Another day at Detroit Lions training camp, or should I say night? The Lions had an evening practice on Monday and there’s a lot to talk about. Here’s out big observations from the night.
Some big injuries
Multiple players left the field with injuries in this one. Jahmyr Gibbs with a hamstring injury , Terrion Arnold with an upper body injury and Ennis Rakestraw with an ankle injury. No word on what the severity of these injuries is. We’ll likely get answers on Wednesday.
Brian Branch had a monster day
Branch was making the day hard for receivers. He forced two fumbles on Monday. The first one was on Jameson Williams. Williams shook Branch on the line initially and got some oohs and ahs out of it, but then Branch did the old peanut punch from behind and forced the fumble.
The second one was even more pretty. Goff hit Kaden Davis on the sideline and Davis made a nice catch over Branch but as Davis was going out of bounds, Branch ripped the ball out of his hands in bounds.
Branch wasn’t the only safety that had a nice day
Brandon Joseph continues to make a name for himself Gambit style. He and Kindle Vildor teamed up for the prettiest interception that I truly hope the Lions got a clip of and share with the world.
Nate Sudfeld threw a pass to Donovan Peoples-Jones in tight coverage from Vildor and Vildor got the break up as he was going out of bounds and tipped it back in bounds where Joseph made a diving interception. On the very next play Joseph got a break up on a pass over the middle. Joseph had another interception, but it wasn’t a super fun one like the other.
Couple that with Joseph’s interception on Thursday and that’s some pretty good days stacked right there.
Jake Bates is changing minds
Maybe all the guy needed was some confidence. Bates is stacking good days one right after the other. On Thursday he hit a 53-yard kick in the rain and that might have been the confidence point. On Sunday he didn’t miss a kick and ended the day with a 64-yard kick. On Monday he had another good day going 4-4 on field goals and 2-2 on extra points. Not bad at all, let’s see if he can keep it going. The Lions may not have to look for competition if he does.
Jeff Van Gundy
No, Jeff Van Gundy wasn’t there, but there was a moment that reminded me of the the 1998 Miami Heat and New York Knicks fight when Jeff Van Gundy grabbed Heat’ center Alonzo Mourning’s leg and held on for dear life.