Well-traveled Wright poised to compete for Lions TE spot

Allen Park — In the Patriots' 34-9 win over the Lions last season, New England tight end Tim Wright had five catches for 36 yards and two touchdowns.

He was safe in assuming the Lions knew who he was after that performance.

"That's something that worked in my favor," he said Tuesday after his trade to Detroit from the Tampa Bay Buccaneers became official.

Now, Wright will have to work hard in the next handful of days to prove he deserves a spot on the 53-man roster, and he might be in a direct competition with Joseph Fauria for just one job.

Coaches on the Lions' staff had a good idea of what the 6-foot-4, 220-pound Wright could do.

Assistant head coach Ron Prince, who coaches the tight ends, was the offensive coordinator at Rutgers in 2013, the year after Wright left for the NFL, but he still went back to visit the Scarlet Knights when Prince was there.

"Real cool guy, real cool coach and I'm excited to play for him," Wright said, adding he thinks he'll latch on to a coach with "great personality" and "great character."

Meanwhile, current Buccaneers tight ends coach Jon Embree played at Colorado when Lions coach Jim Caldwell was as assistant coach for the Buffaloes in the early 1980s.

"Jon obviously has nothing but glowing terms, like everybody else, to say about the young man," Caldwell said. "He's a quick study, quick learner, he has talent and ability. You can just look at him in our game last year, you can see (Tom) Brady targeted him a number of times, so he's a guy that can catch, he's dependable and reliable. So, we'll see what he looks like in our system."

Wright also had eight catches for 75 yards against the Lions when he was with Tampa Bay in 2013.

Wright has just two days to learn the Lions' offensive scheme, and with such a short turnaround, there's no guarantee he'll play in the final exhibition Thursday night against the Buffalo Bills at Ford Field. Of course, with Wright effectively competing head to head against Fauria, the Lions will try to see what he's capable of Thursday.

And making a quick adjustment won't be new for Wright. The Buccaneers traded him to the Patriots last August just two days before the final preseason games, and he played 42 of New England's 69 offensive snaps, finishing with four catches for 43 yards. So, he's not concerned with making some adjustments.

"I'm used to it," he said. "I'm a professional. Come in the doors, they lay a playbook out in front of me, I just try to digest it and go out and play ball."

Wright said he met Fauria after arriving in Detroit and had a "great" interaction with the fellow third-year, undrafted tight end. After the trade, Fauria wrote a cryptic tweet saying, "It's just business."

Wright, who was traded last year then waived by the Patriots in June this year then traded by the Buccaneers for a second time, echoed that sentiment.

According to NFL Network, Wright is the first player since at least 1995 to be traded multiple times by the same team.

"It's a business," he said. "It's the NFL. Guys go here and there. ... Who am I to say where I'm supposed to be? It's not in my hands, but I know that I'm here right now and I've got to do what I've got to do."

On the football side, Wright has been more productive than Fauria with 80 catches, 830 yards and 11 touchdowns the last two years compared to Fauria's 24 catches, 281 yards and eight touchdowns.

Fauria's numbers would be better had he not missed nine games due to an ankle injury last year, but lack of availability is typically a red flag for bubble players.
Wright said he didn't know what the trade means with regards to his roster standing in Detroit, and before leaving Tampa Bay, he was unsure of his outlook, too.

"I guess the trade was the best thing for them, best thing for me and that's what it was," he said.

jkatzenstein@detroitnews.com

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