Saints' Nick Fairley says Lions declining his option was turning point (1 Viewer)

[Andrus]

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METAIRIE, La. -- Nick Fairley didn’t agree with the Detroit Lions' decision to let him go after the 2014 season. But he did understand it.

In fact, Fairley said the Lions' decision to decline their fifth-year option on him for the 2015 season was probably the biggest turning point in his six-year career to date.

The 28-year-old former first-round draft pick and college star at Auburn thinks he is “playing the most consistent I’ve played ever in my career” in his first season with the New Orleans Saints.

“When they didn’t pick it up, it kind of hit home then. And I sat back and evaluated myself,” Fairley said. “‘I could’ve been more consistent, I could’ve made that play, I could’ve did this or did that.’ So I just went back and evaluated myself, and I was like, ‘To get better, I have to do these things.’ And I think that’s the things I’ve been doing.”

By Mike Triplett - ESPN Staff Writer

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