Aidan Hutchinson was at it again Tuesday, Aug. 25, wrecking another practice on a day Detroit Lions coach Dan Campbell talked up the depth of his defensive line.
Hutchinson, who looks primed to chase a Defensive Player of the Year award this fall, was unblockable in a four-play span as the Lions closed the first practice of their final week of training camp with a two-minute situational drill.
With the first-team offense down, 30-28, with 1:42 to play, Hutchinson beat rookie right tackle Blake Miller for a sack on the first play from scrimmage, had a pressure that Campbell could have easily blown dead for a sack on the second snap (the play went for a long completion to Amon-Ra St. Brown instead), took on three blockers on the next play and followed
with another sack against All-Pro tackle Penei Sewell.
One play after Hutchinson’s second sack, D.J. Reed intercepted a Jared Goff pass that deflected off Jahmyr Gibbs’ hands and fell to the ground to end the “game.”
“Just living right,” Reed said. “Fortunate to get a tip. Just caught the ball, went down for the win. Practicing the way we play.”
Reed flashed a big smile when asked about Hutchinson’s play after practice.
The veteran cornerback didn’t see most of the disruption Hutchinson was causing.
“When we’re in two-minute at practice, I’m covering, so I’m not even knowing what’s going on,” he said.
But he wasn’t surprised it was happening.
“Hutch has been doing it all camp, he does it in the games,” Reed said. “He’s just a phenomenal player. Covering with a guy like that, you want to play clean, you want to use your hands and be clean. You don’t want to get any penalties cause you know that he could get a sack at any play.”
Hutchinson has been dominant all camp, and while he’s far and away the Lions’ best defensive lineman, he’s not the only pass-rusher who’s made an impression with final cuts less than a week away.
Asked before practice what position group is most up in the air heading into this week’s preseason finale against the Indianapolis Colts, Campbell said it was the defensive line.
“I mean, that can go anyway right now, it really can,” Campbell said. “I mean, there's a number of guys in there. The hard thing is you can't keep all those guys. You just can't, not without it hurting the rest of your roster.”
The Lions have a good mix of youth and veteran talent and inside and edge rushers up front. Hutchinson, Tyler Lacy, Alim McNeill and Tyleik Williams are the starters, with D.J. Wonnum and Derrick Moore scheduled to play big roles in pass-rush packages off the bench. Rookie sixth-round pick Skyler Gill-Howard seems like a lock to make the team as a pass-rushing defensive tackle, but beyond that it’s anyone’s guess.
Levi Onwuzurike can play tackle and big end and has a bead on a roster spot, though he hasn’t been as disruptive as some of his teammates this summer in his return from a torn ACL. Chris Smith is the only real backup nose tackle on the roster. Ahmed Hassanein had two sacks in the preseason opener and has had a good summer overall. Mekhi Wingo, like Gill-Howard, is a capable sub-package interior rusher. Eric O’Neill has popped as an undrafted rookie. Even Ben Stille has done some good things in his short time with the team.
The Lions have another intrasquad scrimmage on the practice schedule Wednesday and while starters should be the focal point of that workout, it’s one of really two last chances bubble players have to impress in their bid to make the 53-man roster.
More observations from practice Tuesday:
Injuries give Nick Whiteside reps at safety
Campbell acknowledged there’s a “tricky” balance to strike this week between getting the core of his team ready for the season opener Sept. 13 against the New Orleans Saints and getting final looks at the players competing for back-end roster spots.
“But I do think No. 1, the focus is on getting this team prepared to play the season and us to be the best version of ourself, that's No. 1,” Campbell said. “No. 2 is we still have spots available on this roster that we're going to need to fill with guys that are here right now, that we think have an opportunity, but we don't know who that is. So there are real spots still available. And with that, not just spots, those guys could be playing for a significant time.”
On Tuesday, the Lions were without several players expected to make the 53-man roster – including running back Isiah Pacheco, offensive lineman Miles Frazier and defensive backs Christian Izien and Thomas Harper – which gave several backups more reps than they might usually get.
