As a coach, Dan Campbell loves the first day of pads. But as a player, there was something religious about experience.
“Because you get to do it,” Campbell said. “Now you’re living through them. It’s still fun. Believe me, it is, but it’s not the same. But you also know if you go out there, you’re just going to break. Just break right in half.”
The Detroit Lions held their first padded practice of the summer on Monday, Aug. 3, a 90-or-so-minute affair that opened with an intense run period and saw several players leave early because of injury.
Campbell said the Lions have three more padded practices on tap this week (with a walk-through splitting up the schedule on Wednesday). And by the time the week ends, “this roster will begin to separate itself.”
“This is where we’ll find out,” he said. “And this is Day 1 just to kind of break them in for the other three.”
Specifically, the Lions hope to see some separation in the coming days on the offensive line, where the starting left guard job is still up for grabs, and on the defensive front, where injuries have thinned the edge rush position and a deep group of young interior linemen are fighting for jobs.
Tyler Lacy, who started four games at defensive end last season for the Lions, said he was pleased with how the defensive line looked on Day 1. Lacy blew up a bootleg pass play in one rep of team drills, had two solid reps in one-on-ones and seems to be closing in on earning the starting big end job.
“It was good to be back in pads,” he said. “I mean, a lot of football has been played up to now but we was in shirts and those little spider pads and you know that’s not how you play football. I’ve been playing football with pads on since I was 4 or 5, so it’s just felt natural to be back out there in the pads.”
Lacy wasn’t the only standout on Day 1 of pads. I thought Christian Mahogany had a good day in the battle for the left guard job and Jacob Saylors did some good things at running back with Jahmyr Gibbs out for a fifth straight practice and after Sione Vaki left after getting poked in the eye.
Here are more observations from Monday’s practice:
Detroit Lions injury updates
Vaki went down on the second play of team drills, and while I don’t know the extent of his eye injury, it had to be a relief that it wasn’t another soft tissue injury. Vaki has done some good things in Gibbs’ absence this summer, but he’s struggled with injuries throughout his career and can’t afford to miss more time if he wants to have a role on offense this fall.
Along with Vaki, tight end Anthony Firkser, who was carted to the locker room, and receiver Lawrence Keys left with leg injuries. Defensive end Payton Turner remains out with back problems – defensive end Derrick Moore is out seven to 10 days with a groin injury – and guard Ben Batch (ankle) sat out Monday’s practice and still hasn’t taken part in team drills this summer.
At tight end, the Lions signed Nick Muse on Monday but may need to make another move at the position. Tyler Conklin (calf) worked on the side with trainers for the second straight day, but the Lions are currently down three of the eight tight ends on the roster in Conklin, Firkser and Miles Kitselman and there’s no need to overwork Sam LaPorta this time of year coming off his back injury.
Answers coming at left guard?
I think the Lions are still a few weeks away from picking a left guard. I’m sure they’d like to see Bartch in team drills, but Mahogany has done some good things while splitting first-team reps with Juice Scruggs since he returned from the non-football injury list.
Mahogany still may have to win back Campbell’s trust after reporting to camp out of shape, but he had a couple good reps in one-on-ones and seems to be settling in nicely next to Penei Sewell. In one-on-ones, Mahogany had a solid first rep first rep against Alim McNeill, when McNeill lost his footing and fell to the ground (perhaps with Mahogany’s help) and was able to stay in front of Tyleik Williams on his second rep.
Lacy got the better of Juice Scruggs his rep I saw at left guard – Scruggs had a good rep against rookie defensive tackle Skyler Gill-Howard at center – and Miles Frazier was critical of his own performance after practice.
“I didn’t like how I played today,” Frazier told me. “I’m my biggest critic so I expect a high standard of myself. So today was decent, I would say, but I got to clean things up, work on punch timing, work on my transition between going from guard to tackle, and both sides. Me, I’m not really big on excuses so wherever they put me I’m going to try to ball out to my best ability. I’m real hard on myself and today I just didn’t feel like it was a good day. I feel like I got to keep going and stack some good days”
Frazier has taken reps at both guard spots and both tackle spots so far in camp, likely earning himself a spot on the gameday roster for his versatility if he doesn’t win a starting job.
Detroit Lions running back depth chart
I don’t know if the Lions will keep four running backs to start the season, but Saylors is the clear frontrunner for the job if they do. He turned a short pass into a long gain against the blitz in a team period Monday, when he was pushed out of bounds around the 5-yard line by Aamaris Brown, and he adds special teams value in coverage on kicks and punts.
Saylors actually worked with the second-team punt unit as a wing protector Monday – Jabari Small took his reps on the first team – and Avonte Maddox filled in for Vaki as the personal protector.
I didn’t see anything happen to him in practice, and his long gain came on the fourth-to-last play of practice, but Saylors walked to the locker room with a trainer after players milled around on the field, signing autographs, talking with family and putting in extra work after the final horn.
Lions quick-hitters from practice
Sights and sounds
The 97.1-FM (WXYT) morning show “Costa & Jansen with Heather” broadcast live from practice Monday and will be in Allen Park on Tuesday and Thursday this week. Former Lions players Calvin Johnson and Tahir Whitehead were among other notables in attendance Monday.
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: Focus turns to OL, DL as pads come on
Reporting by Dave Birkett, Detroit Free Press / Detroit Free Press
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By Dave Birkett, Detroit Free Press | USA TODAY Network
