The fans were back for the first time at Detroit Lions training camp on Saturday morning. The energy was palpable throughout the Meijer Performance Center in Allen Park. From the anxious cheers during the early positional drills to the raucous cheers when practice ended on an Isaac TeSlaa touchdown grab over a defender on a perfect pass from Hendon Hooker, the presence of the fans was a welcome lift.
Those in attendance saw a continuation of the general practice themes from the past week. Detroit has a high-end roster and a lot of hunger, but some questions on depth and fitting young pieces into the mix. Some of those young pieces thrived on a humid morning, as did some established vets.
Here’s what I took away from Saturday’s practice on a moist morning.
Players coming back
There were some fresh faces on the practice field, most notably linebacker Alex Anzalone. No. 34 had been sidelined with a hamstring issue. He did drills but not team reps. When asked after practice if his appearance meant a new contract, Anzalone laughed with an emphatic “no.” More on that in a separate piece, stay tuned…
Defensive tackle Roy Lopez also was back on the field after missing time with a foot issue. He looked no worse for the wear and took some second-team reps. After missing a day for personal reasons (per Dan Campbell), first-round pick Tyleik Williams was back with the starters and made his presence felt. After practice, Williams told reporters he had a family emergency.
Cornerback Ennis Rakestraw was also back in the lineup, his first action since suffering a chest injury on the opening day of practice last Sunday. He played outside CB with the second-team defense.
Defensive end Al-Quadin Muhammad made his camp debut working with the deeper units in drills.
Missing from practice: Safety Ian Kennelly, who was running on the side with trainers. Cornerback Stantley Thomas-Oliver left early with a hamstring injury, which happened on a play where rookie WR Jackson Meeks made a spectacular one-handed catch over him.
Player of the day: Dominic Lovett
The seventh-round rookie wideout showed out for the fans, earning cheers on a few catches. Lovett does everything at full speed, but he flashed some unexpected power for a 5-foot-10, 185-pound outside receiver. Lovett bulled his way into the end zone after catching a shallow slant behind LB Anthony Pittman, driving his way (with some help from his offensive friends) several yards to paydirt.
Lovett earlier corkscrewed safety Loren Strickland on a jerk route that resulted in a wide-open sideline grab from Hendon Hooker in a red zone drill. No. 19 held onto the ball after the catch and an almost simultaneous big lick from safety Mo Norris.
Lovett continued to make a big impact on special teams as well. His work as a gunner and blocker earn positive notes every day, and Saturday was no exception.
DL keeps on bullying
The fans got to see what we in the media have watched for the last week: the defensive tackles and ends are dominating their offensive counterparts. The inside tandem of Tyleik Williams and D.J. Reader has been a nightmare for the rushing offense. It’s not uncommon to see both of them in the backfield despite one often facing a double-team. Reader had a couple of standout reps in run defense, pushing center Graham Glasgow backward right off the snap.
Williams had two disruptive pass rushing reps, one each against guards Christian Mahogany (left side) and rookie Tate Ratledge (right). No. 91 has been very effective at keeping his shoulders clean as he uses various moves to get off the iniital punch. Williams scored an instant pressure on Jared Goff in team drills, clearing between Glasgow and Ratledge almost without being touched. On another rep, Williams and Reader were both in Goff’s face before he competed his drop, as was Aidan Hutchinson on a play where the only first-team OL to successfully execute a block was Mahogany.
The DL advantage is even more pronounced with the second- and third-team offenses. The ends, notably Pat O’Connor (in a 4i or 5T) and Mitchell Agude, were complete death to the run offense throughout practice. O’Connor continues to have a very impressive camp playing in the role Levi Onwuzurike would have slotted into. O’Connor’s violence through his shoulders and hands are better than the injured Onwuzurike ever showed on a consistent basis. Defensive tackle Chris Smith continues to score clear wins in run defense, validating head coach Dan Campbell’s positive words for Smith before practice.
The first time the second-team D-line took the field, the foursome of (left to right) Ahmed Hassanein, O’Connor, Roy Lopez and Keith Cooper made three straight plays in the backfield in the run game.
When it isn’t the line making the plays, they’re also creating ample opportunities for the linebackers and DBs in the run game. Jack Campbell got an unblocked clean lick on RB David Montgomery on one inside run, then paired with CB Terrion Arnold for a would-be TFL on another where the four defensive linemen expertly soaked up all six blockers (including the TE).
