Detroit Lions wideout gets fresh start after fight, heaving ball into pond

When the Baltimore Ravens cut wide receiver Jordan Lasley a few days into training camp last month, coach John Harbaugh insisted it had nothing to do with a series in practice two days earlier, when Lasley got into a scuffle with a teammate then chucked a ball into a pond.

But Lasley, a 2018 fifth-round pick who signed with the Detroit Lions on Tuesday, said he believes otherwise.

"I mean, to me, like, outside looking in or inside looking out, it has to. To me," he said. "Because that happened on like a Monday, we had the next day off and then Wednesday I get released. So it’s like, the sequence of events just don’t really add up to it not having anything to do with that fight."

Lasley and Ravens cornerback Cyrus Jones got into a practice fight July 29 when Lasley said Jones "jammed me in my face as the ball was hiking."

Lasley took exception to the play, warned Jones "don’t hit me in my face or else I’m gonna hit you in yours," and then a scuffle broke out.

"He didn’t really take that well," Lasley said. "As I quote, he said, 'Stop acting like a bitch, it’s just football,' and then he swung on me, so at that point I feel like I had to defend myself.

"I don’t even call it a fight. We had helmets and stuff on. Nobody’s really getting hurt. I had to defend myself against him. Coach Harbaugh, he didn’t really take that too hard. He didn’t kick anybody out of practice or anything like that. Where I went wrong at is the retaliation."

On his next rep, Lasley caught a touchdown pass in a red-zone drill and celebrated by heaving the ball into a pond adjacent to the Ravens' practice field.

While his celebration made headlines, Lasley said throwing a ball into the pond was an accepted practice in the receiver room.

"I really got it from Michael Crabtree," Lasley said of the former Ravens receiver. "We had a rule in the receiving room, anybody in the receiving room scores a touchdown, in the red zone, like during the red-zone period, throw it to the pond. So I was kind of just taking after him a little bit, along with me just trying to get back on the defense.

"Don’t get me wrong, it wasn’t a common thing. It was kind of like one of those things that just happens when you see it. So it would happen like every so often, but it wasn’t like I was the first guy to ever do it, like I invented it or anything like that. I seen three, four other people do it before I did. It was probably just a problem when I did it."

Inactive all of last season, Lasley, who spent two weeks with the Oakland Raiders after being cut by Baltimore, said he's excited about the opportunity he has with a Lions team that's thin at the receiver position.

The Lions are set with Kenny Golladay, Marvin Jones and Danny Amendola as their top three receivers, but have probably two spots open at the back of their roster.

With cuts next Saturday, Lasley said the pressure is on him to make an impression in a short period of time. 

“I think it’s a great opportunity here," Lasley said. "I’m familiar with some of the people that are in the building already. The assistant offensive line coach, Coach Hank Fraley, he was my offensive line coach at UCLA my last year. My receiver coach, Robert Prince, he recruited me coming out of high school. He was actually at Boise State at the time. I know Marvin just from him being a California guy. So I think it’s a good opportunity for me. Detroit throws the hell out of the ball. I feel like I can come in and give some kind of change up and make some kind of difference on what we’re trying to accomplish."

Contact Dave Birkett at dbirkett@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @davebirkett. Read more on the Detroit Lions and sign up for our Lions newsletter.