Lions joint practice takeaways: A dominating day on both sides vs. the Dolphins

New York Times

3 days ago

ALLEN PARK, Mich. — Well then. What a day for the Detroit Lions.
After weeks of facing only themselves in practice, you got a sense that the Lions were ready to square up with another team. Boy, were they.
In one of the most lopsided joint practices either of us has ever seen, here's what went down between the Lions and Miami Dolphins.
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It's been difficult at times this month to figure out exactly where the Lions' offense sits as training camp nears the midway point. There have been days when Jared Goff and company look as sharp as they've been the last two-plus seasons. But there have also been moments in practice when Detroit's defense has looked decidedly better.
Before Wednesday's joint practice with the Dolphins, Dan Campbell and his staff were looking for a clearer picture on multiple fronts. First, is Detroit's defense as good as it's looked so far? Second, were previous offensive issues more the result of dysfunction or more a sign of how well the defense has played?
After two hours on the grass, the results were clear. Yes, the defense looks legit. And, yes, the offense still looks just fine.
The Lions' offense dominated just about every period during Wednesday's joint session. Amon-Ra St. Brown and Jared Goff put on a dazzling display of chemistry all morning, torching Miami defensive backs throughout one-on-one drills before ramping it up even more in 11-on-11 work. The Lions' star receiver caught just about every target thrown at him during one-on-ones and team drills, converting several times in the red zone for touchdowns on a number of routes.
St. Brown's best catch of the day — the best anyone made — came on a ridiculous back-shoulder move where St. Brown timed his jump perfectly before hauling the ball in with one hand, pinning it to the defender's helmet and ripping it away for what looked like a clean touchdown.
The play — followed by another St. Brown touchdown — drew the largest reaction of the day from the fans on the offensive side of the field. St. Brown capped it by punting the ball back toward the middle of the field in celebration.
'I just hope I got my feet in,' St. Brown smiled afterward, acknowledging that Wednesday was one of the sharpest workouts the offense has had.
St. Brown's running mate, Jameson Williams, also drew several gasps from the home fans as he consistently got behind Miami defensive backs on go routes in one-on-one drills before hauling in a leaping red zone touchdown between two defenders in the back of the end zone. Rookie WR Isaac TeSlaa was also very productive, as he and recent veteran addition Ronnie Bell saw a lot of work with the starting unit. TeSlaa also had a few pretty one-on-one reps, including a double move on a stop route that nearly caused a Miami defender to fall over without being touched.
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The other piece of the pass game that looked stellar was Goff, who was lethally accurate all morning. Shortly after finding a diving St. Brown along the sideline on a beautifully layered throw over a DB's outstretched arms, Goff delivered another perfect shot to his favorite target on the next snap — this time finding St. Brown in the middle of the field, between four defenders, on a throw with an incredibly tight window.
Detroit's offense did basically whatever it wanted during the full-field scrimmage portion of the workout and was equally punishing in the red zone — which included several conversions via the ground game, as Jahmyr Gibbs, David Montgomery and Craig Reynolds found five to six yards per carry nearly all session. All three backs were able to spring runs in the open field and finish off drives in the red zone.
Detroit's first-team offensive line of Penei Sewell, Tate Ratledge, Graham Glasgow, Christian Mahogany and Taylor Decker had its way. Arguably the most impressive run of the day came via a 10-yard touchdown run by Montgomery that featured dominant point-of-attack blocks from Glasgow and Ratledge and ended with frustrated Miami corner Jack Jones trying to fight TeSlaa. That scrum ended quickly when Sewell arrived to clear house — but not before Bell, whose effort all morning was top-notch, ran over to shove Jones away from his young teammate.
It was that kind of day for the Lions' offense in Allen Park. — Baumgardner
If you want to be skeptical because Jaylen Waddle and Tyreek Hill were limited, we won't hold that against you. It's important context when discussing what we saw Wednesday. But that was as good a day as I've seen from this Detroit defense through four (or, three and some change) training camps covering this team.
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It started with the seven-on-seven period. Dolphins QB Tua Tagovailoa found running back De'Von Achane down the right sideline on a wheel route, beating Alex Anzalone for a big gain. Achane carried the Miami offense with his speed and damage after the catch. But other than that, there weren't many wins for his unit. Miami had to work for everything else. Most of their positive gains consisted of checkdowns, quick outs, short crossers over the middle and touch passes off motion. Their deep shots were off-target or picked off (none from Tagovailoa; Zach Wilson threw two interceptions and should've had a third). In the run game, the Dolphins had a couple of solid gains on quick tosses vs. Detroit's second-team defense, but it felt like everything up the middle was stuffed. They never really got into a rhythm.
There were about 17 or 18 plays called during the red zone team period between the Lions' starting defense and the Dolphins' starting offense. Tagovailoa threw his first attempt away because the coverage was so strong. Another play was blown dead because Aidan Hutchinson drew a flag and likely would've sacked Tagovailoa. It was so blatant he didn't even attempt a pass. Detroit's secondary snuffed out a fake toss rollout, with Tagovailoa targeting Tarik Black — incomplete with Brian Branch in coverage. Tagovailoa targeted Ollie Gordon II on a pass well-defended by Anzalone. Waddle was out there for parts of this series and caught Tagovailoa's lone completion, but the play was ruled short of the end zone. Miami's starters ended the series without a score. Only one touchdown was scored during the period as a whole — a Wilson touchdown to Black right before the horn sounded.
