Here are some observations from the first day of Lions training camp in Allen Park on Wednesday.
It was an extremely light day of practice, especially by Lions standards. The team wasn’t wearing pads and didn’t do one-on-one drills. Expect Detroit to slowly ramp up the workload until the pads come on, at which point the games will officially begin.
We’ll start with the first of two big winners on Day 1: wide receiver Jameson Williams. The man they call “Waymo” was driving defenders crazy, making spectacular catches with defensive backs draped all over him. In a 7-on-7 period, Williams fought off tough coverage from Ennis Rakestraw Jr. to haul in a pass. The coverage was so good that it looked as if Rakestraw had initially believed he made the play; he didn’t.
Williams had two more great catches during 11-on-11 drills. With cornerback D.J. Reed sticking to him like glue, Williams was able to snag a ball while going to the sideline. For his final act of the day, Williams ran a skinny post down the middle of the field and hauled in a pass in double coverage against Rakestraw and safety Chuck Clark.
Just how much more can the Lions get Williams the ball next season? With so many mouths to feed, it might be hard to envision that he’ll vastly outperform the 1,117-yard campaign he had a year ago — especially if tight end Sam LaPorta becomes even more involved in the passing game with Drew Petzing as his offensive coordinator. But if Williams continues to show that quarterback Jared Goff should trust him to make tough, contested catches, it should help him cut down on the number of games in which he’s involved very little, making him a more complete and consistent player in 2026.
The second big winner of the day was cornerback Nick Whiteside, one of the bubble players on the roster. Whiteside, an Auburn Hills native, joined the Lions in a pinch during last year’s training camp and started off hot before cooling off for the remainder of camp and missing the cut. He’s already off to another hot start this year. Whiteside recorded multiple pass breakups in the shortened practice session, firmly throwing his hat in the ring to be a contributor.
And following the departure of former Lions cornerback Terrion Arnold, who was released last month after being arrested for his connection to an armed robbery and kidnapping, the Lions are in dire need of reliable corners. One can easily make the case that Detroit did not adequately prepare for Arnold’s potential departure, but Lions coach Dan Campbell gave the players already on the team a vote of confidence.
“We’re fired up. Look, it’s why we got Rock (Ya-Sin) back. We went and got (Roger) McCreary. We knew we’d get (Rakestraw) back off injury. We drafted (Keith) Abney (II). Whiteside is back,” Campbell said. “We feel pretty good in that room with the competition and those guys.”
Sticking with cornerbacks for just a second, I thought Rakestraw had a really good day despite giving up a few catches to Williams. He and Ya-Sin split first-team reps across from Reed for most of the day. When Rakestraw did give up a catch on the first team, he never trailed by more than half a step. On one early rep, Goff lofted the ball up to Amon-Ra St. Brown, who was running a fade route up the sideline. St. Brown made the catch, but it appeared as though Rakestraw was able to prevent him from getting two feet in bounds. Rakestraw is going to benefit greatly from playing against the trio of St. Brown, Williams and Isaac TeSlaa this training camp.
Every year, coaches make it a point to say that it’s not worth paying attention to who’s getting snaps with which unit. Training camp is essentially one long tryout, and mixing and matching pieces on the chessboard is a critical part of the evaluation process.
However, sometimes it is worth it, such as Wednesday, when rookie offensive lineman Blake Miller did not split any time at first-team right tackle with Larry Borom, Miller’s primary challenger for a starting job. Borom might get his chance with the first team in the coming days and weeks, but the rookie’s placement on Day 1 is certainly a positive sign.
With Christian Mahogany missing practice, incoming free agents Ben Bartch and Juice Scruggs rotated at left guard during walk-throughs, with Scruggs taking the majority of first-team reps in team drills. Bartch missed time in OTAs with a foot injury that ended his 2025 season, so it’s possible the Lions are being cautious with him as camp begins. We will aim to glean more information from Campbell in the coming days.
Lions safeties Brian Branch and Kerby Joseph were highly visible on the first day of practice despite both being placed on the Physically Unable to Perform (PUP) list with injuries that date back to last season. Branch helped out the coaches with individual drills, and Joseph was grinding off to the side of the practice field, running up hills and doing other workouts to help prepare his knee for the season.
On the field, the Lions were primarily running out Clark and Avonte Maddox as the first-team safeties. Once Christian Izien returns from having the flu — Campbell said he hopes to get him out there Friday — it’ll be interesting to see where he’s placed early on. Thomas Harper and Loren Strickland manned second-team snaps, with second-year safety Dan Jackson getting in the mix during walk-through periods.
With Jahmyr Gibbs missing practice, Sione Vaki and Isiah Pacheco largely split the first-team reps at running back. It’s no surprise that those two are above the other three backs in the room, but it is still notable to have confirmation. The team won’t put on pads for a few more days, so it was tough to get a read on how either player — or the offensive line — was performing, but Pacheco certainly looked like he had the juice with the ball in his hands.
nbianchi@detroitnews.com
@nolanbianchi
This article originally appeared on The Detroit News: Lions training camp observations: Jameson Williams shows out on Day 1
Reporting by Nolan Bianchi, The Detroit News / The Detroit News
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By Nolan Bianchi, The Detroit News | USA TODAY Network
