I have read many accounts of Stafford working out with his receivers (especially CJ) during the lockout, but I don't think I have read anything about Brandon joining in.

Given he dropped 10 or more catchable balls last year you would think he would have made working with Stafford in the off season a priority. Has anyone else read anything that indicates he took steps in the off season to cure the horrific case of the dropsies?

In college he didn't have the dropsies, which is what surprised me most about last year. In college his problem was fumbling the rock. He just didn't secure it good enough, seems to do an alright job of that so far in the NFL.

Hopefully this year he rebounds. He was always one of my favorite players in college and when we drafted him I seriously went off. I was not expecting it one bit.

I'm not worried about Pettigrew in the least. Some TEs are great at catching the ball, but suck at blocking. Others are great at blocking, but couldn't catch a cold. Pettigrew is good, not great, at both. I'd take that any day over a one dimensional player. I hope that his hands improve, but I'm not going to lose any sleep over it if they don't. The guy makes more good plays than bad.

Working out with Stafford and the other receivers in the off-season isn't going to help him with the dropsies. That is more for the timing aspect, than anything else. Tight ends tend to catch the ball in more traffic, and the drops come from lack of focus. That's what Pett needs to work on, catching the ball in traffic with defenders just a step away.

He dropped another one in the end zone this week. Didn't look like he was in traffic, just lacks consistant concentration. Very frustrating to watch this starting again, i hope it doesn't continue throughout the year.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe Ronde Barber pretty much had that play read and for sure had a hand in there. Obviously it was in his hands and should have been a catch, but the projectile of the ball was altered. If it was another receiver my bad, but pretty sure it was him.

Either way like I said it should have been caught, but atleast it wasn't a clear drop with no one around him. Those are what get me irked.

It wasn't a Roy Williams drop, it was barbers hand in front of the ball that caused pett take his eye off the ball - not excusable, but it clearly got his attention as the ball was coming in...even though barber didn't touch the ball, his hand in the way obviously threw pett off

It was in his hands and should have been caught. He makes some great catches which is what makes his drops all the more disappointing. Overall he makes a good contribution to an offense that has some pretty darn good receivers and hopefully he'll get over this concentration flaw or whatever it is and be at the very least a consistent safety valve for Stafford.

not saying that pett shouldnt catch 90% of whats thrown his way but staffords 100mph fastballs would be tough on me

That's fair, I don't think I could handle them either....but then again we don't get paid tons of money to do precisely that.

one thing that barbers hand could have done was block pettigrews vision momentarily causing him to lose sight of the ball. that ball was hot and if you lose it even for a split second then there is a good chance its gonna fall incomplete whether it hits him in the hands or not.

He's dropped his fair share of balls, but it seems like they haven't been too damning for the team, save one last year on a third down that I recall. If we keep a count of all the bad balls he drops, I bet it will be less than last year and this will be a non issue this year. Just my opinion.

Allow me to correct you.....he's dropped MORE than his share of catchable passes. Whether or not they are "damning" is not the issue. EVERY dropped ball can be damning. Did it stall a drive? Did it cost us a score? The only way it doesn't matter is if he drops a one yard pass on third and 12, and that one yard wouldn't have made a difference. However, the Lions rarely do that any more since Linehan took over. They tend to get yards and not expect the receiver to break eight tackles to get the first down like Mooch and Marinelli/Martz did.

Pettigrew, to me, is the one receiver on the Lions now (since DWill and BJohn are gone) that I hold my breath when the ball goes his way. I am relieved when he catches it, rather than fully expecting him to. I like the guy, but just wish he would learn to focus better.

The thing with him is, he actually has great hands. He makes a lot of difficult catches, including a couple against the Bucs, but the bad drops are what everyone remembers. I'm not excusing him - he really does need to focus better, and stop flubbing the easy plays, but he's definitely a skilled pass-catcher.

So you're saying its a lack of concentration? In year 3 he should be getting the mental part of the game, right?