It’s almost funny how the NFL lockout is rarely discussed. A year ago at this time we were hanging on every word from both sides.

Now it’s clear that rookies were the biggest victims of the lockout which left them with no off-season work with coaches and teammates.

One of those was Lions wide receiver Titus Young. He got injured in training camp, but his development and contributions to the team early on would have likely been better with some off-season work.

“He’s a guy at a position that’s really one of the toughest for a rookie to play, wide receiver in the NFL. You don’t just go out there and run routes, they have to learn all the adjustments , they’ve got to learn how to play more physical than they don in college. That’s generally a tough adjustment that first year,’’ Lions president Tom Lewand said this week.

“Titus in the final part of the season, November and December, he really started to come along, he really started to establish a rapport with Matthew (Stafford) and was starting to emerge as a weapon when we were going to the postseason.’’

Lewand said he expects Young to have a big offseason getting in more work with Stafford, offensive coordinator Scott Linehan and wide receivers coach Shawn Jefferson.

Lewand said they expect Young to be a more critical part of the offensive equation.

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