Lions practice notebook, Day 9: Getting sharp after the preseason opener

USA Today

2 days ago

The Detroit Lions returned to the practice field on Sunday for the first session since Thursday night's humbling loss in the Hall of Fame game to the Chargers. With a packed house full of fans on a sunny summer morning, the Lions worked at sharpening some rough edges that showed in Ohio.
Here's what I took away from the day's action
The offensive tackle shuffle
Starting left tackle Taylor Decker practiced for the first time all summer. Decker has been idled with recovery from offseason shoulder surgery. He took the first-team reps in the early walkthrough portion of practice before sitting out the team sessions, officially activated from the PUP list.
The first-team left tackle reps in team drills primarily went to Jamarco Jones, who also aligned only at left tackle during the 1-on-1s against the defense (more on that below). Giovanni Manu took second-team reps, followed by newcomer Justin Herron, who also saw some action at right tackle in his first practice.
Herron impressed for a guy fresh off the street. He's signed to help ease the burden while the Lions deal with the temporary loss of Dan Skipper. The big veteran will miss this week with an ankle injury suffered in the preseason opener.
DB shuffle
Before practice, Lions head coach Dan Campbell indicated that starting CB Terrion Arnold would miss a couple of practices as he deals with a minor hamstring issue. That opened the door for some experimentation with the secondary personnel.
Dicaprio Bootle wound up getting a large helping of first-team reps at outside CB. It's an interesting move, as Bootle has not stood out for positives throughout camp and had a very rough outing against the Chargers.
Those reps might have been intended more for Ennis Rakestraw, but the second-year corner left very early on with a chest injury. Rakestraw has been dealing with a painful chest contusion suffered early in camp, and it's unclear if the latest injury is an aggravation of the prior chest issue. He laid on the ground in considerable pain after a rep before walking off with trainers and did not return.
Back to Bootle. He shook off a minor leg wound in a drill, missing just one series of reps. No. 17 showed better awareness and speed in this session.
With Bootle playing up the depth chart, the player who normally mans the No. 3 outside CB role, Rock Ya-Sin, was at safety for a good portion of the day. Ya-Sin indicated after practice that he was told in the spring that he might get work at safety, a position he hasn't played in the NFL. His physicality and strong run defense do offer potential at the position, and he held his own in team drills.
The pit
The Lions held 1-on-1 pass rush/blocking drills concurrent with the offensive skills vs defensive skills. The OL./DL pit action took place where it was tough to see part of the action, but I did my best to catch as many reps as possible.
This was offensive lineman Colby Sorsdal's best performance of the summer. No. 75 took 1-on-1 reps at both guard and tackle, and it was at tackle where he had his most impressive reps. DL Keith Cooper did best him with a very impressive inside rip, but that was the only loss during the drill for Sorsdal, who has primarily played center in camp.
Left guard Christian Mahogany was great all morning, and his first rep in the 1-on-1s is a great example of a young player with some savvy. Matched against rookie DE Ahmed Hassanein, Mahogany sensed the pin-pull move coming and pulled the chair on young Hassanein, sending No. 61 face-first to the turf. I didn't see Mahogany lose a rep in the pit today.
Others who stood out with multiple wins:
Finally, the ballyhooed matchup between Hutchinson and Penei Sewell saw the right tackle win against an inside spin from Hutch. Sewell might have been extra intense after losing his first rep to Pat O'Connor on a very nice long-arm outside press.
Team drills
The Lions worked on a full 11-on-11 with the offense starting at its own goal line. The defense got the better of the drill, notably when the first-team units squared off.
Jared Goff, who had been almost flawless in the QB/WR drills, missed a couple of targets. It was the first time all summer I can recall Goff and TE Sam LaPorta not being in perfect sync. Safety Brian Branch had a lot to do with it. No. .32 was very active and effective, beginning with blowing up an off-tackle run with Jamarco Jones in as an extra tackle.
Branch thrived all morning. Later in the practice he laid a clean lick on TE Shane Zylstra after a minimal gain that showed Branch's outstanding reaction quickness and closing speed. Branch had an outstanding break-up in the 1-on-1s against Jahmyr Gibbs that was much more about Branch's ability than a Goff throw that was maybe a half-step too far inside.
Goff did have his moments in team drills. He feathered a perfectly thrown ball just over very good coverage from CB Amik Robertson to WR Amon-Ra St. Brown for a gorgeous TD strike. On a play where Aidan Hutchinson might've sacked him before he got it out (no contact allowed), Goff hit Jameson Williams in perfect stride on a crosser ahead of Bootle.
Rookie Ahmed Hassanein impressed throughout team drills. He and LB Derrick Barnes combined for a TFL on a play where Hassanein quickly discarded Mason Miller to the grass. On a later rep, Hassanein pressured Hendon Hooker into rushing a throw that Ya-Sin got two hands on but couldn't complete the pick.
Perhaps the biggest hit of the morning came from rookie RG Tate Ratledge on a wham block on Hutchinson that caught No. 97 off-guard. Outstanding footwork and pad level from Ratledge on the rep. Hutchinson appeared to encourage No. 69 after the rep in a kind of hat-tip.
Quick hits
--Rookie safety Dan Jackson left with a leg injury. I didn't see that play happen.
--RB Sione Vaki had his best day of camp, doing a better job of running through arm tackles. He showed some nice vision to bounce an edge run to the inside when the LB (probably Zach Cunningham but my view was slightly obscured) overran to the outside.
--RB Jabari Small continues to show a nice combination of quick feet and hard-charging, downhill running. He's clearly RB5 behind Vaki, but Small sure looks like he can help someone in the regular season if he doesn't hit the Lions practice squad.
--Kicker Jake Bates was perfect on the day. His last kick, from 49 yards, came off a very nice job from holder Jack Fox setting it up after long snapper Hogan Hatten's first real off-target snap of the summer.
--The Lions first-team offense remains very shaky at trying to run the ball inside, thanks in large part to the wall that is starting DTs D.J. Reader and Tyleik Williams. Both 98 and 91 can anchor, shed and finish quickly, and it makes life very easy for the LBs behind them to attack without encumbrance.
--For the first time all offseason, rookie WR Isaac TeSlaa dropped a ball today. WR Malik Taylor also had a rough drop after beating CB Tyson Russell in the early 1-on-1 period, which led to Taylor hilariously chastising himself with something that cannot be printed here after the rep.
--Recently signed CB Nick Whiteside had a nice PD against Tim Patrick and very good coverage on Taylor in the 1-on-1s.
--Fans received mini-sacks of small oranges on the way out, a very nice and welcome treat for the kids in attendance.
--The Lions practice on Monday night, the first evening session of training camp.