In the next team period, Miami's offense went three-and-out on its first possession, then four-and-out on its second. Hutchinson recorded two sacks in the first series. Jack Campbell did damage with a couple of stops in the second series and some good coverage on an incomplete wheel route to Jaylen Wright. Detroit's defense got off the field after Tagovailoa's pass to Erik Ezukanma was incomplete, with Rock Ya-Sin nearby.
And finally, the defense ended with a situational drill vs. Miami's starting offense. The situation: 10-10 game, 54 seconds left in the second quarter, ball at each offense's 30-yard line, two timeouts left. Here's how I charted the series:
• Tagovailoa complete to tight end Julian Hill. Gain of six. Second-and-4 from the Miami 36. No-huddle offense. Clock continues to run.
• Tagovailoa complete to Hill again. Pushed out of bounds after a gain of 2. Third-and-2 from the Miami 38, with about 32 seconds remaining.
• False start, Miami. Offense moves back five yards. Third-and-7 from the 33.
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• Tagovailoa incomplete to Dee Eskridge. Amik Robertson with a casual swat of the ball, which was low and off-target. Didn't break a sweat doing it. Fourth-and-7.
• Tagovailoa incomplete to Julian Hill. Marcus Davenport with serious pressure up the middle, forcing an early pass that fell incomplete. Defense wins.
Again, as dominant a day as you'll find from a defense. The Dolphins were without some starters on offense. The Lions were without starting safety Kerby Joseph and cornerback Terrion Arnold, while Alim McNeill and other key members of the defense were sidelined with long-term injuries. After practice, I asked Jack Campbell if he feels like teams have to adjust to the Lions' practice style and physicality when they line up for joint practices. Last year's joint practices vs. the Giants were noticeably chippy, with Detroit getting under New York's skin.
'They know what they're gonna walk into,' Campbell said of teams that practice vs. Detroit. 'I feel like today, we gotta be respectful of them coming here (after) what happened last year. So, being able to tow the line and play football the right way, I think that's what it's all about. We only know one way in Detroit and I feel like that's what we do every single day, and it's our DNA. I feel like that's what makes us who we are.'
This group is physical, these boys get after it and their confidence is sky high. No matter the competition, that much is clear. — Pouncy
• There's so much poise from the defense as a unit. A catch is allowed? There's a linebacker or corner right there to limit the damage. A deep ball launched downfield? A corner or safety right there, forcing an overthrow or an incompletion with tight coverage. There's no panic at any point. No emotion after their wins. They look like a veteran group that expects to win every rep.
• Second-year reserve OT Giovanni Manu continues to mix flashes of serious improvement with youthful mistakes. Manu is still up-and-down when it comes to maintaining proper leverage off the snap. Additionally, he's still not quite there with his hands — as he'll lose reps due to erratic technique vs. quick-twitch defenders.
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• Dolphins' edge Chop Robinson, a 2024 first-round pick, was able to beat Manu cleanly inside on a cross-chop move during one-on-one drills. The next time the two met, however, Manu was able to hold his ground. The craziest part about Manu is the fact that he's able to survive so many reps simply due to his size and athleticism. Even when his technique is poor, Manu often still has a chance to recover and give himself a chance to finish a block. If he can get the little things down to where he's consistently showing good bend and efficient hands — the sky will be the limit.
• Speaking of Robinson: The former Penn State star had two reps against Sewell later in the same practice period. Sewell dominated both. Robinson was able to force a rare fumble from the hands of Montgomery, but later left practice and did not return. He said he's good on Instagram: 'Nothing serious.'
• Lions CB Nick Whiteside received work with the first-team defense, with Arnold still limited as he recovers from a hamstring injury. Campbell says Arnold should be back next week. In the meantime, Whiteside is making the most of his opportunities. He picked off Wilson during the seven-on-seven period and was an active tackler in the run game. With Ennis Rakestraw Jr. out for the season, Whiteside — an Auburn Hills, Mich., native and Saginaw Valley State alum — could push for a roster spot.
• The more TeSlaa plays, the clearer it gets that he's going to be a factor in the offense this season. The rookie from Arkansas is still heavily involved in special teams drills, but his route nuance and hand consistency have been outstanding this month. He's a much better route runner and blocker than he was able to show on film at Arkansas, largely because the Razorbacks only asked him to play in the slot. Detroit has moved him around and he's probably exceeded expectations.
• TeSlaa has also been a tenacious blocker this month at 6-4, 215. And, perhaps most impressive, he's developed a rapport with Goff quicker than most young players do. St. Brown and Sam LaPorta are probably the only Detroit pass catchers who found a practice rapport faster with Goff than TeSlaa has this month.
• LB Derrick Barnes had a sack on the first play of the full team period, with Branch getting in there, too. Kelvin Sheppard has shown some creative blitz packages. If you're not factoring Barnes into the pass-rush conversation, you should probably start.
• Williams ended the day getting in a fight with former Lions safety Ifeatu Melifonwu. It was hard to see who was the aggressor, but Williams was ready to finish it. Had the look of a typical benches-clearing brawl in baseball. Here's what Williams had to say on Instagram shortly after he walked into the facility.
Jamo as soon as he got his phone back after getting in a fight with Iffy lol pic.twitter.com/oE9qUJg9n1
— Colton Pouncy (@colton_pouncy) August 13, 2025
These teams will be back at it Thursday.
(Top photo of Amon-Ra St. Brown: Jeff Nguyen / Detroit Lions)
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