Here are some observations from Day 5 of Lions training camp in Allen Park on Monday.
Monday was the first day of padded practices in Allen Park, which always brings a little bit of extra juice as the second phase of training camp begins. Dan Campbell, who might love physicality more than any NFL head coach, harked back to the excitement of his playing days when asked what excited him more: the first day of pads as a player or the first day of pads as a coach?
“Well, player. I mean, because you get to do it. Now you’re living through them,” Campbell said. “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 Lions waded into the first day of pads a little uncharacteristically. When they’d typically do a one-on-one tackling drill to begin the day, they instead had defenders appearing to down players with two-hand touch. Perhaps the Lions are turning over a new leaf after uber-competitive practices have preceded significant injury problems; it’s also possible that the Lions are simply easing into the contact. We’ll learn more as camp rolls on.
During the drill, running back Sione Vaki, who later left practice with an eye injury, stood up a few ball carriers while repping on the defensive side. Wide receiver Lawrence Keys, who later departed with a leg injury, showed off some good burst. And wide receiver Jameson Williams shook cornerback D.J. Reed out of his shoes.
The Lions’ run game was a little boom or bust on the first day of pads. On many occasions, the play was blown up before it even had the chance to begin, resulting in half the defense swarming the ball carrier near the line of scrimmage. But there was plenty of explosiveness on display when the running backs did have a lane.
After linebackers Derrick Barnes and Damone Clark recorded tackles-for-loss on consecutive plays — in Barnes’ case, he happened to be the closest defender as running back Isiah Pacheco slipped while trying to make a cut — running back Jacob Saylors exploded through a crease for an explosive play of about 30-35 yards. Saylors also took a screen pass about 60 yards down the sideline before being tackled near the goal line. Running backs Kye Robichaux and Jabari Small also had several medium- to long-distance runs.
Jahmyr Gibbs’ absence and Vaki’s early departure from practice opened up a ton of snaps for Saylors, Robichaux and Small. With only one or two spots open for those three players — depending on the severity of Vaki’s eye injury — the door is open for one of them to get a serious leg up on the competition this week.
When the first-string offense and defense went head-to-head, the defense often won the matchup.
Edge defender Ahmed Hassanein continued showing his fire on Monday and got into it with offensive lineman Christian Mahogany. While Hassanein was engaged with offensive tackle Devin Cochran, Mahogany went looking for work and decided to help Cochran out by charging at Hassanein, hitting both players in the process. Cochran went to the ground and got up slowly as Hassanein got in Mahogany’s ear and pointed at his injured brethren. Hassanein also stared down and roared at tight end Thomas Gordon after a one-on-one rep.
Mahogany was the top performer from O-line/D-line one-on-ones, handling defensive tackle Alim McNeill in both of their matchups. On the first, McNeill ended up face down on the ground with Mahogany on top of him.
Aidan Hutchinson and Penei Sewell also added another intense chapter to their daily battles, as Hutchinson beat Sewell on the very first rep of the drill before Sewell rebounded to beat Hutchinson. Reserve center Seth McLaughlin also went 2-0 in his reps, winning against defensive tackles Myles Adams and Aidan Keanaaina.
“I don’t take anything for granted, and I don’t take those matchups (with Hutchinson) for granted, because not everyone’s able to go against someone like that in practice every day,” Sewell said. “Every time our rep is about to happen, I just know I gotta lock in, and if I’m able to block that guy, I’m able to block anyone.”
Sticking with the O-line, Miles Frazier lost his first two one-on-one reps against a pair of undrafted rookies, Anthony Lucas and Eric O’Neill, but rebounded with a win over veteran defensive tackle Mekhi Wingo. Frazier was also steamrolled by rookie Tyre West during team drills, leading to a Luke Altmyer incompletion.
While the development of Frazier, a fifth-round pick out of LSU in the 2025 NFL Draft, is something we’re watching closely, we’re also doing so with a bit of grace. He’s repping at pretty much every spot on the offensive line in his first healthy training camp, which is no easy task.
“It’s early, but there’s some good reps,” Campbell said on Monday morning. “Look, he’s played all the positions already in four days and some of spring, both guards, both tackles. Which is another reason why we liked him, why we drafted him, because that’s what he did at LSU. He’s left tackle, he’s left guard, he’s right guard, he’s right tackle, he’s back to left guard. So, our eyes are open for him, too. I mean, don’t sleep on him.”
We noted on Friday that wide receiver Isaac TeSlaa has not been as involved in team drills as one might hope entering Year 2, and that continued on Monday. While there weren’t as many full-team reps available as there will be later in the week, we only saw TeSlaa make one catch, a short reception against Reed.
TeSlaa also took the loss against cornerback Rock Ya-Sin in several gunner reps with Ya-Sin acting as the blocker, and got held up by cornerback Roger McCreary. Ya-Sin was very impressive in this drill, winning his matchups with TeSlaa and also blowing by the young pup, Keith Abney II, when he had his chance to play the gunner role.
Cornerback Nick Whiteside drew some praise from coaches when he held up cornerback Khalil Dorsey, the best gunner on the team, during the same drill. Whiteside has had a strong start to camp on the defensive side but will need to add value on special teams to make the roster. Campbell noted Whiteside’s prolific start and said the cornerback battle is “about to get interesting.”
The Lions have an open starting position at CB2 and have reserve roles available. Through Monday, Whiteside hasn’t gotten much work with the first-string defense, if any at all. It’s possible the Lions want to gradually see him grow before throwing him into the fire.
“Whiteside has made plays every day,” Campbell said. “Special teams and on defense every day. There has not been a day yet — we’ve had four practices — where he has not made plays. So, this is about to get interesting. It’s going to be really interesting.”
Dorsey was involved in the first fight of camp, as he and wide receiver Dominic Lovett had a mini-scrap that dissolved quickly during the second-team offense’s first period of the day.
Reed has drawn the tough assignment of covering Williams and Amon-Ra St. Brown on most days, which has led to him being on the unflattering end of a lot of highlight-reel plays posted by the team on social media. But he made a really nice play on Monday in team drills, swatting away a throw to St. Brown, who was running a comeback route.
nbianchi@detroitnews.com
@nolanbianchi
This article originally appeared on The Detroit News: Lions training camp observations: Run game has boom-or-bust day
Reporting by Nolan Bianchi, The Detroit News / The Detroit News
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Nolan Bianchi, The Detroit News | USA TODAY Network
