For the last few days of practice, several prominent Detroit Lions players have voiced their desire to face off against another team. Head coach Dan Campbell doesn’t play the first-stringers in preseason, after all. The starters finally got that opportunity on Wednesday with a joint practice against the Miami Dolphins.
In a word, wow.
Wow!
There isn’t a word that better sums up just how thoroughly, how definitively, the Detroit Lions dominated the Miami Dolphins in the steamy late-morning practice at the Meijer Performance Center in Allen Park. Detroit’s starting offense, sick of banging heads with the Lions strong defense, took out some frustrations against a completely overmatched Miami starting defense.
Offensive play rules the day
For most of the practice, I stayed with the Lions offense against the Dolphins defense. There were plenty of reps of starters vs. starters, and it spotlighted just how awesome (using that term literally) Detroit’s talent is on offense.
Jared Goff was on point all morning. Other than a missed low throw to WR Ronnie Bell (getting 1st team reps in injured Tim Patrick’s spot) and one deliberate high miss to a well-covered Jameson Williams late in the first series, Goff was essentially perfect. He and Amon-Ra St. Brown were in midseason form with several connections, showing off their unspoken communication and knowledge. The most spectacular was a short-corner touchdown strike where Goff put the ball behind CB Jason Marshall, and No. 14 pinned the ball to Marshall’s back and his own shoulder to complete the catch inbounds.
Goff was dealing to everyone. Kalif Raymond was uncoverable on a nice out route, and Goff put the ball exactly where it needed to be to get both of Raymond’s feet down inside the sideline. Sam LaPorta, Jameson Williams, Brock Wright — all had big catches on picture-perfect throws. The Goff-to-Williams connection was one I wrote down in my notes as a “Matthew Stafford throw”, a closing window shot in the front of the end zone with a lot of mustard that required chutzpah from the veteran QB and great concentration from Jamo, who continues to impress.
Detroit scored at will in the red zone drill. They also marched down the field almost without resistance in an end-of-half drill. The second-team offense got in on the action, too, with notable strong runs from RB Craig Reynolds and a great catch-and-run up the right sideline from TE Shane Zylstra on a quick throw from Kyle Allen. Reynolds also had a very nice gain on a screen where No. 13 got north/south immediately after the catch.
Detroit DL pit drill
The position drills began with the lines going 1-on-1 in a pass rush/protection drill, with the Lions defenders going at the Miami offensive line. My vision was partially obstructed on a few reps as they executed the drill behind the end zone.
Winners for the Lions included Aidan Hutchinson, who hit OT Larry Broom with his patented inside spin and left Broom wondering where he was. Keith Cooper scored a quick “sack” with an inside shoulder dip, and also took an inside strong-arm to beat Dolphins rookie Jonah Savaiinaea. Myles Adams had two wins in the drill working inside, too.
Tyleik Williams had one definite win against Savaaiinaea as well, using a late pin-pull move to get free. Chris Smith, Nate Lynn and Isaac Ukwu all had clear wins, too. Lynn used a sweet dead-leg to the inside that caught the Miami tackle rocking too far.
Lions OL pit drill
As that Lions D-line group was wrapping up, the Lions offensive line against Miami’s defense kicked off directly in front of me.
The drill started with the Lions starting offensive line going in order, right to left. All five Lions scored clear victories in stymying the Miami starters rushing the passer. Backup OT Dan Skipper kept it going with an easy win against an uncreative Derrick McClendon. Detroit’s first “loss” came on the 8th rep, with center Kingsley Eguakun getting overpowered backward by one-time Lions DT Benito Jones.
The only Lions starting offensive lineman who didn’t clearly win a rep was LG Christian Mahogany, who had one win and a slight loss on a late pin-pull move by Zach Seiler. Sewell almost seemed annoyed at the lack of challenge in suffocating Miami’s Chop Robinson on a spin move that was nothing like what he sees from Hutchinson.
Going deeper, the Lions line had some struggles. While backup T Jamarco Jones fared well (one win and one draw), Eguakun and Giovanni Manu did not score wins. Eguakun might have earned a draw on his second rep against Zeke Biggers, but Biggers let him know after the play that Eguakun’s hands roamed too high.
Manu continues to struggle in practice. His final rep closed the drill with him barely touching Bradley Chubb on a pretty simple outside rush. Manu had another rep vs McClendon that was worse. His lack of football instincts shows. Undrafted rookie OT Mason Miller was also handily smoked by Seiler working to his outside and wound up on the ground, which is a frequent sight during Lions practices. Manu’s struggles carried into the final drills, with two very quick losses that ended pass plays.
