The pads were on in Allen Park for Tuesday morning’s Detroit Lions practice session, the 12th of training camp. A near-capacity crowd got to watch a lot of hitting and spirited action on the sun-soaked morning.
With the contact amping up, I spent most of the day watching the offensive and defensive lines at full speed. The notes will reflect that emphasis in my viewing.
Here’s what I saw, heard and observed on the 12th day of Lions practice, August 9th.
Lions training camp notebook: The heat is on for Day 11
Aidan Hutchinson vs. Penei Sewell
Last year’s top-10 overall pick vs. this year’s No. 2 overall pick is the battle the fans came to see. Hutchinson and Sewell squared off in several reps in both team drills and 1-on-1 work in the pass rush pit.
Sewell won more of the reps in the pit drill. By my count, Sewell had two clear wins, Hutchinson had one and there were three draws, one of them a pretty obvious hold by Sewell. Hutchinson’s win came attacking Sewell’s inside shoulder, which plays to both No. 97’s biggest strength and No. 58’s biggest weakness. Sewell still needs to add a counter to inside power, and that right now is where Hutchinson is thriving when he rushes.
Hutchinson against the backups or tight ends was almost unfair. Scratch that: it was patently unfair in favor of the rookie. He had one rep in team drills where Hutchinson smoked TE Brock Wright around the outside and then blasted through TE Garrett Griffin, who was playing fullback on the rep. On another rep, Hutchinson so cleanly beat Matt Nelson that we wondered if Nelson knew the rep was starting. He’s got that kind of burst off the snap.
John Cominsky has a day
Cominsky was claimed off waivers earlier this summer, and he’s been pretty under-the-radar thus far. On Tuesday, No. 79 did more to announce his presence with authority.
Fluctuating between the second and third team defenses and moving all over the formation–he played all four DL spots at various points–Cominsky won a whole lot more reps than he didn’t. Beating C Evan Brown with a bull rush here, blasting through Tommy Kraemer with a violent rip move there, abusing Logan Stenberg everywhere; Cominsky looked great.
He was at his best playing the 3T tackle spot and attacking the A-gap. When he played DE, Cominsky’s initial speed wasn’t as effective but still created enough to get wins over tackles Matt Nelson and Kendall Lamm. Just as importantly for his chances of making the final 53-man roster, Cominsky nicely stacked the edge on a run play in team drills and got in the way of a shallow TE cross he read nicely when the OT invited him up the field.
Reserve OL derby
There is quite the battle going on for the reserve OL spots behind the well-established starting five. Quick notes on each combatant and how they fared today:
Tackles
Matt Nelson–he consistently gets caught too high in his stance, but he’s getting better at recovering when he doesn’t win initially. Had a great recovery rep vs. Austin Bryant that the long DE clearly didn’t expect. Nelson wins in the run game, where he’s the best people-mover of the reserve tackles.
Kendall Lamm--just his second practice since joining the team Monday, and he bounced between LT and RT with the second-team offense. Lamm has nice feet but doesn’t anchor well, something that has been an issue his entire career. He split a pair of reps with rookie DE James Houston, who tried to win exclusively with speed. Lamm delayed his set just a count in the second rep after Houston got him in the first one, and Lamm easily neutralized the rookie.
Darrin Paulo–one word stands out for Paulo today: power. He absolutely stonewalled Bruce Hector and Austin Bryant on consecutive (for him) reps in 1-on-1s. He actually surged Bryant backwards a bit. Lateral agility is not where Paulo wins, and that showed in team reps.
Dan Skipper–Skipper barely made a dent in the notepad, which can be considered both a positive and a negative. He took most of the second-team RT reps.
Obinna Eze–other than one clear loss vs. Cominsky (playing DE), Eze didn’t do much to garner attention either. The undrafted rookie from TCU via Memphis has length for days but is consistently the last lineman moving at the snap in team drills.
Interior
Evan Brown–he’s clearly the No. 6 OL and the top interior reserve and plays like it. Brute power gives him trouble but Brown is quick to reset his feet and at least slow down the bull rush. Going beyond today’s practice, I’ve seen exactly one imperfect snap from Brown all camp.
