When Detroit takes on the Dallas Cowboys on Saturday night, will Lions defensive back Brian Branch get noticed more by the millions watching on ABC and ESPN for the green mouthpiece sticking out of the top of his helmet or the plays he makes on the field?

The rookie from Alabama has made plays in Detroit’s renaissance season. But the mouthpiece has been a constant.

Branch said the mouthpiece would remain on his helmet instead of in his mouth “until I chip a tooth or something. Probably that. But that’s probably the only time. I don’t see myself wearing it. For one, I can barely breath with it in, and, two, … when I go for a tackle, it always ends up on the floor or something, so I just put it on top of my helmet.”

Branch said he’d had the mouthpiece on his helmet “since college, so I guess it’s a tradition. … Shoot, hey, I guess that’s going to be my little trademark.”

As for the plays, Branch is coming off a game in which he had six tackles, one sack, one interception, two passes defended and one forced fumble during the Lions’ 30-24 victory over the Minnesota Vikings on Sunday.

Branch became the first NFL player to reach those numbers in those five stat categories in the same game since Indianapolis Colts linebacker Shaquille Leonard on Nov. 10, 2019, in a 16-12 loss to the Miami Dolphins.

Branch is the third Alabama alumnus among the 24 such games since 1999, when passes defended became an official stat — Deshea Townsend in the Pittsburgh Steelers’ 28-20 loss to the Cincinnati Bengals on Sept. 24, 2006, and DeMeco Ryans in the Houston Texans’ 23-14 victory over the Oakland Raiders on Dec. 3, 2006.

“Branch is coming along, playing some pretty good football,” Detroit coach Dan Campbell said about the rookie on Tuesday.

Sunday’s performance isn’t Branch’s first statistical anomaly of the season. In Detroit’s 20-6 victory over the Atlanta Falcons on Sept. 24, Branch made 11 tackles, registered three tackles for loss and broke up two passes. Since tackles for loss and passes defended began being recorded in 1999, there have been 11 games in which a player has reached those numbers in those three statistical categories. Ten times, the player was a linebacker. Branch is the only defensive back on the list.

Branch played every Detroit defensive snap against the Falcons. But in the three games since playing 64 defensive snaps in a 33-28 victory over the New Orleans Saints on Dec. 3, Branch’s time on the field hasn’t exceeded 46 defensive snaps or 73 percent of the Lions’ total.

Branch had been working at safety as well as nickelback, but Detroit defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn has the rookie concentrating on his slot duties as the Lions settle their secondary assignments.

“The thing that I wanted to do with that player is let him focus in on one job,” Glenn said. “… That was just a decision that I wanted to make so he could concentrate on the nickel spot and really get that down, because he’s a damn good player at that spot, and I want to make sure he plays as much as possible and be the best at it.”

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Detroit and Dallas square off at 7:15 p.m. CST Saturday at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, in one of Week 17′s marquee games. With the Lions at 11-4 and the Cowboys at 10-5, both teams have clinched playoff positions.

Detroit also has secured a home postseason game with their first division title since 1993 and remain in contention for the NFC’s No. 1, which comes with a first-round bye.

In 1993, the Lions won the NFC Central title. Their current division, the NFC North, didn’t exist at the time. This season’s postseason game will be Detroit’s first at home since the 1993 title. The Lions have been in seven playoff games since then – all on the road and, like the 1993 game, all losses. The Green Bay Packers defeated Detroit 28-24 at the Pontiac Silverdome on Jan. 8, 1994. The Lions’ most recent postseason victory came on Jan. 5, 1992, when they defeated Dallas 38-6.

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Mark Inabinett is a sports reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter at @AMarkG1.