The Detroit Lions completed the ninth day of their 2019 training camp and the slot receivers owned the day.
Slot receivers win the day
Matthew Stafford likes slot receivers but he prefers to spread the ball around. Tom Savage, on the other hand, has been inconsistent in hitting players on the outside and has, in turn, been heavily targeting the inside receivers. It’s hard to blame him either, especially on a day like today when the slot receivers seemingly could do no wrong, Savage went back to the well, time and time again.
Slot corner Justin Coleman struggled in Week 2, and now as Week 3 begins, he found himself with the second team and replaced by Jamal Agnew in the starting lineup. This may not stay this way moving forward, but for now, the slot matchups were Danny Amendola vs Agnew and Brandon Powell vs Coleman.
All camp, the Lions defense has struggled to cover Amendola. His quickness, precise route running and veteran savviness is difficult to match. He routinely gained separation from Agnew, sometimes it was only a step, but other times it was up to five yards.
When asked about the danger of going too hard in practices, Amendola responded, “No. Full tilt. All go. All day. Let’s go.”
“We’re always talking,” Amendola said in repose to a question about Powell picking his brain for information, “everybody in the room always talking, throwing around ideas. Old ways, new ways, trying to get open.”
Powell also put together a nice few days of practice and was beating Coleman more often than not. Two weeks ago this would’ve been a matchup that heavily favored Coleman, but the two are headed in different directions right now.
After rotating with Agnew on both punt and kick returns in Friday’s scrimmage, coupled with a string of victories from the slot in practice, it’s about time we seriously considering Powell as a potential fifth or sixth receiver in this offense.
More notes on the offense
While the slot receivers won the day, Marvin Jones has quietly been putting together a strong training camp. He had a touchdown in Friday’s scrimmage and has been winning one-one-one battles both in drills and in game play. With defenses potentially rolling coverages towards Kenny Golladay and this offense accentuating Jones’ strengths, he seems primed for a bounce-back season.
Another day and the rotation on the offensive line continues with Kenny Wiggins and Graham Glasgow back with the starters. The only other notable change came on the second line where Tyrell Crosby and Andrew Donnal were cross-training by rotating between both tackle spots.
Defense
Darius Slay returned to the field today and while he saw limited participation levels on Sunday, it’s no surprise he was running with the starters. The starting battle on the outside opposite Slay lost a little luster with Teez Tabor getting injured, making an easy path for Rashaan Melvin to continuing taking reps with the ones. When Slay wasn’t on the field, it was rookie Amani Oruwariye taking his spot in the starting lineup.
As noted in the opening section, Coleman did struggle against Amendola previously and Powell today, but he did find success when he was matched up against bigger receivers. He was very sticky and got a pass break up when covering Chris Lacy.
Mike Ford also had a nice day getting an interception and a pass breakup, and despite being on the wrong end of an amazing toe-tapping sideline catch by Jermain Kearse, he did everything he could in coverage to defend it, it was just a perfect play by the offense.
Garret Dooley continues to find himself on the field near the top of the rotations. He was getting reps at MIKE and JACK linebacker, which is exactly the type of positional flexibility that the players at the back end of the roster possess. He’s a sleeper name to remember.
One thing I have noted each day of practice is that Devon Kennard continues to have side meetings with Coach Matt Patricia. Now that he has returned to action, their frequency seems to be happening even more. Kennard is an important piece in this defense and he looks to be getting extra attention.
Special Teams
Lots of unique special teams drills today, including blocking formations when the Lions are punting and onside kick recovery drills.
Nothing is finalized but the starters on the punting teams were:
- Punter: Sam Martin
- Long snapper: Don Muhlbach
- Gunners: Charles Washington and Justin Coleman
- Interior blockers: Jahlani Tavai, Miles Killebrew, Jalen Reeves-Maybin, Dooley, Will Harris and Anthony Pittman
- Setback blocker: Tavon Wilson
Apparently, Nick Bawden taking snaps at long snapper is a thing now as he has done it the previous four practices and quite frankly is getting much better at it. His accuracy has improved, as we should expect from a former quarterback, but his power still can’t touch Muhlbach’s.
Post-practice
Newly signed corner Tarvarus McFadden didn’t get to see the field much today in team drills/work, but he showed some work ethic by being first in line for the jug machine to catch balls after practice.
