Tuesday morning brought the New York Giants to the Detroit Lions training facility in Allen Park for the first of two scheduled joint practices between the two teams. As promised by Lions head coach Dan Campbell, it was a good situation for Detroit to go against guys in other jerseys for a change.
Here’s some of what stood out from the first joint practice session on Tuesday, August 8th.
No Teddy B just yet
Head coach Dan Campbell fielded several press conference questions about quarterback Teddy Bridgewater prior to practice. Campbell confirmed that the Lions are bringing in the veteran, but that Bridgewater is not expected to be in Detroit this week.
One of the interesting tidbits Campbell offered on Bridgewater is the positive impact he expects the journeyman backup to have on the young wide receivers.
We have not yet heard who will be removed from the equation once Bridgewater arrives in Detroit, but if today’s session was any indication, it’s bad news for erratic undrafted rookie Adrian Martinez.
Lions pass D struggled short but dominated deep
The Giants offense ran a lot of quick-hit, short passes all over the formation. With a mobile QB like Daniel Jones at the helm, it worked effectively against the Lions defense. The quick outs and slants nicely attacked the mesh point between layers of coverage for the Lions defense. It was especially true when Jones went against the second-team defense and linebackers Malcolm Rodriguez and Jack Campbell. Their lack of experience together and facing an unfamiliar offensive scheme was noticeable more than it was a lack of skill on their part.
It was a different story when New York tried to attack down the field. The Lions first-team secondary handily snuffed out just about every deep throw against the Giants’ starters. The presence of C.J. Gardner-Johnson was easy to spot; his blanket coverage in the slot and disruption at the line of scrimmage threw off the timing of the coordinated routes, allowing fellow safety Kerby Joseph to get an easier read on the action.
New Lions CB Cam Sutton was consistently winning reps in downfield coverage. On the second team, undrafted rookie Starling Thomas had an interception and a nice PD too. Newcomer Tae Hayes made a couple of plays on the ball as well.
OL shuffle
With Pro Bowl center Frank Ragnow not playing (excused absence), the Lions moved Graham Glasgow to first-team center and inserted Halapoulivaati Vaitai back at right guard.
Pro Bowl left guard Jonah Jackson also missed the practice, as Coach Campbell indicated beforehand. That created an interesting solution with Darrin Paulo getting first-team reps at left guard.
There were some glitches, as expected, but the Lions generally handled the Giants starting DL pretty well in pass protection. Run blocking was a different issue; the Giants first-team front stuffed several inside runs, and their linebackers flowed well when RBs David Montgomery and Jahmyr Gibbs tried to bounce outside, too.
The second-team OL in the final drill was, from left to right:
Germain Ifedi – Colby Sordal – Brad Cecil – Kayode Awosika – Matt Nelson
Nelson gave up one sack in the drill, failing to fan out on a slot blitz. Cecil rolled a red zone snap that went five-hole on tall QB Nate Sudfeld. Beyond that, the pass protection was better than the run blocking but that’s not saying much.
Newly signed vet Bobby Hart saw his first action against the team that drafted him back in 2015. He saw reps as the third-team left guard in a red zone drill. Didn’t notice him playing any tackle but there was a lot going on and the lines were not my primary focus today.
Surprise standout
Dylan Drummond is getting loads of attention, and the undrafted rookie WR from Eastern Michigan was outstanding once again. Other than Amon-Ra St. Brown being great, Drummond was the best WR on the field for either team.
Stepping up behind Drummond, and at times with him on the second-team offense, was Trey Quinn. No. 29 made a couple of tremendous catches, including one that earned my personal play of the day. Quinn dove well beyond his natural range to secure a crossing route throw that was both low and outside the target zone. Even the Giants DB in coverage showed him some love after the play.
As is the case with Drummond on offense, UDFA CB Starling Thomas stood out once again. This was the cleanest day in coverage I’ve seen from No. 49 in terms of not holding or earning illegal contact penalties. Perhaps the best thing I noted came after Thomas got beat for a touchdown in the red zone drill. On the very next rep, they tried a similar play and Thomas swatted the ball away after making a fantastic break on the ball. Fellow DBs Jerry Jacobs and Kerby Joseph sprayed Thomas with their water bottles in celebration.
Quick hits
–Kerby Joseph continues to make more plays, and he’s stepping up better against the run than in his rookie campaign. He’s playing with a very high level of confidence and swagger.
–Rookie RB Jahmyr Gibbs didn’t get a lot of running room, but he did make two very nice catches. His quickness and precision on a drag route with a designed QB rollout in the red zone was an artwork.
–Had two different members of the Giants media ask about Derrick Barnes after practice. He made quite a positive impression on them. Barnes continues to have a breakout summer in his third season. His pre-snap diagnostic skills have grown tremendously and the visitors from New York took note.
–James Houston flashed with a play that the Lions are clearly working with him to make: backside run defense. Late in practice, No. 41 knifed under the right tackle and sprinted cleanly behind the line to get a TFL on a run to the opposite side. Great play.
–Marvin Jones had two impressive contested catches. The issue is that all of his catches lately have been of that variety. He’s struggled to get open against the Lions coverage all summer, and it was the same story against the Giants.
–WR Jameson Williams returned after missing Saturday for undisclosed personal reasons. He made a couple of nice catches in the 7-on-7 session and one of them featured him quickly hitting the afterburner to run away from the trailing coverage on a crossing route. In the 1-on-1s, Williams had some issues getting open. He got cute with one route, making one too many moves to try and get free–something we’ve occasionally seen in camp before. It’s notable that he was the first Lions player on the field for practice.
–Rookie TE Sam LaPorta had a drop but also showed why he’s poised to make a big impact as a receiver. The Giants LBs could not cover him. LaPorta also made a nice downfield block to free some YAC for St. Brown on an out route.
–Many national media members were in attendance. Among them: Mike Tirico, Jay Glazer and Jeremy Fowler.
–Hall of Fame RB Barry Sanders was also at practice, as was longtime NFL RB Marshawn Lynch.
–No notable injuries, though UDFA RB Mohamed Ibrahim was slow to get up after sliding awkwardly to try and catch a low throw. He did not return but it was very near the end of practice, and Ibrahim did trot off on his own.
