At 5-1, the Detroit Lions are one of the best teams in the NFL. And at 1-5, the Tennessee Titans are one of the worst.

But when the two teams meet Sunday at Ford Field, Lions defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn said his defense can't overlook a Titans team that reminds him of his first season in Detroit.

"Listen, this is an opponent in this league, records doesn’t matter," Glenn said. "You can get our ass kicked at any given time. And we understand that. Because we were in Tennessee’s shoes before. We were that team that we were out for blood every week and I know this team feels the same way."

Glenn was one of Dan Campbell's first hires in 2021 and was with the team when it started that season 0-10-1. The Lions won three of their final six games that year, including games against playoff teams in the Arizona Cardinals and Green Bay Packers.

The Titans, under first-year head coach Brian Callahan — a former Lions assistant — rank near the bottom of the NFL in most offensive categories this season and have the second-worst turnover margin (minus-9) in the league. They're coming off a 34-10 loss to the Buffalo Bills but have three losses by seven points or less this season.

"I totally understand exactly where that team is cause again, we were Tennessee when we first got here," Glenn said. "It’s going to take those guys some time to get to exactly where they want it. I don’t know if they got the personnel they want, but the thing is I know they’re going to coach hard."

Fake news

The Lions failed to convert their fake punt in last week's win over the Minnesota Vikings, when personal protector Jalen Reeves-Maybin was stopped on a direct-snap option keeper, but special teams coordinator Dave Fipp said the play wasn't a total failure.

Down one point with 4:25 to play, Jack Fox boomed a 63-yard punt to the Vikings' 17-yard line and Khalil Dorsey tackled return man Brandon Powell after a minimal gain. The Lions forced a three-and-out, drove for the winning field goal on the ensuing possession, and Fipp said the punt team's execution was made simpler by the fake.

"The guys who swing the bat, it ends up coming back to them," Fipp said. "The entrepreneurs out there who go for it, they come up with some crazy idea and they let it rip and it doesn’t always work out, but those guys are never discouraged and that probably leads into something else that ends up being great for them.

"For us, with the fakes, we end up having a huge net or Dorsey ends up being singled (as a gunner). The last punt of the game was a huge punt. We net 58 yards in a critical situation of the game and flipped the whole field. ... Dorsey’s singled up, they’re playing soft on him on the outside because they have to take away the throw, they have to take away the run, and now we get a chance to run down there and play fast. So really, it pays us back in a lot of different ways even if ultimately the one play is not successful."

Scared no more

The Lions took a different approach to kickoffs last week, trying to force the Vikings into returns, and it paid dividends in the form of an average starting field position of the 25.7-yard line on kickoffs (as opposed to the 30-yard line had all kickoffs been touchbacks).

Cam Akers returned two kicks for 27 and 25 yards, and the Vikings took two touchbacks at the 20 when Jake Bates' kickoff hit in the landing zone (between the goal line and 20-yard line) before bouncing into the end zone.

"I think in life you have to play on the attack and you have to know what’s out there and what you want, and you have to go get it," Fipp said. "There’s a lot of people who, ‘OK I’ll just do this and see what comes my way.’ And that’s really no way to live your life. We were kind of playing that way on kickoff. We were playing conservative, we know that the play is volatile. ... There’s no way around it. But just kind of hoping that it doesn’t happen to you or whatever is probably not a great approach, and we had a little bit of that and that’s really my fault.

"So, we decided going into this game, ‘Hey, we’re going to approach this different. We’re going to play on the attack, we’re going to be aggressive.'"

Fipp said he intends to stay aggressive on kickoffs, though that doesn't mean the Lions always will be playing for returns. They took a touchback late in last week's win over the Vikings, after Bates' go-ahead field goal.

"Once you start dictating the tempo and the terms, then you force your opponent to play a little bit different and you have them on their heels and I think that was kind of, going into that game, was more of our approach," Fipp said. "Those guys did a great job of executing that. And when you empower them, they really come to life, and I think you can see that."

Master of disguise

Brian Branch's fourth interception of the season came in a well-disguised coverage against the Vikings, when the Lions showed a Cover 1 look to try and entice quarterback Sam Darnold into throwing a specific pass.

"Those guys did a really good job of showing a single-high look, and usually that team went to a certain play that we looked at, and those guys did a really good job of forcing that play to happen," Glenn said. "We were in a totally different defense and Brian was in a half, Kerby (Joseph) was in a half, and, man, he ended up throwing the ball to Brian and Brian made a good play on it.”

Branch and Joseph both have four interceptions this season, and Glenn said they've gotten better at disguising coverages because of their understanding of the defense and the improved communication in the secondary.

"When you coach a concept, the guys start understanding, what are those strong points and what are the weaknesses when you coach that concept?" Glenn said. "And then, when you add that to film study, those guys start seeing, ‘Man, if we do this on tape' — this is what teams are showing them on tape, this is what teams are checking to — 'then maybe if we do that, we can show something different and be able to make plays.’ So it goes hand-in-hand with coaching, then also execution and understanding of those guys. And to me, that’s what you do as an NFL player, you start to grow, and you start to figure those things out."

Dave Birkett's new book, "Detroit Lions: An Illustrated Timeline," is available for purchase available for purchase online and at local book stores. Contact him at dbirkett@freepress.com. Follow him on X and Instagram at @davebirkett.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Lions won't overlook Titans: We were Tennessee when we first got here