Lions OC Ben Johnson Says Official Pitched Him Play in Scrimmage: 'It's a Good Idea'

Detroit Lions offensive coordinator Ben Johnson told reporters that an NFL official successfully pitched him an idea for a play this year while he was working during Lions vs. Jacksonville Jaguars joint practices this summer.

"I think we were practicing against Jacksonville a couple weeks ago, and it's a special teams period," Johnson said, per Jeremy Reisman of Pride of Detroit.

"And one of the officials walked up to me, and I still have the diagram in my office. It's a piece (of paper). He's got 11 guys written up, and he literally took the entire special teams period—it was over five minutes—talking about how this play would work out."

Naturally, Johnson wouldn't divulge specifics in case he actually uses it, but it's apparently creative enough for consideration.

"It's a good idea," Johnson said. "It's a little bit out of the box. I don't know if I've ever seen it happen before. . . . I'll let you guys [know if I use it]. I've got to give credit where it's due."

Johnson's comments were in response to a reporter asking "where the craziest play he's pulled a design from," per Reisman.

The Lions' OC isn't the only offensive guru to recently admit that he got inspiration from outside his staff for offensive plays.

Kansas City Chiefs head coach Andy Reid admitted on Green Light with Chris Long that he got a successful play design from a janitor when he served on the Green Bay Packers' offensive staff in the 1990s.

"I took one from a janitor one time at Green Bay," Reid said (h/t John Breech of CBS Sports). "He goes, 'I got this play for you.' And he kept telling me this over and over. Finally, I said, 'OK, here's a card. Draw up the play.' And he drew up the play, and I go, 'Dang, that's pretty good.'"

"We called the play just before halftime and it scored," Reid said.

Perhaps we'll find out if Johnson has similar luck this year. He's off to a great start in Detroit after one campaign, guiding a team that finished fifth in scoring in 2022 after landing No. 25 the season before.

Johnson and the Lions will start 2023 on Thursday at the defending Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs.