The Lions conducted a competitive, team-heavy practice session on a humid Monday morning in Allen Park. With full pads on and the stands full of fans, the session featured a lot of offense vs. defense in various situations. The day did not start off with good news, unfortunately…

Cade Mays down

Dan Campbell led off his pre-practice press conference with the devastating news that center Cade Mays will be out for a significant amount of time with a wrist injury. A follow-up question didn’t produce a defined timeline, but Campbell confidently stated Mays “will be back for the playoffs.”

In Mays’ absence, Seth McLaughlin is the first “next man up”, in part because veteran Juice Scruggs is still sidelined with a minor soft tissue injury. Vet Michael Niese will also see an uptick, and Campbell stated that RG Tate Ratledge could also get into the mix at center. 

Following practice, we learned Ian Rapoport reported that Mays is expected to miss approximately 8-to-10 weeks with a broken bone in the wrist.

Seth McLaughlin’s day

Lions C Seth McLaughlin meets the media after practice (Jeff Risdon – DLP)

Given his surprising emergence as the potential starting center for the team, I tried to focus as much as I could on No. 65 in the middle of the offensive line. McLaughlin’s debut day with the first unit was a mixed bag, as is to be expected. 

In the early portions of team drills–the Lions ran a ton of team drill work in this late-morning session–McLaughlin had some struggles with the initial power of starting DTs Alim McNeill and Tyleik Williams. McNeill pushed him backward after a rocking initial two-hand jolt. Williams, McLaughlin’s former Ohio State teammate, also found some success in getting his hands into the young center’s chest before he could fully anchor and brace post-snap. 

That aspect of McLaughlin’s game did get better as the practice bore on. In the final two sessions of team drills, I only had McLaughlin for one loss on a rep. He made a couple of very good assignment IDs, notably picking up a loop around the RG from Williams on a pass play where Jared Goff used the time to find Sam LaPorta for a nice gain. Later in that series, McLaughlin and LG Christian Mahogany cleared a nice hole on a run that wound up being stymied by a great inside crash from Aidan Hutchinson. McLaughlin pancaked DT Chris Smith on a run while working with the second-team, too. 

Back with the starters later on, it appeared he mis-timed a designed pull. The entire play got ugly, so it’s hard to single anyone out, however. I’m very interested in how McLaughlin performs tomorrow in the final practice before the Lions’ preseason opener on Thursday in Cincinnati. 

Personnel update

Josh Dobbs has taken over as QB2 after Teddy Bridgewater’s Sunday retirement. Deeper thoughts on that coming soon. Dobbs is now wearing No. 6 for the Lions and did not participate in anything beyond positional work. 

Linebacker Amen Ogbongboniga, who has considerable special teams experience across five NFL seasons with the Chargers and Bears, is wearing No. 57. It showed, too; Ogbongboniga had a couple of nice wins in special teams drills. 

The latest UFL refugee in the secondary is CB Ryan Cooper. He’s wearing No. 40, inheriting that jersey from TE Nick Muse, who was cut over the weekend to make room for Cooper.

The only player seen leaving the practice early was reserve OT Devin Cochrane, and it happened very early in the session. 

Interceptions

One repeated emphasis from all the defensive coaches all summer has been taking the ball away. Kelvin Sheppard’s defense delivered with a few nice takeaways on Monday. 

Safety Dan Jackson thrived with a nice read to peel off and attack a Luke Altmyer pass to Tay Martin. Neither QB nor receiver expected Jackson to knife in front on an intermediate pass up the left sideline. Both Jackson and Martin wear No. 17, which made for a bit of fun confusion in the note-taking process. 

DB Christian Izien snagged a pick on excellent coverage and anticipation.

Linebacker Joe Bachie got his hands on a couple of passes, dropping one INT on a play where Altmyer bobbled a perfectly fine snap and compounded his mistake with a forced throw into trouble. Bachie also showed range with a nicely timed leap as a pass rusher on a play where the Lions pulled off a zone blitz. Rookie EDGE Anthony Lucas looked comfortable dropping in space on the play, too. 

There was another INT in the red zone on a tipped pass that bounced off several hands, but the officials had already blown the play dead with a “sack”. Chuck Clark came down with the ball. 

Plusses

My notes are full of plusses and minuses from reps. Those with multiple plusses (those are good):

CB Nick Whiteside, who apparently picked off a pass in one of the middle team drills. I missed that one while getting an explanation from an official on a call on a prior play. On an early rep, Whiteside erased Isaac TeSlaa as an option on a deep sideline route. Of all the CBs, nobody utilizes their size more effectively, legally, than Whiteside. 

LT Penei Sewell. We can sometimes take Sewell for granted, but damn he’s incredible. Ditto RB Jahmyr Gibbs, flashing the jets on a stretch run that easily beat Whiteside to the corner. 

DT Tyleik Williams. Wasn’t a perfect day from No. 91 but he had some impressive block sheds and up-the-gut pressures. His best work today, at least in my eyes, came in attacking the inside shoulder of the guards while aligned outside of them. 

TE Sam LaPorta. The Pro Bowler was largely uncoverable, notably when facing recently signed LB Devin White. LaPorta’s hands are outstanding. 

DL Tyler Lacy, who continues to make things happen as a power end. A backside trackdown on a run play saw Lacy quickly shed a block from Miles Frazier (playing LT) and beat one of the LBs to the point of attack outside the RT. Lacy also was thick in the mix of a couple of nice run stuffs by the D. 

S Chuck Clark. The veteran continues to show a ridiculously high football IQ. Chuck Clark does not get fooled, period. Today, his quick reactions showed nicely and Clark made a couple of impressive plays. 

DL Ahmed Hassanein

LG Christian Mahogany

TE Thomas Gordon

WR Malik Cunningham

RB Jabari Small

C Michael Niese, specifically in the penultimate team drill. Good anchor today from No. 62, who will compete with McLaughlin for OC reps. 

Minuses

There are two sides to every coin. The flip side…guys who earned multiple minuses.

DL Levi Onwuzurike. His struggles with pad level continue. I watched the replay screen specifically on one series to focus on No. 95. On three of the four reps he was involved in, Onwuzurike’s first movement was getting more upright than moving forward. That’s an issue he had pre-back surgery that is rearing its head at a bad time for Onwuzurike, who would be on the outside of any conceivably credible roster projection at this point. He needs a strong preseason. 

DB Amaris Brown. The undrafted rookie got lost on a red zone rep that directly led to a too-easy TD from Altmyer to Gordon in the back of the end zone. Brown, playing inside a little far even for a slot, picked LB Troy Reeder from coverage help on the play. Brown did conclude that set of team reps with a nice run fill, in conjunction with fellow rookie UDFA Erick Hunter. 

LB Devin White, who continues to show zero anticipation or discipline in coverage situations. White has definitely impressed against the run, but he’s got a giant bullseye on his No. 45 jersey in coverage. It appeared Jared Goff twice deliberately and directly attacked White’s coverage, the second of which resulted in a TD for Brock Wright when White wound up covering fellow LB Jack Campbell instead of the tight end. I don’t know how to reconcile White’s lightning-burst closing speed and impressive block-shedding and block-avoidance in the run game with his almost comical lapses in coverage. 

OL Miles Frazier. Not a good day for the positionless second-year OL, who repped at LT and LG today that I noted. As was the case for Frazier at times during his college career, his late hands/initial punch was a problem today. 

TE Brock Wright, who had one TD reception negated by an offensive pass interference call that he clearly earned. Wright couldn’t get separation at all from LB Jack Campbell in any rep. 

Quick hits

–During a special teams drill, Ahmed Hassanein and Thomas Gordon were paired against one another. It’s a blocking/pursuit drill on kick coverage, and the two alternated dominating wins on the blocking side. There was more than a little chippiness between the two as they lined up for the second rep, which Gordon won. After the series was over, an (always) animated Hassanein walked up to Gordon on the sidelines, slapped hands and initiated a hug. 

–I thought Altmyer handled playing more extensively pretty well, all things considered. Altmyer scored a nice TD on a sweet RPO fake that had the entire 3rd-team LB corps fooled. One consistent critique of the UDFA QB: he holds the ball too long beyond his first read. Expect him to play the entirety of Thursday night’s preseason game. 

–Jake Bates had two misses on the day, wide left from 51 and 47 yards–both from the left hash. Bates immediately made the identical kick on the second try. 

–Freshly signed DT Ben Stille made a great play on a goal line stand. That’s one area where the reserve RBs, from Jabari Small to Kye Robichaux and Jacob Saylors, all need to get better. 

–Red Wings legend Larry Murphy was in attendance. I spent a few minutes after practice talking to the Hall of Fame defenseman. He was very impressed by the coaching staff’s ability to maintain control over 90 players across two fields.