Westfield, Ind. — Here are some notes and observations from Thursday’s joint training camp practice between the Detroit Lions and Indianapolis Colts.
► Unquestionably, the biggest story from the second day of practice between the two teams was the bounce-back performance by Detroit’s defense.
On Wednesday, the Colts gave the Lions fits, particularly in the secondary, where Detroit’s cornerbacks struggled with the size and athleticism of the opposition’s outside pass-catchers.
And with the way the day started, you thought the unit might be in for another long afternoon. On the first snap of 11-on-11 work, receiver Michael Pittman took advantage of some confusion in Detroit’s back end, getting open across the middle for a big gain. And on the next snap, the Colts blew open a wide lane for running back Jonathan Taylor, running directly at rookie defensive end Aidan Hutchinson.
But for the most part, things settled down from there for Detroit, starting with defensive back Jeff Okudah breaking up a slant for Pittman and linebackers Derrick Barnes and Malcolm Rodriguez filling their gaps for quick run stops.
► Where the Lions’ defense truly shined was in a red-zone segment later in the practice. The Colts ran 12 snaps, half with their first-team offense and half with their second unit, failing to get into the end zone once.
Rodriguez and nickel cornerback A.J. Parker played key roles for Detroit’s top group, combining for five stops. Both allowed short completions, but made immediate tackles to limit the damage. Rodriguez also shot the gap on an outside run, grabbing the jersey of the back and holding on long enough for help to arrive.
The series ended with a fumbled goal-line handoff, which was recovered by Hutchinson. He celebrated with what can best be described as an ugly breakdance.
The second-team defense was equally stout, with the defensive-tackle tandem of Bruce Hector and Jashon Cornell shutting down one run at the line and linebackers Chris Board and Derrick Barnes combining for another short stop.
John Cominsky netted a sack and cornerback Saivion Smith’s physical coverage against receiver Mike Strachan set up a final third-and-goal from the 1-yard line to complete Detroit’s shutout in the drill. Safety JuJu Hughes sealed the deal, firing into the run lane to drop the Colts running back before he could cross the goal line.
► The Lions’ first- and second-team defenses also kept the Colts out of the end zone during a two-minute drive segment, although there’s an asterisk, with the Colts declining a pass-interference penalty called against Amani Oruwariye to test their offense in a high-pressure, fourth-down situation.
On that fourth-down play, Parker broke up a pass intended for Paris Campbell.
The second-team defense didn’t surrender a first down. Mike Hughes and Rodriguez made a pair of quick stops on short throws, followed by a pass breakup by cornerback Will Harris on a ball intended for Dezmon Patmon. Then, on fourth-and-short, JuJu Hughes dropped the receiver short of the marker on a shallow crossing pattern.
► The Lions’ offense rolled into Westfield also looking for some vengeance after getting cooked in 7-on-7 work a day prior. Quarterback Jared Goff started the segment going 6-for-8 with four touchdowns from inside the 20-yard-line, including two to Josh Reynolds, one to D’Andre Swift (15 yards), and another to T.J. Hockenson (10 yards).
Goff later fumbled a handoff during 11-on-11, but also hit Trinity Benson on a 50-yard touchdown pass on a well-designed play with a pair of run fakes. The QB went the entire day without an interception.
► David Blough got all of the second-team quarterback looks on Thursday and made the most of it. During the first round of red-zone 7-on-7s, he went 5-for-6 with three touchdowns and had another completion to Quintez Cephus that was just shy of the goal line.
Tim Boyle, meanwhile, put on a performance of two extremes. He was 2-for-4 with two touchdowns in those red-zone reps, but after getting passed over in the first 11-on-11 session, was 1-for-3 in a later set, with a touchdown and an awful interception, where he threw an ill-advised, off-platform pass, on the move, into coverage.
► In one-on-ones, the Lions’ defensive lineman lost more than they won against a talented and deep Colts offensive line, although starters Hutchinson, Charles Harris and Alim McNeil all managed to have some success in the drill.
