The Detroit Lions were back in pads for Day 6 of training camp, and with a day off on Monday, they loaded up for a high tempo, physical practice in the humid summer heat.
100-yard pick-6
The play of the day came during a 7-on-7 goalline drill near the end of practice. Reggie Ragland lined up at WILL linebacker, disguised his drop and when Matthew Stafford tried to laser one in to a crossing Danny Amendola, Ragland jumped the route and made a leaping one-handed interception.
With no hesitation, Ragland began sprinting for the endzone 100-yards away. Stafford immediately got on his horse to chase him down — even though he is not allowed to actually make a play on Ragland.
When asked if he would have outrun Stafford if it was a game, Ragland replied, “damn skippy I would have”.
Stafford wasn’t the only one tracking Ragland down, Jarrad Davis came screaming down the field and tackled Ragland in the back of the end zone. Not far behind, another handful of defenders joined in piling on in celebration.
Quarterbacks
There is no controversy over the pecking order here, but it’s worth noting David Blough had a nice few first days of camp, while Chase Daniel looked shaper the last two. There’s not a ton separating them on the field right now, but off the field is where Daniel earns his money.
Running backs
It was a light running backs group today. D’Andre Swift and Bo Scarbrough are dealing with injuries and missed practice, Jason Huntley was also absent with no disclosed reason, and Kerryon Johnson stayed limited to positional drills only.
That left a full load for Ty Johnson, Jonathan Williams, and Wes Hills. It was an up and down day for this group. Williams fumbled while rushing through the B-gap and Hills dropped a pass.
At fullback, Nick Bawden and TE/H-B Isaac Nauta were in positional drills but didn’t do any field-work during the team portions. That meant more opportunities for Jason Cabinda. He has looked so sharp and powerful it wouldn’t be surprising if he stays at fullback and leaves his linebacker career behind.
Wide receivers
Kenny Golladay appeared to be on the Kerryon Johnson plan today, as he opened practice with receivers in drills but once it shifted to team drills, he was off to the side catching passes for the remainder of practice.
That opened the door for Marvin Hall to join the starters and pointing towards him being at the top of the reserves.
Marvin Jones Jr. continues to be an unfair matchup in one-on-one reps and in team drills. Today, Jeff Okudah put his speed on display gliding down the field with Jones, but when the ball was underthrown and to the outside, Jones rotated his body almost completely around and snagged the ball out of the air with one hand.
“There was nothing the defender could do” is becoming a phrase I am writing in my notebook daily when it comes to Jones.
Speaking of insane body control, Quintez Cephus continues to stand out on contested catches. Don’t read this as Cephus isn’t separating — he is with burst, sharp routes, and stutter steps — he’s just winning the contested balls as well. Once he gains more experience, he’s going to be a problem down the road.
Jamal Agnew continues to prove that making the switch to offense was the right move for his career. He looks like he has been playing receiver his entire career, adjusting to the ball, sharpening his routes, and securing tough catches. He did have one drop on a pass from Blough, but the good far outweighs the bad — he’s going to make some noise.
With Hall bumping up with the starters, Tom Kennedy got an extended look with the twos. That’s a nice feather in his cap, as he has mostly taken reps only in the slot and was given this opportunity over traditional outside receivers like Chris Lacy and Geremy Davis.
Victor Bolden was once again not in pads and working with trainers.
Tight ends
One of the easiest ways to decipher starters and reserves is to note their contributions on special teams. Jesse James is blocking in the third phase, while T.J. Hockenson uses the special teams periods to work on catching passes.
As noted above Nauta participated in positional drills but didn’t see him in team activities. With Hunter Bryant out, that opened the door for Matt Sokol — who shed his no-contact red jersey today — to step up into the third tight end spot.
Offensive line
Rookie Jonah Jackson continues to start at right guard and he looks confident in the role. He still has some techniques to learn as was evidenced during the 11-on-11 period. Jackson stonewalled Julain Okwara on one play, then on the next, Trey Flowers lined up at 3-technique and reminded him he still has some things to learn.
