The Detroit Lions made their offensive position coaches available to the media on Day 1 of mandatory minicamp practice Tuesday, June 16, for the first time this offseason. Here are some highlights of the sessions:
More coming for Jahmyr Gibbs in passing game
Jahmyr Gibbs ranked fifth in the NFL with 1,839 yards from scrimmage last season but the Lions believe he can be even more dominant with a few small weeks to their passing game.
“It’s about the number of touches, yes, but it’s also the type of touches,” pass game specialist David Shaw said. “We talked a lot about after the season [how] early in the season, he caught a lot of balls, but he caught a lot of them with his back to the defense. It’s hard for Jahmyr Gibbs to be what he’s capable of [doing that]. He needs to be facing the defense, catching the ball on the move.”
Gibbs had career highs of 77 catches and 616 yards receiving last season, but his 8 yards-per-catch average was nearly 2 yards below his average from 2024 (9.9) and far below NFL scrimmage yardage leaders Christian McCaffrey (9.1) and Bijan Robinson (10.4), the only two RBs with more catches than Gibbs last season.
Shaw said the Lions saw an uptick in Gibbs’ performance as a receiver in the second half of last season when they tweaked their offense to make sure he was in a better position for run-after-catch on more of his receptions.
Gibbs averaged 8.7 yards on 48 catches after Dan Campbell took over as offensive play caller in Week 9 last season.
“I would hate to be the one to put a ceiling [on Gibbs],” Shaw said. “This guy, every time he touches it he gets people out of their seats – coaches included. Guys up in the box, you hear it on the headset you just start to hear, ‘Oh my God, oh my God, oh my God.’ And going back to [new offensive coordinator] Drew [Petzing] and our philosophy, we have to give him those opportunities to change the game.”
‘Net positive’ on John Morton firing
Shaw came to the Detroit last season to work with his good friend John Morton, but stayed on when Morton was fired after the year.
The son of a former Lions assistant, Shaw said he understands why Morton was fired and the chance was a “net positive” for everyone involved.
“My dad used to say, you look at pretty much most great coaches, at some point in time they’ve gotten fired,” Shaw said. “That’s just part of this business, part of this profession. It doesn’t mean people are not [good at what they do]. Sometimes it’s the situation. It’s a tough situation, but we’re all professionals. Things happen, people have to make decisions and then we gather back up and we go back at it again.
“It’s been a net positive for the Detroit Lions, it’s been a net positive for John Morton. But now it’s about ’26, it’s about what we can do with the staff and the players that we have now and find a way to get that championship.”
Bait and tackle with Penei Sewell
Offensive line coach Hank Fraley said Penei Sewell’s transition from right to left tackle has gone “pretty smoothly” this spring.
“Everybody knows he’s a very good athlete, he takes pride in his work and it’s just ironing out on some of that stuff, the timing of this punch,” Fraley said. “‘Cause you build habits and that’s really what this is about right now for us in the spring, for us O-line and really anybody here is you’re trying to build those habits. You got to break old habits and a lot of it’s footwork, balance, weight distribution. You’re used to a right-handed stance, now you’re getting in a left constantly. But it’s building those habits now. Breaking old ones, building new ones now and being comfortable there.”
Sewell, a three-time first-team All-Pro at right tackle has not played left tackle full-time since his final college season at Oregon in 2019. He sat out the coronavirus pandemic year of 2020 and made eight starts at left tackle as a rookie for the Lions in 2021, when Taylor Decker was out with a finger injury.
“I told him it’s like riding a bike,” Fraley said. “You can go years without riding a bike mentally and then you get on a bike, you just got to find your balance, your timing a little bit, how you pedal, how you do all that. And so it’s been a long time since he’s done it I guess consistently.”
As for Sewell’s replacement at right tackle, Blake Miller, Fraley said the Lions’ first-round pick has made his share of mental mistakes this spring but praised the rookie’s coachability.
“That’s what you want to see with anybody,” Fraley said. “If you tweak something, do they revert back to what you just tweaked or do they move forward and go forward and work on the next thing? … That’s where I like where he’s at. He’s willing, he’s hungry, he’s quiet, he listens from myself, from whoever’s coaching him. He’s taking it all in and I think we have two young rookies and they’re doing well for right now.”
High praise for Jameson Williams
Jameson Williams saw a tick up in his numbers last season, catching the most passes (65) for the most yards (1,117) of his career.
Lions assistant head coach/receivers coach Scottie Montgomery said Williams could be in store for an even better 2026.
“We really worked hard this offseason, even just on the phone talking about the detail that it takes to go from being good to truly elite in our game,” Montgomery said. “And then the things from a mentality standpoint of the way that we go about working. Not even just the start of a drill, but also just the finish of everything that we do, his detail, his eyes, his catch points, his check points. Everything that we’re doing now, or we did in March, April, man, it showed up.”
Williams said earlier this spring his offseason focus was on being more sure-handed as a receiver. Last season, Williams had a career-high 12 drops and an 11.8% drop percentage, according to Pro Football Reference.
“We’re really excited about where he is now,” Montgomery said. “This is definitely by far been his best offseason, his best chance to grow as a player since we’ve been here for a number of reasons but he’s done a good job.”
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: Minicamp sheds light on Detroit Lions’ plan for fixes on offense
Reporting by Dave Birkett, Detroit Free Press / Detroit Free Press
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By Dave Birkett, Detroit Free Press | USA TODAY Network
