Friday’s Detroit Lions training camp session was the first practice of the summer with full pads on all the players. On a steamy morning with no breeze, the Lions ripped through a two-hour practice that saw actual hitting and full contact for the first time.
Here’s some of what I observed and noted from Allen Park in the team’s fifth training camp session.
Plays of the day
LB Malcolm Rodriguez gets the honor on a day where the defense was largely ahead of the offense overall — especially on the second and third units. Rodriguez beautifully read a seam route and knifed in front of the TE (the number was obscured) and made a sweet catch to pick off a low throw from No. 2 QB Nate Sudfeld.
Honorable mention goes to rookie DB Brian Branch for hitting the internal turbo button and closing fast to break up a Jared Goff pass to Josh Reynolds in the intermediate range on the outside. Great play; Goff thought he had him but Branch closed ground in a flash to break it up. Branch had a nice day, especially for a rookie.
Another honorable for Jack Campbell on a play that we’ll get shortly…
Jack Campbell shines
It’s difficult to evaluate linebackers without pads on, as the biggest part of their job is making contact and tackling. The pads came on for Friday, and we all got to see why the Lions valued first-round pick Jack Campbell so highly.
Campbell looked like the best defensive player on the field. He was consistently terminating run plays all over the formation, taking great angles and avoiding blocks. He even created a turnover on a hustle play. Campbell peeled back and caught RB Craig Reynolds from behind on a pass over the middle. But Campbell didn’t just make the tackle. He punched the ball out of Reynolds’ hand and then fell on it in the scrum for the recovery.
Pass rush vs pass protection
The lines did several reps of 1-on-1 pass rush/protection during the later portion of practice.
The most notable win came courtesy of EDGE Aidan Hutchinson. He flat-out smoked right tackle Penei Sewell with a great hand swipe move off an inside stab and quick burst around the Pro Bowler. It happened very quickly, too. Sewell was both surprised and impressed, giving Hutchinson some respect after practice in his press conference.
Second-year DL Josh Paschal had two clean wins while working with the second unit. He gave a “ghost leg” move that got him past veteran OT Germain Ifedi almost without contact. Pashcal also executed a nice inside power move to handily best OL Darrin Paulo.
In general, with a couple of exceptions, the pass rushers attacking the blockers on their inside flanks were successful. Attempts to run around the outside were pretty easily dismissed. LT Taylor Decker effortlessly swallowed James Houston when the EDGE tried to get around his outside shoulder. Decker did the same to Julian Okwara, who looked stiff in drills all morning.
Also on the blocking side, RG Graham Glasgow fared well. He took most of the first-team reps and looked like he belonged there.
Surprise standout
Josh Paschal looking great shouldn’t be a surprise; the second-year EDGE is healthy and competing for significant playing time. So we’ll go deeper down the depth chart for a wide receiver who had himself a day…
Trinity Benson.
Benson made a fantastic catch over his outside shoulder on a deep corner route, twisting his body so that both feet clearly stayed inbounds before he crashed to the turf. On another route, he accelerated away from CB Khalil Dorsey but the throw wasn’t on target by QB Adrian Martinez.
The wideout also turned in some solid reps in special teams drills. On one notable rep, he drew what should be an obvious holding penalty on Jack Campbell while working in coverage pursuit.
Quick hits
–Wideouts Marvin Jones and Jameson Williams worked to the side with trainers, as did DB C.J. Gardner-Johnson. I did a quick video on my observation of Jones and Williams; both look very close to ready to roll:
Gardner-Johnson went through the running drills fine but had a little limp after each rep. He might require a little more time than the wideouts.
–I tried to watch rookie Colby Sorsdal as much as I could. Unfortunately, I had a poor vantage point to start the pass protection drills, so I didn’t see much. Sorsdal seemed pleased with his day immediately after practice and didn’t look overwhelmed with the pads on.
–Charles Harris continues to get most of the first-team reps at EDGE, and he showed why on a couple of screen plays. Even though Harris didn’t make the play himself, his recognition and reaction directly facilitated the guys behind him making easy plays to snuff out the screens or swing passes.
–On that front, this is an area where second-year EDGE James Houston must improve if he’s ever going to be more than a pass-rush specialist. Houston was late to identify the quick passes and then consistently took poor angles to the ball. He clearly knows it, too; Houston wears his emotions on his sleeve–you know whether he feels good or bad after every rep, and he did a lot of head-hanging after passing game reps today.
–There was no kicking today, so no update on the battle between John Parker Romo and Riley Patterson.
–It was tough to hear that Tom Kennedy was waived. He’s been a summer standout for several years and was a capable receiver and special teams player who was always great to talk with.
The Lions waived Kennedy with injury status on Friday before practice. He suffered a shoulder injury earlier in camp and it’s significant enough that the Lions brought in WR Trey Quinn to take over already. Expect Kennedy to pass through waivers and then get an injury settlement with the Lions, or else he’ll land on the injured reserve.
–Good moment after practice when QB Adrian Martinez and OT Connor Galvin, both undrafted rookies, sorted out a miscommunication in their last offensive rep. It was a respectful conversation between two hungry young players looking to work better together, a talk that came at least 15 minutes after the rep in question. I love that the blown play bothered both of them enough to talk through it after practice. One offensive coach was watching it and came away with the same impression, too.
