Tag: Lions training camp

How Lions rookie CB Starling Thomas is performing in camp

Undrafted rookie CB Starling Thomas gets a lot of hype, but how has he really performed in Lions training camp?

Every year, there is one undrafted rookie who captivates the Detroit Lions fanbase. This year that player is Starling Thomas, a speedy cornerback from UAB.

Thomas is a popular projection to not only make the Lions’ 53-man roster, but many believe he can get significant playing time. But has his performance in training camp really been that special?

The answer to that question is complex. Not a definitive “yes,” and certainly not a hard “no” either.

Thomas’ speed absolutely stands out. He was GPS timed in college at over 24 MPH and was a state champion high school sprinter in Alabama. Those wheels show in drills; in a one-on-one coverage drill in Saturday’s practice, Thomas edged past WR Kalif Raymond in pursuit of a deep throw. Raymond runs the 40-yard dash in the low 4.3 range, i.e. really fast. And Thomas shows he’s faster.

There is more to playing cornerback than just running fast. And Thomas does some of those things impressively. He’s quick on his feet and reacts well to the routes. Thomas is good at identifying the route stem and can quickly get his feet and hips pointed in the right direction in reaction. He’s shown in team drills he can pass off responsibility in a zone and communicate well with those around him.

One good example came in a red zone drill on Monday. The Lions defense went into a zone shell, and the offense attacked it by flooding one side of the formation and running receivers across the field at various depths. It requires the defensive backs to quickly identify their coverage marks and communicate well about the transition plans pre-snap. Thomas didn’t linger too long on the deep receiver and smartly pinched up to take away a potential throwing lane to the crossing tight end. It was a good play and veteran safety Tracy Walker let him know it, appreciatively.

He’s got some attitude, too. Attitude in a good way. After a rep where Jameson Williams didn’t catch the pass with Thomas in coverage, the rookie got into Williams’ face. A brief jawing session ended with Williams punching Thomas in the facemask. That kind of feistiness from Thomas is well-received by the Lions coaching staff and fellow defensive backs, and it’s a positive sign that Thomas isn’t afraid of the level of play.

Alas, it’s not all hunky-dory for Thomas. As he did at UAB, Thomas has a very real problem with defensive holding. Veteran wideout Denzel Mims chastised Thomas for it after a rep in Monday’s practice. I can’t print the words used, but the message from Mims was clear: “quit grabbing me all the time”.

In one series on Saturday morning, Thomas was guilty of what the NFL deems illegal contact on five straight reps. Even though he’s fast enough to run with anyone, Thomas doesn’t yet trust the speed to recover and as a result he clutches and grabs instinctively. This showed on his Blazers game film in college and it has not abated one bit in Detroit.

A live tackling drill on Monday also did not go well — at all — for the rookie. He’s not small at 5-foot-10 and 194 pounds (as listed by the Lions) but he doesn’t use the strength well in tackling. Thomas is a side-swiping arm tackler who leaves his feet too readily. That was clearly evident in the tackling drill and also in team drills earlier in camp. He’s more of a nibbler/clean-up tackle guy than an aggressive instigator in the run game.

Throw all of that into a Lions blender and what does the team have in Thomas?

He’s a promising outside cover corner and potential special teams asset with his speed and confidence. Thomas can make plays in the passing game. But he’s got to stop the chronic holding and illegal contact issues, and also show more gumption in run defense if he wants to make the team.

 

The Lions waive TE Shane Zylstra with injury designation

The Lions waive TE Shane Zylstra with injury designation a day after he suffered a serious leg injury in practice

The Detroit Lions have waived tight end Shane Zylstra with a injury designation. The move comes a day after Zylstra suffered a nasty knee injury in training camp.

Zylstra was injured on a low hit from defensive back Khalil Dorsey in a red zone drill. He immediately screamed and grabbed at the knee/shin area.

Zylstra is subject to waiver claims. If he goes unclaimed by another team, the third-year TE will revert to the Lions’ injured reserve.

He becomes the second Lions player to suffer a season-ending injury in training camp. Wideout Tom Kennedy suffered the same fate earlier in the week with a shoulder injury.

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Lions training camp winners and losers from the early days in pads

Lions training camp winners and losers from the first three days of padded, full-contact practice

The first week (and change) of Detroit Lions training camp is in the books. Head coach Dan Campbell has presided over a lot of action to start his third training camp at the helm in Detroit.

Three of the last four practices featured full pads and contact. Those are the most important ones for evaluation purposes.

Here are the players who stood out to me as winners and losers in the padded practice sessions at the start of Lions training camp.

Aaron Glenn offers a warning about reading too much into practice reps

Lions DC Aaron Glenn offers a warning about reading too much into which players are on getting first-team reps in practice

Read any practice report from Detroit Lions training camp, including my own, and you’re bound to see some iteration of “Player X got first-team reps.” It’s generally for players who aren’t expected to be starters.

It’s factual information, but sometimes the facts don’t always tell the complete story. Lions defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn made sure to emphasize that point before Monday’s practice session.

