Newly-traded Lions LB Eli Harold already has 49ers game circled on calendar Detroit Lions

linebacker Eli Harold was not thrilled when he saw that San Francisco 49ers general manager John Lynch had texted him Tavon Wilson Jersey , asking him to call him back. It’s rarely good news when the general manager is reaching out to you at this time of year, so Harold was preparing of the worst. He thought he was cut. He thought his career in San Francisco was over. He was half right.The 49ers ended up trading Harold to the Lions for just a conditional seventh-round pick, which is as close to nothing as you can get in an NFL trade. Harold, who had been taken first-string reps throughout all of camp, was taken aback by the move. “It was kind of surprising,” Harold said. “I had been starting there the whole time with the new regime. It’s kind of a surprise. Me and my wife had just moved, she’s eight months pregnant, so it was tough.” That kind of upheaval would be tough on anyone, especially someone who thought their job was safe. But Harold said he felt some relief that he’s joining a team that actually wants him.“Luckily it was a trade and not a cut,” Harold told reporters Tuesday. “I’m just excited to be here and that somebody wanted me enough to trade for me.”And now that he’s in Detroit, he’s all-in, and he’s already looking ahead to Week 2, when Detroit travels back to San Francisco for a date with the 49ers. “It’s marked, it’s definitely marked http://www.lionsauthorizedshops.com/authentic-ricky-jean-francois-jersey ,” Harold said with a laugh. “It hurt, man. I started my pro life there. Me and my wife moved out there my rookie year, and all my close friends are out there, and you build a rapport with a group of guys, and we were young.”And while Harold will obviously have some extra motivation that week, he’s already preparing to move on. Joining the ranks of linebackers as a “SAM/left d-end” (his own words), Harold is just focused on learning the new playbook and using the veterans around him as resources.“It hurt, but onto new things. I’m happy. I’m settling in. We’ve got a good group of guys here, and I’m excited. I’m really excited.”Lions notes: Frank Ragnow earns 2nd-worst PFF grade among 1st-round rookies Detroit Lions rookie guard Frank Ragnow was a pick that fans quickly got behind. Though he wasn’t on many draft expert’s radar for the 20th overall pick, his reputation at Arkansas—not allowing a single sack in college—won over even the most skeptical of fans.That optimism continued into training camp, when Ragnow looked almost as flawless as his college days. That seemed wildly impressive considering he was not only adjusting to NFL talent, but because he was playing a position he hadn’t played at all in college: left guard.Now that the regular season has started, however, it’s been an entirely different story. Ragnow struggled in Week 1 against a decent defensive front Kenny Golladay Jersey , and the story was even worse on Sunday against the 49ers. Pro Football Focus graded the Week 2 performance of all 32 first-round rookies. Out of those who actually played, Ragnow had the second-worst grade of 43.1.“Through two games, Ragnow has allowed a sack, four hits and eight hurries on his 109 pass-blocking snaps, which is three more pressures than the next closest guard,” Mark Chichester of PFF wrote. “His efforts as a pass-blocker have earned a dismal pass-blocking grade of just 21.1 – the second-lowest grade that we’ve ever awarded an offensive lineman with at least 25 pass-blocking snaps through the first two weeks of a season.”It’s obviously still extremely young in Ragnow’s career and he hasn’t exactly had the easiest assignments in the first two weeks of the season. Sunday night’s game against the Patriots should provide a decent opportunity for him to rebound. The Patriots only have three sacks on the year. You’ll probably hear about this a lot this week, but Bill Belichick used to be a part of the Lions’ coaching staff. Chris Burke of The Athletic unearthed a game program from that 1977 season: The Lions provided some on-field audio from Sunday’s game against the 49ers. It doesn’t appear one specific player was mic’d up, but you get a little of Matt Patricia, Glover Quin and, of course, plenty of Dan Miller. Dan Orlovsky’s Twitter film breakdowns are can’t-miss. Here he is breaking down Kenny Golladay’s brilliant first-quarter touchdown: Justin Rogers of The Detroit News has his weekly “5 observations” and film breakdown from the Lions-49ers game. I recommend reading this every week. Devon Kennard may have just arrived in Detroit this year, but he’s learned the ropes pretty quickly: