. "So, what are we going to do with Ziggy? I had my thoughts. It didn't take long for me to show Matt why we should do what we did."
Ansah has 44 sacks in five seasons with the Lions. He had 12 sacks last season, bouncing back from an injury-filled 2016 season in which he had a career-low two sacks. He had three sacks in a game three times last season.
"To have an outside, edge rusher that can be as dominating as Ziggy is something that is really appealing to Matt," Quinn said.
"Matt has had a lot of great players in New England and Ziggy would rank right up there with some of the best edge players Matt has ever coached.
"We're really excited to get Ziggy into this new scheme."
Detroit drafted him No. 5 overall in 2013 out of BYU, where he was originally more interested in track and basketball than football. He has started 71 of 73 games, playing through injuries the past two years Cheap Customized Carolina Panthers Jerseys , and has 207 tackles.
Ansah was not made available to reporters Tuesday, but quarterback Matthew Stafford reflected on the coaching transition from Jim Caldwell to Patricia.
"Obviously, change happens in the NFL. It's almost inevitable," Stafford said. "I think the goal is to play well enough to not have those changes. Obviously, we didn't in the past."
What the Detroit Tigers were hoping would be a very big week in Ohio is off to a very slow start.
With the surprising Tigers’ biggest series of the season coming up this weekend, they’re not getting much time to turn things around.
The Tigers brought a five-game winning streak and plenty of confidence into a week that’s beginning with two games against the last-place Reds in Cincinnati and ending with three against the first-place Indians in Cleveland. They started out the week 2 1/2 games behind the Indians in the AL Central, and were talking openly of leaving Cleveland with the division lead on Sunday night.
But they’re now four games back following the Indians’ home-field wins over the Chicago White Sox on successive nights and the Tigers’ 9-5 loss to the Reds on Tuesday night. The Tigers let their game get away from them in a hurry after Joey Votto hit a grand slam in the third inning off Detroit starter Matthew Boyd (4-5).
The Tigers put up the kind of late-inning outburst that often wins games — a five-run ninth inning, against Reds reliever Wandy Peralta — but the trouble was they were down 9-0 when the inning began. Reds starter Sal Romano (4-7) shut them out on four hits over seven innings and now has allowed only one run over 15 innings in his last two starts.
“This wasn’t a good game for us,” Tigers manager Ron Gardenhire said. “The other guy was throwing the ball well. … It wasn’t one of our better nights. You walk a few people (six), give up a few hits and (have) some long innings Jamal Adams Jets Jersey , and there you have it.”
Now, the Tigers don’t have much time to bounce back as they face an afternoon game Wednesday in Great American Ball Park, with right-hander Michael Fulmer (3-5, 4.13 ERA) going up against the Reds’ best pitcher of late in Tyler Mahle (5-6, 3.96). The Reds right-hander has permitted only two earned runs over 16 1/3 innings in his last three starts.
“Detroit, you look at their record, they’re getting after it every night,” said Reds interim manager Jim Riggleman, whose team has won five of seven. “Ron Gardenhire’s got them playing hard and you’d better play the whole nine. They’re going to come after you.”
Neither pitcher in Wednesday’s game has faced the opposing team before.
Boyd hadn’t seen the Reds before, either Da'Ron Payne Redskins Jersey , but Cincinnati made quick work of him, chasing him after getting five runs, six hits and three walks off him while he labored through four innings, throwing 80 pitches .
Some of the Reds’ low-average hitters did the most damage against Boyd and a Tigers bullpen that was almost flawless during the winning streak. Billy Hamilton, batting .203, went 2-for-4 with a home run and Adam Duvall, batting .196, was 3-for-4. Tucker Barnhart also was 3-for-3 as the Reds collected 13 hits.
Detroit wasted a big night at the plate by leadoff hitter Leonys Martin, who went 3-for-3 with a double and walked twice while reaching base five times.
Mahle got off to a rough start this season, losing six of his first nine decisions Cheap Paul Worrilow Jersey , but he pitched 6 1/3 shutout innings against the Kansas City Royals in a 7-0 win last Wednesday and five shutout innings against the San Diego Padres on June 1. In between, he gave up two runs to the Rockies in five innings on June 7.
“It’s nice to put a couple (of no-run outings) close together like that,” Mahle told reporters after beating the Royals. “I was able to put some zeros up there and our team is always going to be able to score at some point.”
Fulmer is coming off a strong start, beating the Minnesota Twins 3-1 on Thursday while giving up only one run on five hits over seven innings. The win was Fulmer’s first at Comerica Park in nearly a year, or since July 15.
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