Lions News

[jaadam4]

DL

The defensive line did a lot of rotating personnel and altering front size, switching between 4 and 5-man looks.

On the edge, Aidan Hutchinson was a consistent starter, while the other side saw a combination of a variety of players, from John Cominsky (walkthroughs only) to Charles Harris to Romeo Okwara. Their veteran skill sets allowed for lots of side switching and matching up, and on one play in the red zone, Hutchinson ate Nelson’s lunch on his way to a “sack,” while Romeo had a terrific batted-down pass at the line of scrimmage.

On the interior Christian Covington was starting at nose tackle while Isaiah Buggs was repping with the second team. It’s worth noting that Buggs was not practicing last week, so he may be reacclimating, but the fact that Covington was the choice to replace him was worth paying attention to.

When the Lions adjusted to a 5-man front, they brought in a SAM linebacker, with Julian Okwara getting first crack, followed by James Houston, and Anthony Pittman even got in on the fray with the reserve teams. Don’t get too caught up on the order here as the Lions like to reward seniority and Okwara was the starter in this role before going on injured reserve last season.

[jaadam4]

LB

Alex Anzalone (MIKE) and Derrick Barnes (WILL) continue to rep with the first team while Malcolm Rodrigues sits out, leaving Jack Campbell (MIKE) and Jalen Reeves-Maybin (WILL) to run with the second team, as well as Trevor Nowaske and Pittman with the threes.

While Campbell is expected to continue to play with the second team in the spring, his speed and anticipation allow him to flow to the ball with impressive pace. It sure seems like a matter of time before he pushes for reps with the starters.

[jaadam4]

This one is awesome to hear.

Defensive Backs


Man, are they talkative.

The Lions have been slowly adding players that like to trash talk and now they have a starting five that will chirp and back it up on the field. C.J. Gardner-Johnson is a lot of fun. Not only is he flying all over the field during plays, but he is dancing and engaging with his teammates in between plays, hyping them up and encouraging them.

And it’s infectious.


Tracy Walker and Kerby Joseph have really come out of their shell and been very vocal as well, while Jerry Jacobs is one of the louder players on the field and has a different celebration with each of his teammates.

“They have a lot of confidence, and that’s not a bad thing as long as it’s directed in the right place and they’re focused on their job, but having a good time with it,” Campbell said in his morning presser. “I think that stuff can be contagious if again, it’s not overboard and not taking away from their job.”

Cam Sutton may be the quietest of the bunch, but he makes a lot of noise on the playing field. The Lions closed out the day with red zone drills and the offensive lining up at the 8-yard line. In these final drills, Sutton was basically perfect in coverage, forcing an incompletion against St. Brown (pushing him out of bounds before he could complete a catch) and locking down LaPorta on a quick throw in the slot.

While Sutton and Jacobs were the starters, it may not be long before we see Emmanuel Moseley on the field. Moseley went through walkthroughs with the first team (rotating with the other two) and seemed to be itching to get on the field, practically jumping around on the sideline.

Player Spotlight: Brian Branch


“I would say that he’s a good player now,” defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn said about Brian Branch at OTAs. “He’s a very instinctive player. He’s a very aware player. I’m glad we got him. I can’t tell you exactly if he’s going to start or anything like that, but I’ll tell you what, he’ll have a role on this defense.”


It didn’t take long for Branch to show the media exactly what Glenn was talking about.

On Tuesday, Branch lined up at several different spots including safety, in the slot, and at the linebacker level. He made a terrific pass breakup in the corner of the end zone on Maurice Alexander during 11-on-11s, then got Alexander's number again in 7-on-7s.

In the later play, Branch passed off his coverage of Tom Kennedy, then dropped into a zone. As Alexander pulled away from his coverage he crossed into Branch’s zone and the defensive back patiently stalked the receiver, then attacked the ball as it was thrown, violently breaking up the pass and deflecting the ball away. Branch’s intelligence and awareness, were on full display as he executed his assignment with flawless precision.

He may not start but he will play.

[jaadam4]

Special teams


Overall, the Lions had very nice weather for this practice, but almost on cue, as soon as it was time for the special teams to take the field, the wind picked up and it impacted some of the kicks. Even Jack Fox, who was working on directional punting, had a punt of two get away from him.

The placekickers had a harder time though. At last week’s OTAs, Parker Romo looked to have an early edge. But on Tuesday, he missed short and wide from 54 yards, then again from 45. He did successfully make kicks from 43 (twice) and 38 yards, but he looked like he was forcing things. Meanwhile, Riley Patterson hit the upright from 48 yards (bounced back into the field) but was successful from 45, 43 (twice), and 38 yards.

