The Detroit Lions spent Saturday working through a short, unpadded practice, but the pace never really backed off. Coming off their Thursday night preseason opener against the Cincinnati Bengals, the team leaned into competitive work and wrapped the session with a string of late-game situations that put the offense in the spotlight.
The day started with one-on-ones up front, and the coaching staff seemed to have a clear idea of who deserved extra chances after Thursday’s game. Ahmad Hassanein got the first crack at Penei Sewell, attacking the outside shoulder before Sewell shut him down cleanly. Sewell then picked up another win against Derrick Moore, while Hassanein answered later by working inside and using a swim move to beat Mason Miller.
Aidan Hutchinson had to adjust when Sewell moved on to other reps, and he switched over to Blake Miller. The rookie held up well at first with a speed arc move, but Hutchinson came back on the rematch by selling speed and swimming inside for the easy win.
Juice Scruggs also made his return and slid into a starting center role. He split his work with Tyleik Williams, winning the first rep by getting ahead of Williams’ power, then losing the next when Williams drove him back with a bull rush.
A few others handled their business convincingly. Tate Ratledge beat both Alim McNeill and Levi Onwuzurike.
Christian Mahogany did the same against McNeill and Onwuzurike. Ben Stille also turned in a strong showing, winning both of his reps against Seth McLaughlin and Michael Niese.
The defensive backs got plenty handsy with the receivers in the next segment. Isaac TeSlaa has dealt with physical coverage all camp, and Saturday brought more of the same from a group of corners that played right on the edge.
Ennis Rakestraw opened with a punch-out against Jameson Williams late in the rep, then followed that by jamming TeSlaa so hard that the receiver ended up on the ground before the route could really develop. TeSlaa got the better of the rematch, though, breaking free on a crossing route for a big gain.
Nick Whiteside was even more aggressive, and in the view of the report, he probably would’ve been flagged for pass interference twice - once against TeSlaa and once against Jameson Williams. Williams was jammed so hard on one rep that he slipped, and on the rematch Whiteside got his hands on the ball and nearly came away with an interception.
Rock Ya-Sin also had a strong stretch, breaking up a pass to Williams, ripping the ball out late against TeSlaa, and staying tight on Cedrick Wilson Jr. on a short catch.
There were a few other receivers who flashed. Tay Martin made a good adjustment on a deep shot and hauled in a big gain against Roger McCreary, with Jared Goff delivering the throw. Khalil Dorsey turned in four wins in the period, sticking closely to Malik Cunningham, breaking up a sideline throw to Tarik Black, rising up to knock away another pass to Black, and then winning again on a comeback route.
Seven-on-seven work didn’t offer a ton of clean answers because there were so many checkdowns, but there were some personnel notes worth watching. Thomas Harper got time at both first-team safety spots and at times replaced both Avonte Maddox and Chuck Clark. Christian Izien, Keith Abney, and Roger McCreary rotated at nickel.
The biggest play of that portion came from Luke Altmyer. The No. 2 quarterback on Saturday dropped a strong throw to Dominic Lovett on a post route for a significant gain, and Lovett made the play by leaping and snagging the ball with his fingertips.
Detroit finished with six quick situational drills, and the offense came out on top in most of them. Three were clear offensive wins, one went to the defense, and two were hard to judge.
On the first scenario, the Lions just needed a few yards to improve the field goal angle. They ran it straight ahead with Juice Scruggs at center, and Jahmyr Gibbs picked up about four yards before Detroit called timeout with a couple seconds left. No field goal was attempted, so that one stayed up in the air.
The second situation was for the second team and seemed designed to stretch the field and then hurry to the line if the ball stayed in bounds. That never got going, because Altmyer’s throw over the middle to Greg Dortch sailed incomplete.
Later, Goff connected with Jameson Williams up the middle for a 28-yard gain, and Detroit was able to call timeout with one second remaining. Again, no kick followed, but the offense clearly won that one.
Another offensive win came on an unusual screen pass that picked up 18 yards and stopped the clock. The Lions still did not attempt the 58-yard field goal that would have followed.
One of the stranger moments of the day came in a clock-management situation where the offense could have burned roughly 50 of the 72 seconds with three runs, but the defense had a reason to let them score so it could get the ball back. Instead, Jahmyr Gibbs got stood up, then Tyleik Williams and several other defenders lifted him off the ground and carried him into the end zone.
The final drill gave Goff a choice: take a quick checkdown for a first down and then get one shot at the end zone, or just fire on fourth down. He chose the safer route, hitting Williams on an out route for the first down and stepping out with one second left.
On the next play, Goff found Amon-Ra St. Brown for a 3-yard touchdown as time expired, though Keith Abney argued for an offensive pass interference call.
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