The Detroit Lions closed out training camp with a competitive scrimmage-style practice. And after a very strong month from the Lions defense, it was nice to see the offense put together a solid string of practices to close out camp.
As a reminder, you can get the latest news on injuries and participation in these practices with our daily injury report.
For these final observations, I’m going to package them by unit, going drive-by-drive.
First string
Drive #1 — Starting on own 1-yard line
Result: 99 yards, TD
Key plays:
- Back shoulder catch from Jameson Williams on the first play for 21 yards (Rock Ya-Sin in coverage)
- Third-and-12 conversion to Williams on a screen play
- Amon-Ra St. Brown 22 yards on a crossing route with Malcolm Rodriguez in coverage (!!)
- Play-action bootleg pass to Isaac TeSlaa for 14 yards
- Fourth-and-goal catch from Williams at the back of the end zone, where he just barely got a knee in (D.J. Reed in coverage
Other notes:
- The starters on offense and defense were who you would normally think, but Levi Onwuzurike, Skyler Gill-Howard, Rodriguez, and Devin White all got some rotational work
- Run game was pretty ineffective with runs of 5 yards, -2, -1, 2, and 1.
Drive #2 — Starting on own 24-yard line
Result: Debatable three-and-out
Key plays:
- Tyleik Williams batted down a pass at the line of scrimmage
- On third-and-10, Williams caught a post route for a first down, but a holding penalty negated it
- On third-and-10, St. Brown caught a screen pass and looked to convert thanks to good downfield blocking, but Dan Campbell called him short
Drive #3 — Starting on own 29-yard line
Result: 2 plays, 71 yards, TD
Key plays:
- TeSlaa catches a quick curl, makes Jack Campbell miss, and turns it into 12 yards
- Gibbs, following a block from Tate Ratledge, takes a 59-yard run to the house
Drive #4 — Starting on own 45-yard line
Result: 52-yard FG
Key plays:
- Play-action screen pass to Sam LaPorta goes for 18 yards
- Avonte Maddox completely blows up a third-and-short run for a 5-yard loss
Drive #5 — Starting on own 45-yard line
Result: Three-and-out
Key plays:
- Rodriguez tallies a sack on third-and-long…. although the whistle came awfully quick, and Jared Goff completed a pass to a wide-open LaPorta that would’ve gained at least 20. Goff was not happy about the whistel.
Drive #6 — Starting on opponent’s 40-yard line
Result: Missed 63-yard field goal
Key plays:
- Jack Campbell blew up a second-and-short run for a 2-yard loss (Tyleik Williams was also close)
- Another holding penalty erased a third-and-5 conversion
- Pressure from Skyler Gill-Howard and DJ Wonnum force a third-down incompletion.
Drive #7 — Starting on opponent’s 40-yard line
Result: 16-yard TD to St. Brown… as seen here:
Key plays:
- Goff hit St. Brown down the sideline between Ya-Sin and Maddox for 14
- St. Brown took a bubble screen on third-and-3 for a first down thanks to a stiff arm of D.J. Reed
- TD pass to St. Brown up the seam (see above)
Drive #8 — 1:38 left, 20-23, opponent’s 25-yard line, two timeotus
Result: 16-yard TD run from Jahmyr Gibbs
- On second-and-long, Gibbs kept his feet moving and with the help of the offensive line pushing him, set up a third-and-1
- Roger McCreary had tight coverage on St. Brown on an end zone shot. It looked like St. Brown came down with it, but out of bounds
- On fourth-and-1, the Lions pitched it out to Gibbs with Penei Sewell as the lead blocker and he took it to the house with only seconds remaining
Overall takeaways:
- Thought this was perhaps the wide receivers’ best day against what has been a sticky secondary
- Run game was just okay, but it did produce a couple of explosives and successful plays
- Aidan Hutchinson was shockingly quiet
Second teamers
Drive #1 — Starting on own 1-yard line
Result: Six plays, 20 yards
Key plays:
- Sione Vaki picked up a third-and-1 with a run up the middle for 10 yards, key blocks from Miles Frazier and Ben Bartch
- Gill-Howard forced an incomplete pass with a pressure
- Joe Bachie was all over a crossing route to Tay Martin to limit it to 5 yards
- Devin White sack on third down
Drive #2 — Starting on own 34-yard line
Result: Missed 71-yard field goal … yes, you read that right
Key plays:
- Luke Altmyer fumbled two snaps from Mason Miller, who was filling in for a missing Seth McLaughlin
- Notably, Miller has not played any center in the NFL or in college
- The two spent extra time after practice working on exchanges
- Notably, Miller has not played any center in the NFL or in college
- Nick Whiteside, mostly playing safety again, was all over a quick slant attempt to Tom Kennedy to break up the third-down pass and end the drive
- Why the Lions tried a 71-yard kick, I don’t really know
- The wind wasn’t in Jake Bates’ favor, either, and the kick wasn’t close
Drive #3 — Starting on opponent’s 40-yard line
Result: 31-yard TD run from Trayveon Williams
Key plays:
- Altmyer did a good job sliding from the pocket and finding Jackson Meeks on a short curl
- On Williams’ 31-yard run, he did a great job drawing the defense inside, then bouncing it outside of cornerback Ekow Boye-Doe, who lost outside contain
Third teams
Drive #1 — Starting on own 22-yard line
Result: Six plays, 10 yards
Key plays:
- Anthony Lucas picked up a sack, costing the offensive 9 yards
- But on third-and-19, Josh Dobbs found Dominic Lovett open on a crossing route, and the second-year receiver turned it upfield for a big gain and a first down
- Pressure from Ahmed Hassanein forced an incompletion and third-and-7
- Eric O’Neill ends the drive with a sack
Drive #2 — Starting on own 45-yard line
Result: Four-and-out
Key plays:
- Khalil Dorsey with a nice pass breakup on Malik Cunningham’s post route
- On third-and-3, Dobbs nicely skirted pressure, but way overthrew his receiver downfield
- Fourth-and-3, Gill-Howard absolutely danced around the guard for an immediate pressure and incompletion forced