This kicker battle may not be close to over yet either, as Campbell is happy with the competition they currently have:

“I mean it’s open,” Campbell said. “We’ve told all those guys it’s a competition. That’s why we have three guys right now. All three of those guys are very much live. We wanted to make – we’ve been trying to make an emphasis of competition at every position and kicker is no different and those guys know that.”

We also got to see a few other specific special teams roles, including the personal protector (PP) and gunner competition.

With C.J. Moore no longer on the roster, the PP competition is between three safeties: Brady Breeze, Saivion Smith, and Brian Branch. Special teams may be Breeze’s and Smith’s best paths to a roster spot, so these will be important reps for them, while Branch may end up winning the job because he is a lock for the roster.

At gunner, the pairing and rotations looked like this:

• First team: Will Harris and Jerry Jacobs
• Second team: Tom Kennedy and Starling Thomas V (rookie)
• Third team: Dylan Drummond (rookie) and Khalil Dorsey

Like at PP, the second and third-team players need these reps to help them make the roster, while Harris and Jacobs are likely headed for the roster and could end up being the starters.

[jaadam4]

Jeff Risdon said on the DLP podcast this evening that Sutton was calling out the receivers' routes before they ran them. Apparently, he's very vocal and very smart.

[ghandi]

Jeff Risdon said on the DLP podcast this evening that Sutton was calling out the receivers' routes before they ran them. Apparently, he's very vocal and very smart.

or is the offense predictable? Im guessing they only run a handful of routes this time of year

[jaadam4]

or is the offense predictable? Im guessing they only run a handful of routes this time of year

Ok Capt Obvious. Maybe let’s see some sunshine and rainbows for a second

[ghandi]

Ok Capt Obvious. Maybe let’s see some sunshine and rainbows for a second

Go Lions!

[jaadam4]

Go Lions!

lol

[Futureshock]

Jonah Jackson: If I do what I do, contract will fall in its place

Posted by Josh Alper on June 8, 2023, 6:48 AM EDT

Getty Images

The Lions have invested a fair amount in their offensive line in recent years, including contract extensions for left tackle Taylor Decker and center Frank Ragnow.

Left guard Jonah Jackson would like to join that group. Jackson has started 45 games since being selected in the third round of the 2020 draft and is heading into the final year of his rookie deal.

Jackson said this week that he’d like to spend his entire career with the Lions and that he’s confident about the chances of landing a new deal even if talks have “not exactly” gotten underway at this point.

“Shoot, the same I have the past three years. Just put my head down, going to work, showing up each day, training and just putting my best foot forward,” Jackson said, via Kyle Meinke of MLive.com. “If I do what I do, then everything else will fall in its place.”

The Lions took a step forward last season before falling short of the playoffs. If they can take another one in 2023, chances are good that they’ll try to keep the band together a little bit longer.

[TheLondonLion]

How do I embed tweets again?

I’ve got:

- One pretty Hendon Hooker ball to the corner of the end zone with Ben Johnson at corner
- One Levi sighting doing pass rush drills
- One Megatron at practice AGAIN

[Futureshock]

How do I embed tweets again?

I’ve got:

- One pretty Hendon Hooker ball to the corner of the end zone with Ben Johnson at corner
- One Levi sighting doing pass rush drills
- One Megatron at practice AGAIN

1. Copy the URL from the tweet
2. Click the tweet birrdie
3. Paste it in the line between the 2 [TWEET]
4. erase everything from the back (of the URL you pasted) to, and including, the question mark
5. Post reply

[Futureshock]

VIDEO: Lions tried to acquire 2024 1st-round pick from Cardinals on draft night

By Jeremy Reisman

[Futureshock]

During draft-night trade talks, Cardinals prioritized 2024 picks

Posted by Michael David Smith on June 9, 2023, 9:40 AM EDT

Getty Images

The Cardinals are in very good shape in the 2024 NFL draft, and their dealings during the 2023 draft made clear that next year’s draft was a priority.

A video released by the Cardinals from inside their draft room shows General Manager Monti Ossenfort making two trades within the first six picks of the first round.

First, Ossenfort traded down from No. 3 to No. 12, picking up the Texans’ 2024 first- and third-round picks in the process. Those figure to be very valuable picks, as the Texans are expected to be among the worst teams in the league this season.

Then, as Ossenfort worked the phones in an attempt to move back up from No. 12, he made it clear that one thing he would not do is give up a 2024 first-round pick to do it.

“No, no, we wouldn’t do a ’24 one,” Ossenfort told another GM on the phone.

Ossenfort eventually agreed to move up to No. 6 in a trade with the Lions, giving up only 2023 picks in the process.

The Cardinals are facing a rebuilding year in 2023 and may not have quarterback Kyler Murray healthy to start the season. But with their own 2024 picks and the Texans’ 2024 first- and third-round picks, the 2024 NFL draft should be the time when the Cardinals make their moves to turn the franchise around.

[jaadam4]

Well hell, at least he tried for that extra first