Every time Jackson Meeks steps in the huddle, he reminds himself what position he’s playing.
“In my head I’m saying, ‘I’m Y, I’m Y, I’m Y,'” Meeks said Wednesday, June 17. “Because you’ll hear the play call, you’ll hear a play and you’ll forget for a minute. I forget for a minute.”
Eventually, he won’t need a reminder anymore, but for now Meeks still is getting used to his new position of tight end.
An undrafted rookie out of Syracuse who signed with the Detroit Lions as a receiver last spring, Meeks filled in as a scout-team tight end late last season after the Lions lost Sam LaPorta and Brock Wright to injury.
He said Lions coach Dan Campbell came to him around the final practice of last season and said the team wanted him to play tight end full time in OTAs, and Meeks spent the offseason bulking up to play the position.
He gained 20 pounds through regular weight room workouts and a diet high in protein formulated by the Lions’ nutrition staff, and he’s spent the spring playing in the 230- to 235-pound range, about 10 pounds more than what Campbell asked him to report at this offseason.
“I for sure feel the difference, but I still feel like myself,” Meeks said. “The strength staff’s done a great job of getting my legs stronger, just continuing to work on full-body strength because I’m playing a new position and I’m dealing with bigger D-ends. … You see Hutch [Aidan Hutchinson], I be messing around with Hutch, telling him that I’m ready. He knows I moved from receiver to tight end, so he kind of just giggles when he goes against me. It kind of makes me very upset, but nah, just getting used to it, man. I’m getting used to it. I’m trying to give myself the best chance.”
Meeks played five offensive snaps in two games last season and has an uphill battle to earn a roster spot this fall. Wright is fully healthy and back at practice. LaPorta should be, too, by the time training camp opens, and the Lions signed veteran Tyler Conklin to be their No. 3 tight end this offseason.
But Conklin did not take part in minicamp this week for undisclosed reasons, and while undrafted rookie Miles Kitselman took some first-team reps in the Lions’ three-tight end set during Wednesday’s jog-through, Meeks capped the final practice of spring with a red-zone touchdown catch in a late-game situational period.
He said the TD was a nice confidence boost to end the spring.
“It definitely feels good,” he said.
And eight or so months after he lined up at the position for the first time in his life, he said he’s starting to feel like he can make it his home.
“Whatever it takes, but I definitely feel good,” he said. “Just excited to work, just happy I’m getting an opportunity to play football.”
The Lions are off for the next six weeks or so until training camp starts in late July. Here are more observations from Wednesday’s practice:
Offense bounces back
The defense had a banner day Tuesday with three interceptions (and a couple other near picks), but the offense bounced back in situational work Wednesday.
Jared Goff was sharp operating a two-minute drill to end practice. The offense started in first-and-10 at its own 35-yard line, down 33-24 with 1:59 on the clock. Goff led an eight-play scoring that ended with a 4-yard touchdown pass to Amon-Ra St. Brown.
Goff nearly hit St. Brown on a bomb downfield to start the series − St. Brown wanted a pass interference call on Roger McCreary on the play, but I thought St. Brown’s feet got tangled with McCreary after the ball sailed over his head − then was efficient driving the ball deep into the defense’s territory without using a timeout.
He hit Jahmyr Gibbs for a short pass and picked up a first down with another throw to St. Brown. After throwing the ball away to kill the clock, Goff completed passes to Isaac TeSlaa and Jameson Williams for another first down, then made a perfect throw to Williams over the middle of the field. Williams bobbled the catch initially or would have scored with more than a minute on the clock. Instead, Goff hustled the offense to the line − Williams was arguing he wasn’t touched down and got in the end zone − and found St. Brown in the back of the end zone against D.J. Reed.
The offense didn’t quite complete the comeback. Campbell ran 25 seconds off the clock (to simulate a three-and-out and punt) and gave the ball back to the offense in first-and-10 from the 12 with 22 seconds left. But the two-minute drill was a thing of beauty that sampled all the firepower the Lions have on offense.
Jake Bates booms it
Campbell joked that kicker Jake Bates and punter Jack Fox were the standouts of the spring when asked before practice Wednesday to name a few players who stood out this offseason.
“Bates has done a hell of a job. And Fox,” Campbell said. “I like where those guys are at to this point. I feel big improvement.”