There was a look of movement among the reserves today. Oday Aboushi and Kenny Wiggins flipped sides at guard again, as did Dan Skipper (who shifted to left tackle) and Tyrell Crosby (right tackle). Matt Nelson expanded his reps, seeing time at left tackle and left guard, while Logan Stenberg got time at his natural left guard position on reps where Beau Benzschawel — who is slowly returning from injury — lined up at center.
In the last period of the day, the starters shook things up, with Joe Dahl and Jackson getting a break, while Hal Vaitai left the field 15-minutes early. It’s unclear if any of this was injury-related.
Defensive line
The Lions played a lot with their line up front today, shifting between three and four-man looks — as is expected with a multiple defense.
Da’Shawn Hand was everywhere and it was a nice reminder of what a dynamic player he is. Most of the down defensive end and 3/5-techniques saw their roles expand and that opened the door for players like Kevin Strong and Frank Herron to get more time. Both had solid days.
Romero Okwara got another obvious sack today, in what is becoming another common theme — this one came on the last offense vs defensive play of the day.
Linebackers
With the defensive line making adjustments, the linebackers were naturally adjusting as well. We saw a lot of rotating between where players were lining up and what their roles were.
During just one 11-on-11 series, we saw linebacker combos of:
| Christian Jones | Jarrad Davis | Jamie Collins |
| Jamie Collins | Jahlani Tavai | Jarrad Davis |
| Reggie Ragland | Jalen Reeves-Maybin | Jahlani Tavai |
The battle between these six players for time is going to be fun to watch play out.
Corner
Desmond Trufant is still not doing much of anything and that meant Amani Oruwariye was looking for a starting partner once again.
Oruwariye continues to hold his own — he had at least two more pass breakups today — and he’s going to see time in the regular season, either as a starter or heavy contributor.
Jeff Okudah mixed back in with the starters splitting those reps with Darryl Roberts. Okudah continues to show his recovery speed is legit but is still working the learning curve. During a 2-minute drill, he got a PBU when covering Hall, but also gave up a touchdown to the speedy receiver.
Roberts has put enough days of practice together repping ahead of Mike Ford and Dee Virgin, I think it’s safe to say he’s ahead of them on the depth chart — adjust your 53-man roster projections accordingly.
In the slot, Coleman continues to look better than last year and had an entertaining banter with Agnew today after he got the better of the former corner.
Tony McRae is quietly locking down the reserve slot duties and when you combine that with his reps at gunner on special teams, he’s in a solid spot.
Safety
Like the defensive line and linebackers, the safeties are rotating a lot. There’s is a clear hierarchy of the top four, then a bunch of young guys trying to get comfortable.
Tracy Walker continuing to run with the second team is starting to draw more attention in the media, but I still feel pretty confident this is just the coaches cross-training the group.
Special teams
In case you needed reminding, Matt Prater is basically automatic. Today he attempted field goals from 48, 48, 49, 49, and 55 — all five were easily good, with four sailing perfectly down the middle.
Kick return drills were featured today, with Agnew and Hall as the two return men. Huntley is presumedly also going to be included in this group but his absence prevented that today.
As mentioned earlier with Hockenson, if a player wasn’t a clear starter they were getting time in these drills, save the offensive/defensive linemen.
That means we saw both Okwara’s taking on important blocking roles, as did players like Ty Johnson and Jason Cabinda. After the session was done, Cabinda stayed back a bit wanting to discuss things over with special teams coach Brayden Coombs. This is important because if Cabinda is going to make this roster, he’ll need to be a significant contributor here.
Bonus: Punter battle
The punter competition has been somewhat subdued through the first week of camp with not much information to evaluate. With no preseason, Patricia ramped things up a notch to close out the week with a pick-a-side battle.
Here’s the setup: Don Muhlbach snapped to Jack Fox and Steve Wirtel snapped to Arryn Siposs. Each punter punted twice for distance and hang time, then a third punt measured how close they could get to the goal line. Teammates picked a side and the losing team ran a lap.
Both guys boomed punts, drawing roars from teammates, and in the end, Siposs won a tight contest.
Overall, it was probably stressful for the punters, but a nice way to close the day and head into a day off.
.png?w=600)
