The Detroit Lions haven’t done much winning the past two seasons. Nine games, or fewer than all but three other NFL teams, to be exact.

But new Lions linebacker Jamie Collins said that’s about to change in 2020.

In a teleconference with Detroit reporters Tuesday, Collins said he agreed to join the Lions as a free agent because he considered them an “up-and-coming team” that was a good fit for his skill set.

“We definitely (about) to start winning right now,” he said.

Collins, a seven-year NFL veteran, knows plenty about wins and losses.

He played parts of five seasons with the New England Patriots, the winningest NFL team of the last decade, and won a Super Bowl in 2014.

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He was traded to the Cleveland Browns midway through the 2016 season, and was with that organization for its winless season in 2017. In college, he played for a Southern Miss team that went 0-12 his senior year.

The Lions are coming off a disappointing 3-12-1 year, which was a step back from their 6-10 season in 2018. But Collins said the Lions’ recent struggles are more about being a play or two away than some larger issue.

“When it boils down to it, it’s always one or two plays that’s the difference in the game,” Collins said. “And I just feel like me being a veteran now, I can bring some professional little things that can get us over the top. And I’m definitely up for the challenge.”

The Lions, who blew second-half leads in seven of their 12 losses last season, are counting on Collins to play a major role on defense this fall, though he said Coach Matt Patricia has yet to specify what that will be.

In all likelihood, Collins will take Devon Kennard’s place at outside linebacker and serve a multifaceted role as a pass rusher and run defender.

He played all over the linebacking corps in two stints in New England, and had career highs of seven sacks and three interceptions last year.

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Kennard was released less than a day after the Lions and Collins agreed to a three-year, $30 million contract last week.

“Me and Matty P, we got a little bit of history behind us,” said Collins, who played for the Patriots when Patricia was defensive coordinator from 2013 to 2016. “I think Detroit, the Lions, they’re an up-and-coming team. They always been in the running. It’s a play or two or three away from doing big things, so I feel like I can help with that. And whatever role they put me in. I’m going to always go in and do my job, do what I got to do. So whatever role that may be, I’m willing to take it, whatever.”

To that end, Collins, who joins ex-Patriots Trey Flowers, Duron Harmon, Danny Shelton, Justin Coleman and Danny Amendola in Detroit, said he’s already hard at work preparing for the season despite COVID-19 restrictions that have shuttered gyms and NFL facilities across the country. Collins said his workout plan this offseason includes playing basketball and doing Parkour military-style training.

“I like to flip, I like to tumble, I like to do Ninja things,” he said. “So that’s my offseason training. I do push-ups. I do little stuff around the house. I do a little band work. I get on my stairs in my hallway. I do stuff on the stairs. I get in the garage. I ride my bike forever. I got Jumpsoles. I always just do little stuff, man.”

Growing up in rural Mississippi, Collins said he had to learn to tumble and do flips in order to compete with his brother and his brother’s friends.

In Detroit, he said that competitive spirit should serve him and the Lions well this fall.

“I’m determined, man,” Collins said. “There’s things that I went through I could have been shut it down, but I kept pushing and did what I had to do to come up and succeed in life. So I just feel like my upbringing really helped me through these hard times and through this time right now. Yeah, (the Lions are) definitely getting a smart, head-on-straight, down-to-earth, fun winner. Cause we definitely (about) to start winning right now.”

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