Red zone
The Lions spent a fair amount of practice working on red zone, 7-on-7.
In going through my practice notes, second-team QB Hendon Hooker earned a lot of mentions for great throws and good decisions. Hooker hit WR Tom Kennedy for a toe-tapper in the corner on a throw that expertly leveraged against the defender, CB Tyson Russell. Hooker also sizzled a ball to Lovett with coverage closing quickly. That’s a throw we the collective media all agreed No. 2 wasn’t making a year ago.
Hooker did have a couple of misses, notably not seeing rookie WR Isaac TeSlaa break wide open on a quick corner route, instead opting to throw to a well-covered TE Shane Zylstra on the other side. Hooker also threw one way too high and hot for TeSlaa on a quick read. But overall, Hooker looked quite impressive.
Third-string QB Kyle Allen also had some impressive moments and throws. Allen is good at recognizing the vulnerability in coverage and picking at it like a toddler attacking a scab. He was sharp in hitting rookie WR Jackson Meeks just as he broke clean of a flat-footed Loren Strickland on an in route. Allen also connected with Zylstra on a TE drag where Zylstra broke free of an obvious hold by LB Anthony Pittman and still got open.
RB pass protection
With the line play proving relatively leaky, the running backs have definitely stepped up in pass protection. Two in particular each had a couple of great pass-blocking reps on Saturday.
Craig Reynolds has earned a reputation for being excellent in pass pro, and he proved it once again. He stepped into a blitzing Strickland and gave Hooker all the time he needed to complete a pass.
Undrafted rookie Kye Robichaux might have made the most impressive block of the day regardless of position, slamming a blitzing Erick Hallett hard to the turf on an A-gap blitz. Robichaux earlier earned a lot of fan cheering for dragging DB Avonte Maddox several yards on a run up the sideline. Good day for No. 25.
Quick hits
–As noted above, practice ended with third-round rookie Isaac TeSlaa making a leaping catch over CB Dicaprio Bootle on a perfectly thrown ball from Hooker. The 29-yard strike sent the fans home happy.
–Linebacker Derrick Barnes had another strong day as new DC Kelvin Sheppard’s chess piece with the first-team defense. Barnes has developed a very keen sense of timing on his B-gap rushes, and his ability to run in stride with any tight end (including Sam LaPorta) in coverage was once again on display today.
–Grant Stuard had the hit of the day, popping Amon-Ra St. Brown with a stone cold (and clean) shoulder on a kick return. St. Brown patted No. 15 on the head afterward. Stuard had another very good day playing LB with the second-team defense. His closing burst to the ball is best-on-team amongst the LBs.
–Veteran linebacker Zach Cunningham had another strong day. He’s been very active and quickly fitting into Sheppard’s LB-centric defense.
–Players who randomly made multiple positive dents in the notebook: LB Trevor Nowaske, S Brian Branch, CB Rock Ya-Sin (in red zone), WR Jackson Meeks, TE Brock Wright (in red zone), OL Kingsley Eguakun (playing C)
–Players who randomly made multiple negative dents in the notebook: LG Colby Sorsdal, LT Dan Skipper, S Loren Strickland (all in coverage), LB Anthony PIttman, CB Dicaprio Bootle, CB Stantley Thomas-Oliver (before his injury), WR Tim Patrick, LB Ezekiel Turner (coverage).
–In the QB positional drills, Allen missed the entire target net on a rep and did a set of push-ups as punishment. Hooker looked outstanding in the same drill. Jared Goff is always picture-perfect in this drill and today was no exception.
–WR Kalif Raymond saw more first-team reps than normal, replacing Patrick in several sets including the red zone. The two wideouts are stylistic and physical opposites, so it could be the coaching staff seeing who meshes in better in certain situations.
–Kicker Jake Bates was perfect on the day in field goals. Special mention to long snapper Hogan Hatten, who completed a flawless first week of practices in his second camp.
–Owner Sheila Hamp and her mother, former owner Martha Ford, earned very loud cheers when they appeared in front of the fans on their customized golf cart. Sometimes the security team encourages the cheering, but no prodding was needed. More than one “thank you Sheila” was heard from the stands.
–The players are off on Sunday, returning to action Monday as the team readies for Thursday’s trip to Canton and the Pro Football Hall of Fame game against the Los Angeles Chargers.
This article originally appeared on Lions Wire: Lions training camp notebook, Day 6: The fans are back
Reporting by Jeff Risdon, Lions Wire / Lions Wire
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
