With this being the the first practice of the acclimation period, the Lions were not in pads and practice only lasted an hour and a half, which will likely be the shortest practice during training camp. The Lions will expand practices by 15 minutes over each of the next four days, culminating in a Saturday practice—when season ticket holders arrive—that will likely be two and a half hours in length with the option of wearing shell under their jerseys. After a mandatory day off on Sunday, the Lions will return on Monday in pads and in front of fans.
Participation report
As is common at the beginning of training camp, the Lions had some movement on the injury front. After placing four players on the PUP and NFI lists earlier in the week, the Lions removed three of them ahead of practice—Brian Branch, Marcus Davenport, and Giovanni Manu—leaving DJ Reader (PUP) as the only injured player from the original list.
Unfortunately, the Lions did add four more players to the NFI list—Carlton Davis, Amik Robertson, Donovan Peoples-Jones, and Tre’Quan Smith—but these absences appeared to be a bit less concerning. Because it’s the NFI, it could simply be that they did not pass their initial physicals or had a minor tweak during individual training this summer. As a reminder, the players on these lists are available to return to practice at any time and could be back as soon as tomorrow.
The only non-injury list player who was absent at Wednesday’s practice was rookie offensive lineman Christian Mahogany. There was no update on his status at this time but it will likely come tomorrow.
First look at new secondary
While the Lions are dealing with three key contributors limited or not at practice, there was some shuffling in the Lions’ secondary that was notable.
With Davis and Robertson unavailable, the Lions started rookies Terrion Arnold and Ennis Rakestraw at their outside corner spots. Emmanuel Moseley—who is also expected to be in the mix for a spot on the outside—lined up a nickel, a spot he saw some time at with the 49ers but hasn’t played in some time.
“I like the physical aspect about it,” Moseley said after practice. “I’m a physical corner, like to get up in people’s faces, I like to hit people, and it’s a lot closer to the ball. At corner, you can get in the action a little bit, but at nickel, you’re right in the action 24/7. So, it’s very exciting.”
SAM role growing
The Lions leaned on the SAM linebacker role more last season than they had in previous years and it looks to be a significant role moving forward. We continued to see 4- and 5-man fronts deployed by the Lions and the SAM role continues to get worked in.
Aidan Hutchinson looked in mid-season form from the jump, routinely smoking any tight end across from him. Josh Paschal got the start on the opposite side and also found himself in the backfield on several occasions with nifty technical pass rushing moves. In addition to the Lions incorporating more SAM work, Mitchell Agude contained to rep with the second team on the edge.
With Reader out, Alim McNeill saw a rotation next to him on the interior with Brodric Martin getting the first team reps at nose tackle, and when they shifted to other fronts, Levi Onwuzurike saw some time with the ones.
While most of these players were expected to be in two-deep roles, it’s also worth pointing out that John Cominsky was surprisingly with the third team. After coming off a down season and taking a pay cut in the offseason, Cominsky was expected to be on the hot seat, but only reps with the three’s was mildly surprising.
Jameson Williams looking crisp
Williams looks like he spent time transforming his lower body in the offseason and working on his routes. While his legs are still skinny he has added some muscle and looks a bit more defined. In addition to the added muscle, Williams has looked crisp with his routes, and with his elite speed, he is setting himself up very well for a breakout season.
While I only saw him catch one ball during team drills, it was a monster. With the defense in zone, Williams quickly ate up the coverage from Rakestraw and cut across the face of Ifeatu Melifonwu, who was immediately in trail coverage. Arnold saw Williams making the move but was a bit too far away and couldn’t recover in time as the speedster carved his way through the secondary. A dime ball from Goff 40+ yards down the field and Williams easily walked into the end zone for a touchdown.
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