Special mention to Lions reserve Michael Niese for an outstanding recovery block, using his inside hand to jolt back against Ben Stille after No. 97 had him beaten with a nice pin-pull. Niese scrapped and bought his “QB” enough time to move.
Far from perfect
Despite the outstanding overall practice, there were still some issues for Dan Campbell and the Lions coaches to address. Left tackle Taylor Decker brought one big one up in his post-practice presser: Ball security.
David Montgomery fumbled on an off-tackle run, stripped by Chop Robinson. Montgomery dove on the ball for the recovery, but it ruined what was almost certainly a huge gain, with Graham Glasgow and Tate Ratledge pulling in front. Robinson injured himself on the play, holding his arm in considerable pain before trainers helped him off the field.
Sione Vaki fumbled when he ran headlong into the back of a Lions offensive lineman. Vaki’s vision still isn’t there as a runner, but it was nice to see No. 33 back in practice after missing time recently. He also dropped an easy pass. Later, Isaac TeSlaa couldn’t catch a ball from Hendon Hooker with the defender arriving just as the ball did. Good throw from No. 2 and it’s one the talented rookie WR typically makes, but this one hit the ground.
There were some penalties, too. Manu was flagged for a bad false start. The Lions offense was called for two illegal shifts, one of them with TeSlaa as the apparent guilty party. Someone missed a blocking assignment on a quick toss play that Miami CB Jack Jones almost caught before Craig Reynolds could get it.
Quick hits
–The Lions RBs/TEs were facing off against the Dolphins LBs in a receiving/cover drill that was going on as the second half of the pit drill was taking place. In that drill, David Montgomery and Craig Reynolds each scored decisive wins on reps that happened to coincide with the next rep setting up in the pit. Montgomery smoked K.J. Britt on a hard cut on an out route that he thankfully caught, or else it was going to hit me on the sidelines.
–While the Lions DBs were working in their own position drills, the stark difference between a starter and a reserve showed. Brian Branch leapt up and snagged a one-handed stab on a high throw over his outside shoulder. In the same basic situation, Loren Strickland jumped too early and then bobbled it before finally securing the ball.
–Jameson Williams and ex-Lions S Ifeatu Melifonwu, now a starter for the Dolphins, had a full-blown fight as practice ended. Didn’t see how it started, but fists were flying.
–Isaac TeSlaa and Jack Jones threw hands after a play where Jones popped TeSlaa in the helmet twice while No. 18 was blocking him, knocking it off with the second blow. TeSlaa did not back down at all.
–Jamarco Jones took the second-team LT reps after Skipper bumped up to the first team with Decker on a pitch count.
–I thought Graham Glasgow had another outstanding practice. The starting center wasn’t too confidence-inspiring for the first couple of weeks of camp, but the last two practices have been No. 60’s best of the summer. His range and physicality in the run game was a very big problem for the Dolphins LBs.
–Many Lions fans coveted Michigan DT Kenneth Grant in the draft. Grant impressed with a great power rush that cleanly beat Lions rookie RG Tate Ratledge. One of the few defensive highlights for Miami.
–Terrion Arnold was a full participant in position drills, but the Lions CB sat out all the action that went against the Dolphins. Before practice, Dan Campbell said “next week” for Arnold, though it’s difficult to tell anything is bothering him. Kerby Joseph did not practice today.
–OT Keaton Sutherland was carted off with a leg injury. He got rolled up from behind while run blocking. Sutherland did walk with trainer assistance to the cart. Cornerback Dicaprio Bootle also left with a lower leg injury, which I did not see happen.
–The difference in closing speed between what we’re used to seeing from the Lions LBs (Anzalone, Campbell, Barnes, Stuard) against the pass and what we saw today from Miami’s LBs, outside of a very active Jordyn Brooks, was very evident. The Dolphins don’t have much depth across the defense, but it really shows at CB and LB.
–Marcus Davenport had a sweet inside pressure against the first-team MIA offense in the hurry-up drill. Davenport continues to look very good opposite Hutchinson.
–NFL referee Adrian Hill and his crew officiated the practice, and will on Thursday as well. After practice, Hill briefed the media on recent rule changes and emphases.
–Neither team’s kicker did anything in practice. Just as an FYI…
–The two teams face off again on Thursday at 10:30.
This article originally appeared on Lions Wire: Lions camp notebook from dominant first joint practice vs. Dolphins
