Training camp is a month-long job interview for a lot of players.
Through the first two weeks of camp for the Detroit Lions it’s proving to be a great opportunity for veteran wide receiver Daurice Fountain to earn a role here on a very good offense.
“Fountain makes plays, he’s making some plays,” head coach Dan Campbell said Friday. “Like you see the one-on-one, he makes a big, high catch there, and I think we all are intrigued with Fountain. We need to see more out of him, we need to see more. It’s got to show up, man, he’s got to be detailed in what he does. He’s got an unbelievable opportunity here, he knows that, and we’ve got to see it.”
Fountain has been one of the better stories in Lions camp so far: A player who spent last year on the practice squad and has steadily worked himself up to getting first-team reps at the No. 3 receiver spot. He had a couple nice catches again in Friday’s scrimmage practice, including a 15-yard touchdown catch from quarterback Jared Goff.
Fountain was drafted in 2018 in Indianapolis and played on and off his rookie year between the practice squad and active roster. In 2019, he broke his left ankle resulting in three surgeries and being placed on IR. He was told at one point he might have to retire due to the injury.
He returned to action in 2020 and had a couple catches but it was determined his tibia wasn’t fully healed and he had to sit for some time again before deciding to play through the pain. He signed with Kansas City in 2021 and sat behind a talented group of receivers there. In 2022 it looked like he’d have a role for the Chiefs but he hurt his right adductor.