Lions rookie Sam LaPorta enjoys historic day in win over Falcons

Detroit — Detroit Lions fans have been hurt by tight ends before. But if the first three games of Sam LaPorta's career is any indication, the rookie is going to be here for some time.

In addition to catching a 45-yard touchdown pass for his first career score, LaPorta in Sunday's 20-6 win over the Atlanta Falcons set a new NFL record for the most receptions (18) through the first three games of a tight end's career and is tied for the second-most receiving yards (186) over the same span.

After the game, LaPorta was notified of his accomplishments and downplayed their significance.

"It's cool. I mean, it's cool to acknowledge for a little while and then gotta move on," LaPorta said. "We got a game in four days, so gotta get ready for that."

All things considered, this may well end up one of the most memorable games of LaPorta's career. Not only was his first career touchdown on a 45-yard bomb for Jared Goff, but he got to celebrate it with the people that mean the most to him. LaPorta said his family was sitting in the section right by where he scored his touchdown.

"Thanks (to) the big guys for holding up to allow Jared to launch that ball down the field to me. But it felt like it hung in the air for like 15 seconds. I was just praying for it to come down. And yeah, really cool feeling," said LaPorta, who wound up finishing the game with eight catches on 11 targets for 84 yards.

"... For (my family) to witness that and experience that with me — it was basically right in front of the family section — that was really cool."

From the moment LaPorta arrived in Allen Park for rookie minicamp, it was clear that he could play. But it's no secret that, from a difficulty standpoint, the tight-end position is one of the hardest to learn. Whether LaPorta would continue to shine once the pads came on was perhaps one of the most intriguing storylines heading into camp.

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It's clear now: None of that was fool's gold. Lions head coach Dan Campbell said he told the staff on Saturday, "he's just quietly getting better and better. I don't know how quiet it is anymore."

"He's a very trustworthy player because of the way that he practices and the fact that he doesn't make the same mistake twice. When you're a young guy like he is, and you can see vast improvement, and you're the coach or you're Goff, (you) ask for something once, you're gonna get it. You're not gonna get the other thing ever again," Campbell said.

"(It's) easy to build trust with a guy like that. So (Goff's) got a good rapport with him. He's beginning to look for him a little bit...the kid's playing pretty good right now."

The play that gave LaPorta his first touchdown was nearly identical to the one that gave Lions wide receiver Jameson Williams his first career score a season ago.

With the Lions looking to break a 3-3 tie, Goff faked a handoff to Gibbs, loaded up and fired the ball downfield to LaPorta, who by then didn't have a defender within 15 yards. LaPorta thanked his coaches "for drawing that one up for me."

Goff said he saw something special in LaPorta "the first day he was at OTAs" and teams are "gonna have to start" game-planning for him going forward.

"He's a stud, man. He does a great job. Had that (touchdown) play kind of rigged up all week. We knew we liked it and he ran a great route, and I was able to throw it to him wide-open," Goff said. "... He has a great feel for the game, has great hands, obviously, has good speed, blocks well when we ask him to block. But I know for me personally, he does a great job in the route progression.

"I think the most exciting part about him, and I'm sure he'd say this, is that he's not even playing as well as he really could. There's some little rookie things that happen here or there that — sky's the limit for him, and it's gonna be fun to hopefully play with him for a long time."

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