McNeil had the best rep, faking a spin move before zipping around Colts guard Danny Pinter, drawing some oohs and ahs from teammates. Veteran Michael Brockers shouted “That’s some 2K s____!” noting that McNeil moves so smoothly he looks like a video-game character.
Undrafted rookie Demetrius Taylor actually utilized a full spin to best Pinter later in the drill, while Cominsky had good success with a mix of speed and power rushes, mostly working against interior offensive linemen.
One player who had notable struggles was linebacker Anthony Pittman, who has been working mostly as an edge rusher this offseason after playing off the ball a year ago.
► Austin Bryant’s strong camp continued throughout these joint practices, although he got a little carried away with the aggressiveness, irking the Colts.
On one play, Bryant showed impressive discipline after quarterback Matt Ryan pump-faked one way before throwing the opposite direction. The short pass was completed, but Bryant was there to make an immediate stop.
A few plays later, Bryant burst through the line for a sack, but failed to hold up at the end of his rush, knocking down backup quarterback Nick Foles, who was wearing a no-contact red jersey.
► The Lions’ first- and second-team offenses each got their own chance to run a two-minute drill, taking over at their own 35 with 1:10 left, down three points with one timeout.
The first-team offenses started a little bit shaky, with an incompletion and pair of short passes to Amon-Ra St. Brown set up fourth-and-2 and forced Detroit to use its only timeout. Reynolds caught a 16-yard pass to keep the drive alive, then drew a pass-interference flag before Hockenson got out of bounds on a quick throw to put the Lions in field-goal range.
Blough’s drive got off to a much better start — he scrambled for 9 yards on the first play — but a spike, throwaway and incompletion with under 30 seconds left forced the Lions to settle for a 49-yard field-goal try.
► It was an uneven day for Detroit’s kickers, as neither Riley Patterson nor Austin Seibert have been able to seize control of their competition. Attempting five field goals against the Colts’ rush early in practice, each missed one, with Seibert sending a 43-yard effort wide right and Patterson missing wide left from 38 yards out.
The two ended practice with one field goal each from 49 yards to cap the aforementioned two-minute drive, with Patterson making and Seibert missing wide right.
► After leading the league in receiving yards in Week 1 of preseason, wide receiver Tom Kennedy got some looks with the first-team offense. It didn’t amount to much on Thursday. He only had one ball thrown to him by Jared Goff, which was low and fell incomplete.
► Detroit’s offensive line had a pretty strong day. In one-on-ones, offensive tackle Taylor Decker went 2-for-2 on former Pro Bowler Yannick Ngakoue and Penei Sewell split with Colts edge rusher and former Michigan Wolverine Kwity Paye. Lions center Frank Ragnow had the toughest go of them all, beating Grover Stewart on his first rep before shockingly getting bulldozed on the second and losing the third.
But in team drills, the offensive line routinely paved the way for big runs and allowed just one would-be sack when Colts defensive end Ben Banogu beat Obinna Eze around the edge to reach Blough.
► Both of the Lions’ top running backs had pretty good days, with the exception of a couple of drops by D’Andre Swift. Outside of the bobbled balls, Swift was excellent: He caught a 20-yard pass from Blough in 7-on-7, another from Goff just a few snaps later, and picked up 5-10 yards on most of his runs.
Williams didn’t have the same big receptions as Swift, but he was a menace with the rock in his hands. His best moment of the day came on an 8-yard touchdown run, where he bowled over a trio of Colts defenders led by Kenny Moore, and let out a scream in the end zone.
► One final item for fantasy football fans: If you’re in the late rounds of your draft and needing some depth at tight end, Colts rookie Jelani Woods could be worthy of your attention.
Possessing a huge frame and some of the best combine testing on record at his position, he proved to be a tough cover for Detroit’s safeties, who looked like children trying to bring down the 6-foot-7, 260-pounder in the open field.
jdrogers@detroitnews.com
Twitter: @Justin_Rogers
nbianchi@detroitnews.com
Twitter: @nolanbianchi