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Monday morning was a sweaty one at Detroit Lions training camp. The Lions kicked off practice two hours later than the usual 8:30 a.m., and the heat index soared well above 90 degrees in the team's first session open to the media (and fans) since Friday night's preseason win in Atlanta.
This session saw a few of the walking wounded return, the debut of a handful of newcomers to the roster, and some veterans having their best days of the summer. It wasn't great for everyone, however; two players trying to build off of Friday night's contest in Atlanta couldn't keep any positive momentum flowing.
After losing Colby Sorsdal and Justin Herron for the season due to injuries in Friday's preseason game (technically pre-game for Herron), head coach Dan Campbell also announced that vet Trystan Colon will be "out for a while". Colon suffered an elbow injury against the Falcons.
That means newcomers to the roster. Specifically, new tackles Gunner Britton (78) and Keaton Sutherland (79). Britton acclimated quickly, scoring a couple of strong reps in 1-on-1 drills while primarily playing right tackle. He's got decent feet, already easy to note from his first practice in Detroit.
Starting left tackle Taylor Decker was active for position drills and did take one early rep in a pit drill. Dan Skipper and Jamarco Jones, who would have been the starting OT tandem in Atlanta if healthy, both returned to full action. Decker had an excellent rep against Marcis Davenport in the 1-on-1 engaged drill, where the players start locked up and the defense tries to break free while the offense looks to sustain. Decker's surgically repaired shoulder, the reason for his absence to start camp, looks just fine.
The Lions offensive and defensive lines ran two separate 1-on-1 sessions. The first, as noted above, had the players engaged with both hands on one another's shoulders to start, with the defense trying to break away and the offense trying to stay engaged.
Offensive winners from this session notably include Kayode Awosika, who won all three reps I watched. No. 74 mauled Chris Smith on one rep and drove Myles Adams well backward on another. This was also a good drill for second-round guard Tate Ratledge.
On the defensive side, Al-Quadin Muhammad was very good at shedding and attacking off wins against Giovanni Manu and Keaton Sutherland. Muhammad was even more dominant in the more traditional 1-on-1 pass rush/block drill, laying waste to Manu on one rep and Dan Skipper on another. Really good day for No. 96.
Two young players who showed more in Friday's preseason game than they had in practices got chances to follow up on Monday. One kept up some momentum, while the other crashed back to earth.
We'll start with the negative. Giovanni Manu had an up-and-down preseason game but did many good things against the Falcons, enough to give him some confidence to build off. That didn't happen, to be diplomatic. Manu had two 1-on-1 reps where he literally did not make contact with the rusher going around the edge, be it Keith Cooper or Muhammad. Rookie Ahmed Hassanein got both hands into Manu's chest and easily controlled him for a quick sack. Team drills didn't fare much better for No. 59, playing some right tackle along with his usual LT duty. After practice, Manu told reporters that he can't wait for Miami to arrive (joint practices Wed and Thurs.) because they aren't familiar with his game yet.
Brodric Martin played pretty well in Atlanta. Like Manu, Martin scored one dominant drive against the Falcons before more mixed results beyond that. Martin had two nice reps in the engaged 1-on-1 drill and a clean win through Kingsley Eguakun. Big No. 99 didn't win every rep, but he was competitive and kept his butt down better, something he's been admonished to do repeatedly by the coaching staff.
I came away thinking two Lions vets had their best days of camp. Center Graham Glasgow looked fresh and fiery after a few days off, and his run blocking was the best we've seen all summer. Glasgow fired out and slammed into an LB, forcing LB Derrick Barnes to break his pursuit angle and allowing David Montgomery to get several extra yards and a full head of steam into the secondary. He scored a nice win against D.J. Reader in the 1-on-1 pass rush drill, too.
Cornerback D.J. Reed has been pretty solid all summer. No. 4 took it up a notch in team drills, blanketing Jameson Williams and Amon-Ra St. Brown on successive reps. He nearly snagged an interception while locking up Williams on an inside move on another rep, completely controlling the release with great technique and footwork. I didn't catch any of the WR/DB battles (I was watching the linemen), unfortunately, but Reed looked fantastic in team and situational drills.
--Hassanein left practice early with a lower leg injury, but he walked past the media after practice and said he's fine. He did have a slight limp but didn't look much worse for the wear.
--Kicker Jake Bates had a rare bad day. He missed three field goal attempts--all wide left, with one hitting the outside of the upright. Bates also yanked an extra point to the left.
--Jared Goff hit Jameson Williams on a 40-yard post pattern where No. 1 ran away from safety Kerby Joseph and softly gathered a perfect throw for a touchdown in situational drills.
--We saw a few instances of David Montgomery and Jahmyr Gibbs in the backfield together. Not permitted to discuss the formation, but it's an interesting and dynamic set to have two excellent RBs playing at the same time.
--In general, the Lions first-team offense ran the ball better today than they have been. That wasn't true of the reserve units. Montgomery showed some outstanding field vision to see bounce lanes.
--Derrick Barnes absolutely annihilated Brock Wright when No. 89 was trying to run block him on the first play of team reps. Barnes had a strong overall practice.
--Undrafted rookie Keith Cooper earned some first-team reps at defensive tackle and played well. His quickness into power in the 4i/5T role is exactly what the Lions hoped for with injured Levi Onwuzurike. Very hard to see Cooper not making the team at this point.
--The Lions are holding a closed walkthrough on Tuesday. The Dolphins visit the following two days for joint practices, which promise to have 1s vs 1s and so forth.
