Allen Park — Here are some notes and observations from Saturday’s Detroit Lions’ training camp practice.
▶ Another practice, another injury for the Lions. This time it was wide receiver Denzel Mims who got banged up. Hauling in a dart across the deep middle of the field, the receiver impressively held on despite taking a decent pop from safety Tracy Walker.
The injury occurred when Mims hurt his ankle coming down. He was able to hobble to the sideline, but it took several minutes of treatment before he was comfortable bearing weight on that leg and returning to the locker room. Best-case, it’s a low ankle issue and sidelines him only a few days. No one wants to hear it’s a dreaded high ankle sprain.
▶ Center Frank Ragnow and safety Ifeatu Melifonwu were back at practice after each missing the past two days. The only absences on Saturday were running back Jermar Jefferson and wide receiver Jameson Williams. Coach Dan Campbell often preemptively addresses injury absences, but didn’t mention either player in his morning news conference.
▶ Doing some one-on-one work early in practice, the linebackers and safeties went head-to-head with the running backs and tight ends directly in front of one of the media bleachers. Sam LaPorta was a standout, anchoring well to shut down Anthony Pittman’s pass rush and getting a blocking win against Derrick Barnes.
As a receiver LaPorta had throws broken up by Walker and Kerby Joseph, but both safeties would have likely drawn flags for being handsy beyond the 5-yard downfield window in which they’re allowed to make contact.
Rookie running back Jahymr Gibbs struggled with his pass protection reps, getting worked over by Jalen Reeves-Maybin twice. It’s an area where the Lions are clearly going to lean on veteran David Montgomery more. He showed out well, stalling Alex Anzalone twice.
Of course, to the surprise of no one, Gibbs shined running routes. He blasted through Reeves-Maybin’s attempt to jam him on their first rep before beating the linebacker on a straight go route for a long completion on a second.
Craig Reynolds also looked sharp running routes, besting linebacker Jack Campbell on one rep and Malcolm Rodriguez on another.
▶ Safety Saivion Smith went down during the one-on-one segment grabbing at his calf, but it appeared to just be a cramp as he was able to return to practice several minutes later.
▶ In case anyone was wondering, senior defensive assistant John Fox has been spending most of his time working with the team’s defensive backs. That makes sense. It’s a position he coached from 1979-1993, before taking his first coordinator job with the Raiders in 1994.
▶ I only caught a handful of one-on-one reps between the offensive and defensive lines, but second-year offensive tackle Obinna Eze caught my eye with wins against James Houston and Romeo Okwara. I couldn’t imagine the young lineman winning either of those matchups as a rookie.
▶ The competition at right guard is so up in the air that Graham Glasgow and Halapoulivaati were subbing in and out during the middle of practice segments.
▶ The Lions worked on an important situation during Saturday’s practice, pinning the offense at its own 1-yard line and forcing them to secure some breathing room. Both the first and second units were able to complete the assignment, despite wide receiver Josh Reynolds dropping a play-action pass downfield.
▶ Lions special teams coordinator Dave Fipp said before practice he won’t know much about Detroit’s gunner competition until seeing the contenders work live reps against different opponents. It was rookies Starling Thomas V and Brian Branch who showed some promise beating blocks this practice.
▶ Speaking of Branch, it was another really good day for the second-round pick. He broke up one pass and intercepted another, dropping into an intermediate zone near the right sideline and leaping high to snag the turnover.
▶ Backup quarterback Nate Sudfeld had a shaky day overall with ball security. In addition to the Branch interception, Sudfeld also failed to see Julian Okwara dropping into coverage and threw a pick directly to the rush linebacker. Cornerback Cam Sutton also got one off Sudfeld during a 4-minute drill at the end of the practice.
▶ The first-team offense successfully competed a 10-point comeback in that 4-minute segment. Getting the ball with 3:23 on the clock, quarterback Jared Goff spread the ball around to trim the lead to three, connecting with five different receivers on the 75-yard touchdown drive, capped by a wheel route to Gibbs over the coverage of Rodriguez.
Given the ball back at the 50 after a simulated onside kick recovery, Goff hooked up with Amon-Ra St. Brown twice for 26 yards before feathering an 18-yard scoring toss to LaPorta over Campbell’s zone drop.
▶ Riley Patterson missed his lone field-goal attempt, banging a 37-yarder off the right upright. Parker Romo also kicked just one, easily making a 49-yarder near the end of practice.
▶ WWE wrestler Sheamus and Detroit Red Wings players Moritz Seider and Lucas Raymond were in the house for the day’s practice.
▶ A humorous moment occurred when cornerback Jerry Jacobs ran onto the field for a play and forgot his helmet. Frantically shouting to the sideline for assistance, Will Harris tossed his helmet to Jacobs, but it didn’t fit, resulting in Harris swapping in as a late sub. Despite all the preparation that goes into games, this unintentional chaos probably wasn’t a bad thing to have to simulate.
jdrogers@detroitnews.com
Twitter: @Justin_Rogers