Bates capped the second-team situational period (same situation, down 33-24, starting at the minus-35, with 1:59 on the clock) with a 64-yard bomb of a field goal that split the uprights and would have been good from 70.
The offense might have got a little home cooking to complete the comeback. Teddy Bridgewater led a 10-play touchdown drive that ended in Meeks’ score to pull the offense within two with 35 seconds on the clock, then started the next possession first-and-10 from the 45 with 30 seconds left. (It wasn’t quite a simulated onside kick recovery since the offense lost all three of its timeouts.)
Bridgewater threw back-to-back incompletions to start the final drive before Cedrick Wilson Jr. made a diving catch on third-and-10. Bridgewater hustled to the line to spike the clock, but Wilson’s catch appeared to be short of the first-down marker, so the spike would have ended the game.
Personnel department
Blake Miller took first-team reps at right tackle for the second straight day, while backup interior lineman Juice Scruggs got work at fullback. If the Lions keep their projected starting line − Penei Sewell, Christian Mahogany, Cade Mays, Tate Ratledge and Miller − healthy, Scruggs and Larry Borom will almost certainly be the top backups on game day.
Ben Bartch sat out all spring for precautionary reasons as he works his way back from last year’s ankle injury, but Bartch (or Scruggs) still could push Mahogany for the left guard job this summer. The second-team line, from left to right during situational work, was Devin Cochran, Miles Frazier, Scruggs, Mason Miller and Gio Manu.
On defense, Rock Ya-Sin got the first look opposite Reed at cornerback during jog-through, while Ennis Rakestraw was on the field as the No. 2 cornerback during situational work. Terrion Arnold did not take part in team drills, but Campbell explained why Arnold has worked on the second field during jog-through much of the spring.
“He took some stuff on the first field, like earlier the first week, first couple of days, here and there, and then we just kind of mixed it up,” Campbell said. “The most important thing for him is just making sure that he’s healthy − that’s step one, the rehab, which he’s done a good job with. He’s getting better. We feel good about where he’s at in that regard, but that’s the most important thing because he’s not full speed right now, at least he’s non-contact. He’s moving pretty good, all that stuff. And so just make sure that you stay on top of that, you’re ready to go for training camp, and then it’s on. It’s just about competing. We’ve got a lot of good guys in that room and he knows this − he’s got to go earn it.”
Special teams watch
The Lions worked on their coffin-corner punts during special teams period, and Khalil Dorsey showed why he’s one of the best gunners in the game, showing good field awareness to catch a punt at the 1-yard line.
Dorsey has taken both first- and second-team reps on defense this offseason, and while I think he’s far down the cornerback depth chart − behind Reed, Ya-Sin, Arnold, Rakestraw and Roger McCreary − he’ll be on my first 53-man roster projection because of his special teams ability.
I thought new receiver Lucky Jackson and rookie Keith Abney and Malik Cunningham also had good reps at the gunner drill, while TeSlaa stepped into the end zone on both of his reps before downing the ball and De’Shawn Rucker let the ball bounce into the end zone.
Greg Dortch, Tom Kennedy and Isiah Pacheco handled punt returns during the period.
Kerby Joseph update
Kerby Joseph declined an interview request on his way off the field Wednesday, but he’s appeared to be in good spirits this spring, both with teammates and media. Joseph had one of the saddest interviews I’ve been a part of last year when he declared, “My knee messed up.” He’s always been one of the most jovial players in the locker room, so I’m going to take the return of the old Joseph as an optimistic sign about where his health is at.
No comments
Sam LaPorta worked out on a side field with trainers during individual period. He declined an interview request from the Detroit Football Network on his way off the field, as he’s done to others this spring. And the Lions PR staff ran interference on a couple reporters waiting to see if Brian Branch would talk, as he said he would last week, when he left the field. Branch caught a few balls off the jugs machine and seemed to be in general good spirits after practice.
Eyes from above
Lions principal owner Sheila Hamp and owner/vice chair Bill Ford Jr. were at practice again Wednesday, as they’ve been for most of the open workouts this spring.
Dave Birkett covers the Lions for the Detroit Free Press. Contact him at dbirkett@freepress.com. Follow him on Bluesky, X and Instagram at @davebirkett.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Lions observations: Bigger, better Jackson Meeks finds new home at TE
Reporting by Dave Birkett, Detroit Free Press / Detroit Free Press
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By Dave Birkett, Detroit Free Press | USA TODAY Network