This article originally appeared on Lions Wire: Lions camp notebook: Takeaways from 1st practice after win vs. Falcons
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This session saw a few of the walking wounded return, the debut of a handful of newcomers to the roster, and some veterans having their best days of the summer. It wasn't great for everyone, however; two players trying to build off of Friday night's contest in Atlanta couldn't keep any positive momentum flowing.
The OL shuffle
After losing Colby Sorsdal and Justin Herron for the season due to injuries in Friday's preseason game (technically pre-game for Herron), head coach Dan Campbell also announced that vet Trystan Colon will be "out for a while". Colon suffered an elbow injury against the Falcons.
That means newcomers to the roster. Specifically, new tackles Gunner Britton (78) and Keaton Sutherland (79). Britton acclimated quickly, scoring a couple of strong reps in 1-on-1 drills while primarily playing right tackle. He's got decent feet, already easy to note from his first practice in Detroit.
Starting left tackle Taylor Decker was active for position drills and did take one early rep in a pit drill. Dan Skipper and Jamarco Jones, who would have been the starting OT tandem in Atlanta if healthy, both returned to full action. Decker had an excellent rep against Marcis Davenport in the 1-on-1 engaged drill, where the players start locked up and the defense tries to break free while the offense looks to sustain. Decker's surgically repaired shoulder, the reason for his absence to start camp, looks just fine.
In the pits
The Lions offensive and defensive lines ran two separate 1-on-1 sessions. The first, as noted above, had the players engaged with both hands on one another's shoulders to start, with the defense trying to break away and the offense trying to stay engaged.
Offensive winners from this session notably include Kayode Awosika, who won all three reps I watched. No. 74 mauled Chris Smith on one rep and drove Myles Adams well backward on another. This was also a good drill for second-round guard Tate Ratledge.
On the defensive side, Al-Quadin Muhammad was very good at shedding and attacking off wins against Giovanni Manu and Keaton Sutherland. Muhammad was even more dominant in the more traditional 1-on-1 pass rush/block drill, laying waste to Manu on one rep and Dan Skipper on another. Really good day for No. 96.
Following up preseason performances
Two young players who showed more in Friday's preseason game than they had in practices got chances to follow up on Monday. One kept up some momentum, while the other crashed back to earth.
We'll start with the negative. Giovanni Manu had an up-and-down preseason game but did many good things against the Falcons, enough to give him some confidence to build off. That didn't happen, to be diplomatic. Manu had two 1-on-1 reps where he literally did not make contact with the rusher going around the edge, be it Keith Cooper or Muhammad. Rookie Ahmed Hassanein got both hands into Manu's chest and easily controlled him for a quick sack. Team drills didn't fare much better for No. 59, playing some right tackle along with his usual LT duty. After practice, Manu told reporters that he can't wait for Miami to arrive (joint practices Wed and Thurs.) because they aren't familiar with his game yet.
Brodric Martin played pretty well in Atlanta. Like Manu, Martin scored one dominant drive against the Falcons before more mixed results beyond that. Martin had two nice reps in the engaged 1-on-1 drill and a clean win through Kingsley Eguakun. Big No. 99 didn't win every rep, but he was competitive and kept his butt down better, something he's been admonished to do repeatedly by the coaching staff.
Vets with strong days
I came away thinking two Lions vets had their best days of camp. Center Graham Glasgow looked fresh and fiery after a few days off, and his run blocking was the best we've seen all summer. Glasgow fired out and slammed into an LB, forcing LB Derrick Barnes to break his pursuit angle and allowing David Montgomery to get several extra yards and a full head of steam into the secondary. He scored a nice win against D.J. Reader in the 1-on-1 pass rush drill, too.
Cornerback D.J. Reed has been pretty solid all summer. No. 4 took it up a notch in team drills, blanketing Jameson Williams and Amon-Ra St. Brown on successive reps. He nearly snagged an interception while locking up Williams on an inside move on another rep, completely controlling the release with great technique and footwork. I didn't catch any of the WR/DB battles (I was watching the linemen), unfortunately, but Reed looked fantastic in team and situational drills.
Quick hits
--Hassanein left practice early with a lower leg injury, but he walked past the media after practice and said he's fine. He did have a slight limp but didn't look much worse for the wear.
--Kicker Jake Bates had a rare bad day. He missed three field goal attempts--all wide left, with one hitting the outside of the upright. Bates also yanked an extra point to the left.
--Jared Goff hit Jameson Williams on a 40-yard post pattern where No. 1 ran away from safety Kerby Joseph and softly gathered a perfect throw for a touchdown in situational drills.
--We saw a few instances of David Montgomery and Jahmyr Gibbs in the backfield together. Not permitted to discuss the formation, but it's an interesting and dynamic set to have two excellent RBs playing at the same time.
--In general, the Lions first-team offense ran the ball better today than they have been. That wasn't true of the reserve units. Montgomery showed some outstanding field vision to see bounce lanes.
--Derrick Barnes absolutely annihilated Brock Wright when No. 89 was trying to run block him on the first play of team reps. Barnes had a strong overall practice.
--Undrafted rookie Keith Cooper earned some first-team reps at defensive tackle and played well. His quickness into power in the 4i/5T role is exactly what the Lions hoped for with injured Levi Onwuzurike. Very hard to see Cooper not making the team at this point.
--The Lions are holding a closed walkthrough on Tuesday. The Dolphins visit the following two days for joint practices, which promise to have 1s vs 1s and so forth.
This article originally appeared on Lions Wire: Lions camp notebook: Takeaways from 1st practice after win vs. Falcons
Continue reading...
