Here are some observations from Day 14 of Detroit Lions training camp in Allen Park on Monday evening.
The Lions held a competitive and physical scrimmage on Monday night with clearly defined series, so we’re going to do something a bit different and go drive-by-drive with some of the highlights and lowlights.
Series 1: First Team
Juice Scruggs took snaps at first-team center for the first half of the four-quarter scrimmage. On the very first rep of the evening, the under-center snap was fumbled.
The defense dominated the start of the scrimmage. The offense didn’t pick up a first down until its sixth possession. On this drive, defensive tackle Alim McNeill knocked back guard Tate Ratledge to force a second-down incompletion. A third-down completion to tight end Sam LaPorta came up just shy of the sticks.
Series 2: Second Team
Quarterback Luke Altmyer took all of the second-team snaps besides for one drive, when Josh Dobbs entered. As practice went on, the second-team offense was essentially a combination of second- and third-string players; the first team was a combination of first- and second-string players.
Ennis Rakestraw Jr. had his best practice of camp. He had a monster hit on running back Jacob Saylors during a gain of 2, then had a tackle-for-loss on the next play while coming on a corner blitz. On third-and-12, Rakestraw was in coverage on wide receiver Tay Martin for an incompletion as cornerback Christian Izien nearly got home on a blitz.
Series 3: First Team
The next series also ended quickly. After a 4-yard gain to tight end Brock Wright, McNeill made his presence felt again with a stop on running back Jahmyr Gibbs for 1 yard. Quarterback Jared Goff’s throw to wide receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown on third-and-5 missed the mark with safety Avonte Maddox in coverage.
Series 4: Second Team
Rakestraw retook the field and again started making plays. On first down, he tipped a pass while coming on a corner blitz to force an incompletion. On third down, Izien broke up a pass that bounced off a few bodies, allowing Rakestraw to swoop in for an interception before it hit the ground.
Defensive lineman Levi Onwuzurike produced a highlight on second down, tossing center Seth McLaughlin to pick up a run stop on running back Jabari Small.
Series 5: First Team
McNeill stopped Gibbs for no gain on first down, his second big run stop of the night.
On third-and-8, rookie defensive lineman Skyler Gill-Howard made quick work of Scruggs to get in Goff’s face before he completed a quick throw to St. Brown, who bobbled the ball before catching it for a gain of 5. Safety Thomas Harper broke up a throw to LaPorta on fourth-and-3.
Series 6: Second Team
The Lions’ offense finally picked up a first down with runs of 7 and 2 yards by Saylors, followed by a 2-yard run from Small.
Linebacker Trevor Nowaske immediately put the offense behind the sticks with a blitz that was not picked up by anyone, sacking Altmyer for a loss of 6. After a 10-yard completion to wide receiver Malik Cunningham, Altmyer overthrew his intended target on third-and-6 and was intercepted by safety Chuck Clark.
Series 7: First Team
Linebacker Jack Campbell had a pass breakup on a throw to St. Brown as edge defenders Aidan Hutchinson and DJ Wonnum teamed up for a pressure on Goff.
The first team eventually picked up a first down by running the ball on third-and-8. Gibbs found a crease and exploded as rookie offensive tackle Blake Miller pulled around and led the way, looking awesome while moving in space to move Detroit into the red zone.
The offense got to first-and-goal at the 8 and got a tough run from running back Sione Vaki to get halfway to the end zone. On second down, Scruggs and Goff fumbled the under-center exchange again.
Finally, a touchdown, as Kennedy beat Izien using a subtle pick by St. Brown from 6 yards out.
Series 8: Second Team
On Dobbs’ first snap of the day, he overthrew the ball on a screen with Izien coming on a blitz. The ball was nearly intercepted by an unidentified linebacker but was smacked safely to the grass by offensive lineman Melvin Priestly.
An 8-yard completion to wide receiver Greg Dortch and a 4-yard run by running back Raheem Blackshear moved the chains, but again, the defense came up with an immediate sack to derail the next set of downs. Nowaske and nose tackle Chris Smith met at the quarterback on second-and-9 for a loss of 9.
After edge defender Eric O’Neill was flagged for offsides, edge defenders Anthony Lucas and Ahmed Hassanein met at the quarterback for another sack, ending the drive.
Series 9: First Team
On first-and-10 at the 28-yard line, Goff found St. Brown for a gain of 12 near the sideline. St. Brown got popped by Harper, which started a long night of St. Brown viciously chirping at players and coaches on the defensive side of the ball.
