Allen Park — It wasn’t obvious at first glance, but the relative quietness of the Detroit Lions’ practice Monday afternoon hinted something was missing. A closer inspection showed, yes, there was a notable absence: The team’s coaching staff wasn’t on the field.
Instead, the shorter session was being fully run by the players, who had been given a list of expectations earlier in the day by coach Dan Campbell before being asked to handle the rest.
“He told us this morning that the players were gonna go out there and run their own practice,” offensive tackle Taylor Decker said. “‘Here’s the team scenarios that we want to get done and you guys are gonna go out there and run the show.’ I think it’s awesome to do. Because honestly on a game day, we’re out there, we gotta communicate; we have to be accountable to one another.
“…So can we come out here and can we be professionals and get the work done?” Decker continued. “Because you should be able to do that. You don’t need anybody in your ear to come out here and do your work and get better.”
Outside of the distinct lack of coaches shouting at players, the day ran smoothly, particularly for the offense. That unit largely had its way with backup quarterbacks Tim Boyle and David Blough relaying the play calls to starter Jared Goff.
“That was fun,” Boyle said. “David and I really enjoy doing that. We hear it all the time and it’s not as easy, obviously, as it looks. Conceptualizing the play and kind of spitting it out calmly, and not doing it too fast is definitely an art. So, give all the offensive coordinators around the league a shoutout.”
Here are some brief observations from the practice.
► There was a large chunk of players not practicing, but most of those absences were likely not tied to injury. It appeared everyone who shouldered a significant workload in Saturday’s preseason game against the Colts was given the day off.
► As noted, the offense controlled the day, opening things up with a trick play that saw receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown successfully deliver a deep ball to DJ Chark. It was comical to think Blough and Boyle called a trick play on their first opportunity, but it turns out the coaches had provided them a script ahead of time.
► In seven-on-sevens, Goff was a perfect 6-for-6, including four touchdown tosses. The first was a well-placed deep ball to Kalif Raymond, who beat the coverage of nickel cornerback A.J. Parker on a corner route.
From there, Goff went to work across the middle, connecting with Quintez Cephus, Josh Reynolds and Raymond for touchdowns ranging from 5-20 yards. Cornerback Will Harris was in coverage on two of the three, while the third was a coverage bust with linebacker Alex Anzalone the nearest defender to the intended target.
► Shifting to 11-on-11, another coverage bust resulted in Raymond coming wide open down the seam for a long gain. Cornerback Mike Hughes and safety Tracy Walker clearly weren’t on the same page after the completion.
After Chark scored another chunk gain running a post pattern, the defense finally came up with a win when Amani Oruwariye physically jammed St. Brown at the line of scrimmage and knocked away the throw from Goff.
► Linebacker Derrick Barnes, coming off a strong preseason performance against the Colts, closed the 11-on-11 segment by blowing up a screen pass intended for Jamaal Williams, arriving to the running back simultaneous with the ball.
►The practice closed with a two-minute scenario that had the offense starting at their own 45-yard line, holding one timeout and having 19 seconds to drive into field-goal range.
Goff misfired wide to Reynolds on first down before connecting with Chark on a deep comeback, besting the coverage Harris for a 20-yard gain. With nine seconds remaining, Goff hit T.J. Hockenson for a short gain to the 30-yard line. The tight end got out of bounds with four seconds on the clock, giving the offense the win in the drill.
jdrogers@detroitnews.com
Twitter: @Justin_Rogers