Detroit Lions Training Camp Observations Joint Practice with Dolphins Day 2: Second-year player had himself a day, there’s a big problem that needs to get fixed

Another good day, but not as lopsided as Wednesday

Mike Payton — Detroit Lions Beat Writer
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The Detroit Lions had their second joint practice with the Miami Dolphins on Thursday, and while this one wasn’t nearly as lopsided as the one on Wednesday, the Lions still had a pretty good day. Here are our observations:

Offense still balled out

It wasn’t the Greatest Show on Turf or the Showtime Lakers like it was on Wednesday, but the Lions still handled their business against the Dolphins’ first-team defense, especially in the red zone. In the early drills, the Lions went three for four with touchdowns in the red zone. On top of that, we saw another big day from Jared Goff and Amon-Ra St. Brown, while Jahmyr Gibbs and David Montgomery chipped in some nice chunk runs.

Defense had a rough start, but recovered

The Lions’ defense looked unbeatable on Wednesday, but that wasn’t the case early on Thursday. In 7-on-7s, the Dolphins found the end zone on virtually every play. Once 11-on-11s started, it was more infrequent for the Dolphins. We again saw the Lions’ defense hold Tua Tagovailoa to some long stretches without a completion. Tagovailoa did find his footing as the day went on, and he hit some Dolphins receivers in the end zone for touchdowns. The play of the day for Miami was a contested catch by former Western Michigan receiver Dee Eskridge over D.J. Reed in the back of the end zone. It was pretty impressive.

Jamo ran past basically everyone

It was a highlight-filled day for Jameson Williams. First, he caught a 50-yard bomb from Goff for a touchdown when he blazed past both the Dolphins’ defensive backs who were trying to keep up with him. On the next one, he beat Storm Duck on a contested catch in the end zone for a touchdown. You can see how much Williams’ route running has improved this year, and you saw it a lot against the Dolphins.

Sione Vaki had himself a day

Man, what a day for Vaki. There’s this feeling that in a year or two, the Lions could begin to lead toward Vaki replacing Montgomery as the second punch in their one-two punch with Gibbs. On Thursday, you saw exactly why he could be that. This guy runs hard.

In the red zone, we saw Vaki bust through the Dolphins’ defense and crack a guy so loud you could hear it from the other side of the facility. Then, he got into the end zone while carrying two Dolphins defenders on his back. He got in again, and this time it was a little cleaner, with him hitting the hole nicely.

Then, he had a nice return that would have put the Lions at midfield, but sadly, it was called back for holding.

Speaking of special teams, it’s a problem

The Lions’ special teams unit continues to be a bit concerning, and it’s mostly due to the penalties. There was the holding on the Vaki return, which was bad, but the bigger issue was when Grant Stuard had a kick return touchdown, and it got called back for a personal foul.

Couple that with the Lions’ special teams getting flagged four times in the first quarter against the Falcons and then turning the ball over twice against the Chargers, and it’s all a big problem that needs to get under control before the season starts.

Two-minute drill

Both teams concluded practice with a two-minute drill, with the scenario being down four points with 59 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter and no timeouts left. Here’s how both teams did:

Lions

  • Goff throws a 6-yard pass to Shane Zylstra
  • Strom Duck nearly picks off Goff
  • Goff shovel passes to Zylstra for a first down. He fumbles and picks it back up.
  • Sack on Goff by Minkah Fitzpatrick
  • Big 20-yard pass to St. Brown to get into field goal range. Clocked with 5 seconds left.
  • Short pass to Jamo.
  • Iffy with a PBU in the end zone to end the Lions’ drive. Time ran out.

Dolphins

  • Robertson breaks up a pass to Westbrook-Ihkine
  • Hutchinson sacks Tagovailoa
  • Eskridge drops a pass
  • Branch gets a PBU to end the drive for the Dolphins on downs

Not great that the Lions didn’t score on their two-minute drill on either day. If it makes you feel any better, they did better than the Dolphins did on both days. If Thursday was a real game, they were in field goal range and probably would have kicked.

Emptying the notebook:

  • Chop Robinson struggled with Penei Sewell in drills again.
  • St. Brown had a beautiful spin move on Fitzpatrick for a first down.
  • Former Lions defensive tackle Benito Jones beat Glasgow badly during a drill.
  • Zach Horton worked with the first team as a fullback.
  • Taylor Decker had a great rep against Bradley Chubb, one that Chubb would probably like to have back.
  • Ahmed Hassanein had a pancake on special teams. We know this because he proudly told us about it.

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