Linebacker Trevor Nowaske and safety Dan Jackson also left at the start of practice. With so many safeties out, cornerback Nick Whiteside played second-team safety most of the day with Aamaris Brown.
I don’t think the Lions would play Whiteside at safety in game unless they were in a pinch, but Whiteside has spent most of his NFL career on the roster bubble and it was good to show coaches he can fill in if needed.
Miles Frazier injury update
Frazier spent part of practice working out on the Lions’ indoor field with trainers. He had a large brace on his left knee as he went through workouts.
The second-year lineman is one of the Lions’ more valuable backups because of his ability to play both tackle and both guard spots, and the Lions are light at the tackle spot behind backups Frazier and Larry Borom.
I thought Devin Cochran, who spent most of last season playing tackle on the practice squad, had a solid one-on-one rep against Derrick Moore, while undrafted rookie Anthony Lucas beat Colby Sorsdal in his one-on-one rep at right tackle.
Ben Bartch also had a nice one-on-one rep at left guard against Stille and got plenty of work with the second-team offense in his return from a brain injury.
Quick hits
A couple notes from the Lions’ team periods before their situational work to end the day:
- Sione Vaki got some work with the first-team offense spelling Gibbs and had a nice blitz pickup on linebacker Jack Campbell to give Goff time to complete a second-and-10-ish pass to St. Brown. Vaki caught a pass out of the backfield on the next play and got lit up by Campbell, a sort of payback for stonewalling his blitz.
- Jameson Williams scored on a long touchdown on what looked like a nifty double bubble screen. Goff faked a screen pass one way – as Gill-Howard and several other members of the Lions’ defensive line bit hard on the action – then wheeled and threw to Williams on the other side of the field. Williams caught a block from a lineman or tight end (I’m not sure who) and outraced the defense to the end zone.
- Brown had a pass breakup on a short curl from Josh Dobbs to Jackson Meeks that drew praise from safeties coach Jim O’Neil. And Ennis Rakestraw Jr. had a sack on Luke Altmyer on a double cornerback blitz when Roger McCreary nearly got there as well from the slot.
Situational awareness
The Lions ran three situational periods at the end of practice, with the offense starting from the minus-40-yard line with 51 seconds on the clock and the score tied at 20 in the first two.
Rock Ya-Sin broke up a pass to St. Brown on the first snap of the period and Wonnum nearly had a sack on a short completion on the second, and after the offense picked up a first down, Ya-Sin had another pass breakup on a third-and-5 throw to Isaac TeSlaa.
Jake Bates drilled a 60-yard field goal on fourth-and-5 to put the offense ahead with a few seconds on the clock.
Bates made a 47-yard field goal on the second-team offense’s situational drive, which was highlighted by a 21-yard catch by Tay Martin. Martin joined Khalil Dorsey working first-team at gunner with the punt team Tuesday.
The final situation started with the first-team offense in first-and-10 at the defense’s 18-yard line, down 31-20, with 3:31 on the clock.
Gibbs made a nice lunging catch on a pass over the middle that I thought he turned into a touchdown, though Dan Campbell blew it dead at the 3-yard line. Hutchinson forced an incompletion first-and-goal and Williams dropped a pass he tried to one-hand on second-and-goal, but Ya-Sin was called for pass interference on St. Brown in the end zone on third-and-goal to give the offense the ball at the 1.
After an incompletion to St. Brown, Keith Abney made a nice tackle on a short catch by St. Brown just before the goal line but Goff quick-snapped the ball and reached across the goal line for the TD with a little over 2 minutes on the clock.
The second-team defense forced a three-and-out by the second-team offense – Stille blew up a third-down run to force the punt – to set up the final series that Hutchinson dominated.
Dave Birkett covers the Lions for the Detroit Free Press. Contact him at dbirkett@freepress.com. Follow him on Bluesky, X and Instagram at @davebirkett.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Lions camp observations: Aidan Hutchinson destroys another practice
