Cincinnati — Dan Campbell won’t know for sure until he watches the tape from his team’s preseason loss to the Cincinnati Bengals, but he walked out of Paycor Stadium with positive initial thoughts about the performance of rookie offensive tackle Blake Miller.
Miller, 22, made his unofficial debut for the Detroit Lions on Thursday, playing every snap on offense in the first half. He didn’t allow a sack, and any losses he took weren’t obvious, at least not on first watch from the sideline.
“Until I really watch the film, I can’t make a true judgment,” Campbell said. “I’ll tell you this, though, I didn’t feel like my eyes were ever on he or Larry (Borom), and that’s a positive. … That’s a pretty good sign. Like, man, they’re handling their business. Because I didn’t feel like we had any issues on the perimeter with those two guys in there.
“So, I thought he did a good job. We’ll turn on the tape, but I thought he handled it … well.”
Miller’s personal assessment aligned with Campbell’s, in the sense he wanted a second look at his work before sharing an evaluation. At first glance, though, “there’s some good stuff, there’s some stuff I want to clean up, just like any other game.”
A self-review will begin while traveling back to Detroit.
“I’d like to watch the film on this plane ride,” Miller said of his postgame routine. “Go over it, any notes that I have, I’ll write that stuff down, things that I need to work on, things that I thought went well. Try and learn from that, get my body back as much as I can tomorrow and get ready for practice in two days.”
Practicing against Aidan Hutchinson has been a hefty chore for Miller, who has been repeatedly beaten by Detroit’s star defensive end through the first half of training camp. But those reps, while difficult in the moment, are welcomed by the rookie.
Surely, his battles with Hutchinson helped prepare him for the Bengals, who played their starters early in the first quarter of Thursday’s contest.
“If I do something and it works against him, it’s probably going to work against almost anyone else. … And then also, too, the reps that I don’t win, being able to learn just as much, if not more, from those reps, as well,” Miller said of Hutchinson. “I’ve been so grateful to be able to get as many reps as I have against him.”
Miller said the one thing he’s learned most since entering the NFL has been to fully commit to whatever he’s doing while on the field, resisting any urge to exist “in that in-between territory.” An example: “Your pass set. If you’re really going to go get on a guy, you’ve got to go get on him,” Miller explained. “You can’t take two steps like you’re going to and then come sit it down and be short on your angle.”
“The stuff where I was kind of in between,” Miller said, “those are plays that I would like to — not have back, but improve on.”
Preseason debut? Done. Two more exhibitions left before the games begin to count and Miller can officially debut as a member of the Lions. In the meantime, he’ll continue soaking it all in.
“I just really tried to take it one moment at a time,” Miller said. “Because it really is, like, such a blessing. Kind of reflecting on that afterwards, just to be able to be here, wearing a Detroit Lions uniform on an NFL field stepping into a game. I really just tried to enjoy every single moment of it that I humanly could. I’m just grateful.”
rsilva@detroitnews.com
@rich_silva18
This article originally appeared on The Detroit News: Why Dan Campbell was encouraged by Blake Miller’s preseason debut
Reporting by Richard Silva, The Detroit News / The Detroit News
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Richard Silva, The Detroit News | USA TODAY Network
