For the first time all summer, the Detroit Lions held a night practice at the team’s training facility in Allen Park. With the sun fading and the lights peeking on, the Lions practiced in full pads with considerable reps focused on the starting offense versus the starting defense. It was the last fully padded practice of the training camp season.
There are so many things to note from a very coordinated and well-engaged session. I’ll elaborate more on a couple of specifics later, but here’s the initial notebook.
Participation
Six players on the active roster did not suit up for practice:
- DE Eric Banks
- OL Kevin Jarvis
- DB Ifeatu Melifonwu
- S C.J. Moore
- DE Julian Okwara
- DL Levi Onwuzurike
Banks was injured in Saturday’s preseason win over the Colts. All the other players have preexisting injuries.
T.J. Hockenson as the primary weapon
The Lions worked a lot of specific scenarios in offense vs. defense, and the offense ran through T.J. Hockenson more than any other player. It was especially notable in a red zone drill. And it was effective even when No. 88 wasn’t targeted; Amon-Ra St. Brown caught an easy, quick TD from inside the 5-yard line by trailing in Hockenson’s wake and letting the defense focus on the big TE.
Hockenson got a scare when CB Jeff Okudah popped him right after a catch. After walking off with trainers and missing a couple of plays, Hockenson came right back in and scored a TD later in the drill. He was consistently too big for the safeties all night, most notably when facing off against the reserves.
DL standouts
Austin Bryant had a whale of a game in Indianapolis, and the defensive end backed it up with a very impressive practice Tuesday night. Playing mostly on the second-team defense, he was way too much for right tackle Matt Nelson athletically. Bryant also secured some first-team reps and bagged a would-be sack of Jared Goff by smoking right tackle Penei Sewell on a sweet inside rip move. Bryant is bringing the energy and appears to be a complete lock to make the final 53.
Second-team DT Isaiah Buggs had himself a strong night as well. Buggs deflected two passes, one from Goff and one from David Blough that looked almost like a volleyball spike. Buggs made a nice surge into the backfield around RG Tommy Kraemer that forced an awkward cutback in the run game too.
Aidan Hutchinson remains Aidan Hutchinson. He’s a load for anyone and everyone and can win with quickness or strength. When he puts those two hands together, and he did that nicely in a two-minute drill, No. 97 can dominate very good offensive linemen. He also dropped in coverage on a play and got freakish depth so quickly that it caught both Goff and TE Brock Wright off-guard, forcing a throwaway.
Charles Harris remains the other starting DE opposite Hutchinson and also had a decent night. He beat Sewell for a sack and also got under Taylor Decker for a quick pressure.
Special teams standouts
There was considerable time devoted to special teams, but not with the specialists or return men. It was about blocking and coverage and it led to some very intense reps.
Winners
CB Bobby Price was the best in blocking drills and also completely in control of just about every duel in covering kicks too. His length and speed translate very well.
WR Trinity Benson didn’t win every rep but he had a lot more wins than losses, notably as a blocker. He’s very adept at positioning his body and staying in the way without engaging too early.
CB Saivion Smith had two very clear victories in the jam drill, both over safety JuJu Hughes.
LB Anthony Pittman wasn’t great in blocking but excelled in coverage.
TE Derrick Deese had some positive reps. So did LB Chris Board, who can absolutely fly in punt coverage.
Non-winners
S JuJu Hughes was consistently on the wrong end of reps in all phases.
WR Quintez Cephus lacks both speed and suddenness and it really shows in these drills. He beat CB Mike Hughes initially on a coverage rep but Hughes was able not just to chase him down but pass him and get back in front to block him away effectively. Cephus did have one very good blocking rep, at Hughes’ expense.
LB Jarrad Davis still struggles to use his arms and shoulders to disengage from blocks. It happened in Saturday’s game and it carried into these drills.
CB Chase Lucas was generally effective but had two very bad misses as a blocker that would have gotten the return man smoked. One was to S Kerby Joseph, the other to Pittman.
Backup QB
Tim Boyle ran the second-team offensive reps and had a mixed bag of a night. He had one rough set where he badly missed WR Tom Kennedy high and got sacked when he tried to escape the wrong way. But Boyle also made several very nice throws and led an impressive hurry-up drill, finding Kennedy, Kalif Raymond and Trinity Benson on outside throws that showed off Boyle’s arm strength. I didn’t keep exact stats but thought Boyle generally looked decent.
The same was not true for David Blough. It was a rough night for No. 10. The accuracy wasn’t as sharp as Boyle’s and he missed seeing a couple of open receivers in the red zone drill. Just as he did in Saturday’s game, Blough tends to focus solely on his primary read. After incompletions on rough attempts to Kennedy (high and wide), Raymond (5 yards short) and Raymond again (well overthrown on a mid-range corner route), the coaches stopped the possession and a clearly dejected Blough walked off.
Quick hits
–Just in general, the second-team defensive line clearly got the better of the second-team offensive line, and the closer to the center of the formation, the worse it was for the offense.
–CB Saivion Smith got yanked by DBs coach Aubrey Pleasant after a poor early run play. I couldn’t see exactly what Smith did wrong, but Pleasant gave him a lengthy earful in an animated mutual conversation. Whatever Pleasant said to him worked, because No. 19 was much more effective on the second-team defense afterward.
–S Tracy Walker screamed “stay the f*** outside” at Jeff Okudah after a wide run that evaded No. 1 around the edge. Okudah got the message. He held his outside contain expertly on every remaining rep, and yes I paid close attention to it, too.
–Okudah and Will Harris were both very good at crashing the run in short-yardage situations from the outside. Harris got lost on a drag route that went for a TD but otherwise had a solid night playing mostly with the second-team defense.
–Mike Hughes had some first-team reps in the slot and also saw action both outside and inside with the second-team D. Run defense is a huge part of what the Lions desire inside, and it’s definitely not Hughes’ forte. He’s consistently pushed around by blockers. His red zone coverage was on point.
–Jonah Jackson prefers orange Gatorade. I know that because he projectile vomited some of it after a rep. It was intriguing to see how quickly both other players and the training staff washed away the offensive matter.
–FB Jason Cabinda, one of four injured players moved to reserve status earlier in the day, was quite vocal from the sidelines. Easy to see him chomping at the bit to return, though it won’t be before Week 5.