Tommy Kraemer–had two bad reps in the 1-on-1s, losing to Cominsky and Isaiah Buggs. Got out in front of a stretch run nicely (playing RG) and sealed off the LB to help RB Justin Jackson get around the corner.
Ryan McCollum–played both C and G and bounced between second and third team offenses. Buggs roasted him in 1-on-1s with a sweet swim move. Handled his business in both reps vs. UDFA DT Demetrius Taylor, who had his least-impressive practice of camp today.
Kevin Jarvis–the undrafted rookie from Michigan State flashed some nice awareness and balance in team drills. Serial holder in 1-on-1s, especially when the rush comes to his outside shoulder.
Logan Stenberg--No sugarcoating it: Stenberg was brutal today. The best–of quite a few–examples came in team drills when Stenberg was guilty of an obvious hold on Bruce Hector and Hector still managed to get past Stenberg for a TFL on a stunned Jermar Jefferson, who didn’t have time to make a move. Did not record a single win in 1-on-1s but did manage a couple of draws.
Craig Reynolds comes alive
Reynolds had himself a heck of a practice. The physicality is something we’ve come to expect from the well-built RB, but Reynolds continues to prove he’s more than a between-the-tackles sledgehammer of a runner.
Early in team drills, Reynolds got absolutely rocked just after a short catch by Cominsky (that guy again!) and stumbled uncomfortably to the trainer. He missed one turn in reps and then came back with a vengeance. Reynolds’ next rep was in a goal line team drill and he proved he was just fine.
Reynolds cut to the outer gap between LT and TE, avoided an arm tackle by a well-blocked Austin Bryant and trucked through LB Anthony Pittman for an easy score.
Later in team drills, Reynolds took on LB Shaun Dion Hamilton on an A-gap blitz. Hamilton had an 8-yard running start and slammed into Reynolds, who absorbed it like a champion sumo wrestler. Hamilton wound up on his back and Reynolds quickly spring up off one knee to look for more blocking work. Just for good measure, Reynolds also played an integral role in a successful gadget play and celebrated with unusual (for him) vitality.
Quick hits
–Jamaal Williams is a treasure of a person. Via my Twitter:
Jamaal Williams beelines to a kid with an anime shirt to begin his autograph tour. Just signed an anime action figure too pic.twitter.com/g1NfQ6CldF
— Jeff Risdon (@JeffRisdon) August 9, 2022
Williams signed stuff and posed with fans for a good 20 minutes after practice, actively engaging kids in conversation. Oh yeah, he also had a phenomenal TD run in the red-zone drill, bouncing off an initial hit in the backfield and sprinting out the backside of the formation, outrunning both LBs (Anzalone and Barnes) to the end zone.
–Maurice Alexander continues to open eyes with his work as both a receiver and a return man. He’s quickly climbed the ladder at both positions. Alexander was No. 2 in both punt and kick return orders and also worked some in the slot with the second-team offense. He made a great catch on an underthrown pass from Tim Boyle, coming back and snatching the ball just before CB Chase Lucas could make a play.
–Riley Patterson was perfect on his FG attempts while Austin Seibert missed two of his four, both barely wide right. In an interesting validation of what Dan Campbell said about them on Monday, in warmups Seibert was bombing kicks from beyond 50 while Patterson nailed everything inside of 45, and neither tried to kick where the other was booting from.
–Derrick Barnes had another rough day with the first-team defense. He’s fine moving forward and blitzing, but coverage and lateral range are really not going well for No. 55. He got a stern scolding from both LB coach Kelvin Sheppard and defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn after one particularly egregious coverage rep where he basically stood still as the action went on around him.
–Detroit basketball legend Jalen Rose was on the sidelines today. To my pleasant surprise, he is legitimately the 6-foot-8 he was listed at. I’m 6-foot-5 but have been visibly taller than some NBA players listed at 6-7 or 6-8, but not Rose. Looking good, Jalen!
