The Detroit Lions were back on the field Thursday for Day 7 of training camp, and the heat at Allen Park clearly had a hand in how the day unfolded. The team described the scene bluntly after practice: “Several player absences/limited time related to the heat/cramping etc. Won’t have official updates on those.”
That matters because a few of the notable absences and shortened days may not be tied to injury at all. Still, there were some key names to track, and a few familiar faces were back in action.
Jahmyr Gibbs returned to the field after holding in, and he did it with a helmet on. He went through walkthroughs with his teammates for the first time, but once the Lions moved into positional and team work, he peeled off and worked with a trainer instead. Gibbs stayed on the field for the full practice, but he did not take part in team drills after walkthroughs.
Tyler Conklin also made his way back, coming off the PUP list and taking part in walkthrough and individual work. He was not cleared for team drills yet, so Jackson Meeks and Thomas Gordon handled most of the TE3-4 reps.
Ben Bartch, who had been working only with trainers for the past couple of days, got back to individual drills. Even so, he still hasn’t taken part in any team periods this camp. For a player expected to battle for the starting left guard job, that clock is ticking.
Brian Branch remained on PUP with the Achilles issue, but he logged more work Thursday than he had earlier in the week. He spent what looked like about an hour with a trainer, compared with roughly 15 minutes before. Branch stayed around the field all day and was with his teammates, but the last return estimate remains late August, early September.
Alex Anzalone appeared to be on a pitch count, which opened the door for Trevor Nowaske to take most of the first-team SAM linebacker reps in base defense.
A long list of players did not practice at all: Teddy Bridgewater, Isiah Pacheco, Sione Vaki, Giovanni Manu, Juice Scruggs, Derrick Moore, Payton Turner, Malcolm Rodriguez, Jimmy Rolder, D.J. Reed and Kerby Joseph. Vaki’s absence was listed with an eye issue and broken nose, Manu was on NFI, and Joseph remained on PUP with a knee injury.
Bridgewater was not seen, which sent undrafted rookie Luke Atlmyer into all of the second- and third-team quarterback work. He got a heavy workload, and he looked comfortable enough doing it.
Pacheco may have been spotted during warmups by some reporters, but he was not around for the rest of practice. With Pacheco, Vaki and Gibbs all out of team drills, Jacob Saylors and Jabari Small split the first-team running back reps.
At left guard, Christian Mahogany handled every starting rep I saw with Scruggs out and Bartch still limited. Michael Niese filled in for Scruggs as the backup center.
The cornerback work also shifted with Reed sidelined. Rock Ya-Sin and Nick Whiteside were the main starters there, while Ennis Rakestraw got a heavy dose of nickel reps.
There were also a few early exits. Lacy left practice without an update, which pointed to the heat as the likely reason. Detroit responded by using Ahmed Hassanein and some Levi Onwuzurike with the first group at big end, while DJ Wonnum saw plenty of work opposite Aidan Hutchinson, especially with the Lions leaning into nickel looks.
Wingo was out as well, and rookie Skyler Gill-Howard moved up to three-tech, working with both the first- and second-team defenses. Onwuzurike also picked up some of those reps.
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