Campbell and defensive lineman Tyleik Williams teamed up for a run stop of Gibbs during the drive.
Series 10: Second Team
The 10th series of the day, which started at the offense’s 12-yard line, was a complete disaster. Cunningham had a clear drop on first-and-10, then had a second-down target broken up by Rakestraw.
On third down, O’Neill read a screen like a book, tipped the throw from Altmyer into the air, and caught it while spinning before running into the end zone for a pick-six.
Series 11: Second Team
Lions coach Dan Campbell threw the offense back out there to finish the first half. Small had a nice catch-and-run, including a slipped tackle attempt by linebacker Malcolm Rodriguez, to pick up 9 yards.
Defensive lineman Ben Stille, who we mentioned on Sunday as someone who has made splash plays just about every practice, beat Michael Niese for a sack of Altmyer on the final play of the half.
Series 12: First Team
There were only four second-half possessions total, thanks to Goff and Co. chewing up most of the clock on their two series.
But early on, it looked like we were in for more of the same domination. Cornerback D.J. Reed and defensive lineman Tyler Lacy teamed up for a 1-yard run stop on Gibbs, which was followed by a sack from linebacker Devin White. On third-and-17, Goff found TeSlaa on a corner route for a big-time gain to keep the drive alive.
On a 4-yard run by Gibbs, St. Brown got his revenge on Harper by burying him on a block. Gibbs moved the chains again by juking cornerback Rock Ya-Sin after a reception for a gain of about 7.
Rakestraw chipped in with a stop for no gain after a completion to tight end Tyler Conklin on second-and-10. Detroit’s offense picked up another first down on third-and-long with a 15-yard reception to Kennedy.
Running back Sione Vaki got Detroit into the red zone with his best run of camp so far. He bounced it to the right side and ran over Maddox for a gain of 19, just barely stepping out of bounds at the 9 on a play on which he took it all the way to the end zone.
Ya-Sin had an excellent pass breakup in the corner of the end zone on a second-and-goal throw to LaPorta from the 6-yard line. The entire defense sniffed out a third-down screen, resulting in Jake Bates kicking a chip-shot field goal.
Drive 13: Second Team
Offensive guard Mason Miller started the drive with a false start, but the offense got back on track with a 22-yard completion to Cedrick Wilson Jr., who left cornerback Aamaris Brown in the dust on a crossing route. Small followed that play up with a run of 10 yards to keep the chains moving.
O’Neill made another big play by beating Priestly for a sack to bring up third-and-11, but Altmyer converted with a 16-yard completion to Lovett, who skied into the air to haul in the throw.
One play later, the second-team offense found the end zone on a 19-yard completion to wide receiver Lucky Jackson, who beat cornerback Khalil Dorsey with a slot fade.
Drive 14: First Team
On second-and-10, Tyleik Williams had a tackle-for-loss on Vaki after beating McLaughlin handily. The offense picked up third-and-11 with a completion to St. Brown, who tossed the ball at defensive coordinator Kelvin Sheppard in celebration.
McLaughlin backed up the offense on first down by taking a holding penalty while trying to slow down McNeill. Gibbs got things back on track with a 13-yard gain on the ground, but the ref (Dan Campbell) might’ve missed a holding call on Wright.
A few plays later, after TeSlaa picked up a first down with a 9-yard catch, Conklin sealed off linebacker Derrick Barnes on a run play, allowing Gibbs to scoot for a gain of 20 yards.
McNeill had another impact play on first down, stopping Vaki for a loss of 1.
On the first team’s final play of the day, LaPorta lost Barnes on a play-action boot to the left and had nothing but green grass in front of him after making the catch, getting all the way to the end zone for a 25-yard reception.
Drive 15: Second Team
A few plays into the drive, on first-and-10 at midfield, cornerback Roger McCreary got home on a corner blitz to force second-and-18. Two plays later, Stille finished the practice with his second sack of the night, beating Priestly to bring down Altmyer.
With time still left on the clock, Dan Campbell had seen enough and called practice.
nbianchi@detroitnews.com
@nolanbianchi
This article originally appeared on The Detroit News: Lions training camp observations: Ennis Rakestraw stars in scrimmage
Reporting by Nolan Bianchi, The Detroit News / The Detroit News
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By Nolan Bianchi, The Detroit News | USA TODAY Network
