After four days in pads and a day off on Saturday, the Detroit Lions returned to the practice field on Sunday for a scaled-back practice that lasted just under two hours. While on the field, the team ran position drills, two team sessions, an extended special teams session, offensive line vs. defensive line one-on-ones, seven-on-sevens, and finished the day with a situational team drill. However, the team rested several of their marquee players, opening up opportunities for several reserves to stand
out.
Injury updates
Jeremy Reisman wrote a full report on Sunday’s injury updates, with several heavy hitters getting some rest on Sunday: Penei Sewell, Amon-Ra St. Brown, Aidan Hutchinson, Jack Campbell, Alim McNeill, DJ Wonnum, and Levi Onwuzurike all exited after warm-ups or individual work, while Jameson Williams’ practice came to a conclusion after the first set of team drills. Amongst the injured players we’ve previously been tracking, Malcolm Rodriguez, Derrick Moore, and Mekhi Wingo were seen working with trainers.
Of the players returning to practice, Jahmyr Gibbs was back in full, Ben Bartch expanded his participation to team drills, and Tyler Conklin was taking part in everything except team drills.
The “Replacements”
With a lot of starters resting, here’s a quick rundown of who was replacing them in the lineup:
- No St. Brown and Williams meant a steady rotation of players around Isaac TeSlaa, the most notable being Greg Dortch and Tay Martin.
- With Conklin limited, both Jackson Meeks and Thomas Gordon got their chances in the TE3 spot.
- Larry Borom replaced Sewell at left tackle, with some Miles Frazier mixed in.
- With Juice Scruggs out, Bartch took reps at left guard on the second team, repping behind Christian Mahogany. When he rested, Michael Niese got some work in with the second team at guard.
- With Hutchinson and Wommun resting, along with Moore injured, that left Anthony Lucas as the next in line at the Rush End.
- No McNeill, Onwuzurike, or Wingo opened the door for Myles Adams to start at the 3-technique, but he ended up giving reps to Skyler Gill-Howard, who showed very well throughout the day.
- With Campbell resting and Jimmy Rolder injured, Joe Bachie took over starting MIKE duties and was backed up by Troy Reeder.
- No Malcolm Rodriguez or Damone Clark meant that Devin White started at WILL unchallenged and was backed up by Erick Hunter.
- No D.J. Reed meant another opportunity for Nick Whiteside to start opposite Rock Ya-Sin, and with few nickel packages on the agenda, that meant that Ennis Rakestraw was pushed to the second team. This decision to start Whiteside over Rakestraw could mean that either Ya-Sin has beaten him for the CB2 job, or that Rakestraw could be pushing inside on a more regular basis—he’s been the team’s starting nickel for the past few practices. We’ll see how this plays out as the week progresses.
Situational team drill
The Lions ran three series of team drills on Sunday. The first series featured some positive play from defensive linemen like Lacy and Gill-Howard. The second series was full of sloppy play from the offense (three false starts in 10 plays), with Tyleik Williams ending up stealing the show with a brilliant tackle for loss. The final team series featured an end-of-game situational drill that showed the most promise from the offense, but they ended up coming up short.
The third series started with a Jack Fox punt that traveled the length of the field, with media estimates of the ball traveling 70-80 yards, setting up the offense to start at their own 20-yard line, down four points and just under one minute remaining on the clock.
The first down play saw immediate pressure up the middle from Gill-Howard, forcing a throwaway. Second down saw an incomplete pass from Jared Goff targeting Dortch. Then, on third-and-10, Goff hit Gibbs on a modified slot-wheel route that went for 17 yards and a first down. The offense used their only timeout.
Goff immediately went back to the air on first down, hitting Dortch on a seam route with Roger McCreary in coverage, gaining 31 yards. The offense rushed to the line and spiked the ball, setting up second-and-10. Goff went back to Dortch again, but overthrew him; however, a defensive penalty was called, and the offense was granted an automatic first down.
Now at the opponent’s 28-yard line, Goff threw a quick out to Gibbs for a quick gain of five yards, followed by a spike on second down, setting up third and five from the 23 with around 11 seconds left on the clock. The defense deployed zone coverage and shut down the passing lanes on third down, and while Goff tried to push it to Isaac TeSlaa in the back of the end zone, the pass was too high.
On fourth down, the offense needed to gain 23 yards to get into the end zone, and down four points, with just four seconds remaining on the clock, they needed to score a touchdown. Goff once again looked TeSlaa’s way, hoping to get the lengthy receiver at the front of the end zone, but with the defense in prevent, it was Nick Whiteside who jumped the route and secured the interception to get the win for the defense.
One-on-ones; OL vs. DL
All camp, I have made a point to talk to Lions legend Lomas Brown about these trench drills, and on Sunday, he cautioned me not to read too much into this drill without pads, as some players have a disadvantage in shells. With that in mind, I’ll focus on some of the highlights where there were clear winners.
- Cade Mays has often been impacted by Tyleik Williams’ power in these drills, initially getting pushed back before fighting to re-anchor. On Sunday, Mays was aggressive early in the rep, trapped Williams, and won both his reps.
- Miles Frazier continues to rep all over the line and took reps at left tackle, left guard, right guard, and right tackle, winning all five of his opportunities.
- Larry Borom looked solid, getting wins over Tayler Lacy (twice) and Lucas.
- Ahmed Hassanein deployed a wicked double-swipe on Blake Miller that caught the rookie off-guard and opened the edge for Hassanein to get by him. His aggression got the better of him vs. Frazier, leading to him getting off balance and slipping when bending the edge.
- Gill-Howard got a quick win over Tate Ratledge (a rare loss), a nice feather in his cap for the rookie.
- UDFA rookie Melvin Priestly showed off some nice power at guard, then shifted inside and took reps at center, beating Chris Smith and Ben Stille.
- The only defensive player who won more than one rep was UDFA Eric O’Neill, who secured wins over Miller and Colby Sorsdal
- It was a tough day for Blake Miller, who lost to Hassanein and O’Neill, but got the better of Tyre West, though he did show much better in team drills. These days happen for rookies.
Special teamers beginning to separate
In the competition for the Lions’ gunner roles, we’ve seen a few players consistently winning their one-on-ones, illustrating how they’re separating themselves from the pack. On Sunday, Khalil Dorsey, Christian Izien, and Ya-Sin won all their one-on-ones, both as gunners and blockers. When the team went to a live drill, it was Dorsey and Izien as the starting gunners, followed by Whiteside and Tay Martin with the second team. With Ya-Sin in pole position to win the CB2 job, it appears clear that Dorsey and Izien look like they have the lead for the team’s gunner roles.