Glenn riffed off a basic point about second-round rookie DB Brian Branch getting some first-team reps.

“Listen guys, listen, we’re going to play guys with different – in different packages,” Glenn addressed to the media room. “We’re going to play guys with the ones, we’re going to play guys with the twos, because you don’t want guys going against the same guys every time. Alright, so don’t get so caught up in where guys are at.”

Glenn noted he learned that from legendary head coach Bill Parcells, and that head coach Dan Campbell also learned the same lesson while playing under Parcells.

Branch is one of several Lions who aren’t expected to start who have taken training camp reps with the starters. Third-round DT Brodric Martin, safety Ifeatu Melifonwu and udrafted rookie CB Starling Thomas have all gotten auditions to see how they stacked up with the starters over the last three days of practice.

Glenn concluded the press conference with the same admonition, albeit with a light tone and a knowing smile,

“…to see if he can play, you have to let him play with the first team, so please stop writing he’s with the first team. Please, alright.”

New Lions CB Emmanuel Moseley still not practicing

New Lions CB Emmanuel Moseley remains out with his knee injury suffered last season

Earlier in training camp, Lions head coach Dan Campbell was asked about the status of one of the team’s prominent free agent signings. Cornerback Emmanuel Moseley began training camp on the non-football injury list as he recovers from a torn ACL suffered while a member of the San Francisco 49ers last year.

Campbell indicated that Moseley was excused and expected to arrive Monday. However, Monday’s practice came and went without any sign of Moseley. At the time of his earlier status update, Campbell refused to answer a follow-up question about if Moseley had indeed undergone a second procedure, as has been reported.

During Monday’s practice, a team source did indicate that Moseley was still due to arrive in Allen Park before the end of the day. As for his knee status or practice potential when the Lions retake the field on Wednesday after a scheduled day off on Tuesday, there was an organizational “no comment” even off the record.

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It’s becoming a little concerning. Moseley was at June’s minicamp but his knee was heavily wrapped. At that time, Moseley appeared well behind Lions rookie QB Hendon Hooker in his mobility and range of motion despite having the ACL surgery some nine weeks before Hooker.

Signed to a one-year deal this offseason, Moseley has a lengthy list of injuries. He’s played more than 12 games just once (2019) in his five NFL seasons, all with the 49ers. The injury history includes missing the first two games of the 2021 campaign with an unrelated knee issue.

Prior to practice, defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn noted that Moseley has been actively participating in team meetings via Zoom.

Lions camp notebook: July ends with a defensive bang

The Detroit Lions training camp notebook from July 31st features some great defense, hot tempers and an unfortunate injury

Monday morning marked the third padded practice of Detroit Lions training camp. After a light day on Sunday, everything amped up for the Monday session.

Spirits were high and tempers short on a sun-soaked morning with the bleachers packed full of fans. Those in attendance got to see some impressive defensive performances, a handful of scuffles and even a bad-looking injury.

Here’s the notebook from the Lions practice on the final day of July.

Rookie LB Jack Campbell loves the ‘no excuses’ standards with the Lions

Rookie LB Jack Campbell loves the ‘no excuses’ standards with the Lions

First-round pick Jack Campbell is already getting some first-team reps in Detroit at linebacker. In the first few days of training camp, Campbell’s no-nonsense game and high-end athleticism have helped the rookie fit in quickly.

The LB himself shed some light on why he’s fitting in with Dan Campbell’s Lions so quickly during the rookie’s post-practice press conference on Sunday.

Campbell drew some parallels with his college program, the Iowa Hawkeyes. While Iowa’s offense has been inconsistent, the Hawkeyes defense has remained among the very best in the nation year in and out. Campbell was a big part of that success recently at Iowa, and he’s aiming to do that in Detroit, too.

“I feel like it’s a program kind of ran like this organization,” said Campbell. “You show up, you do what you’re expected to do. There’s no excuses. If you wanna set new standards, that’s what you gotta do.”

Campbell cited the veteran LBs around him for showing him the standards they demand from him. Thus far, it’s working well. Campbell played very well in the first two padded practices of training camp, earning more reps higher up the depth chart.

 

Lions training camp notebook for Sunday: Walking through the reserves

Detroit Lions training camp notebook from the walkthrough on Sunday, July 30th with a focus on the depth players

After two padded and full-speed practices in a row, the Detroit Lions scaled back on Sunday morning. The Sunday session was an abbreviated (by design) walkthrough without full contact.

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With the pads off and the action very infrequently at anything above jogging speed, it was tough to glean anything of critical importance from the session. But there were still some worthy notes from Sunday’s sunny practice in Allen Park. I spent most of the day watching the field with the second and third team units, not the starters, so the notes are largely focused on the depth on the team and not the frontline players.

 

C.J. Gardner-Johnson offers quite the incendiary press conference

Lions DB C.J. Gardner-Johnson gave a very different sort of press conference after Saturday’s training camp session

Lions defensive back C.J. Gardner-Johnson met with the media after Saturday’s morning practice. It was the first time we got a chance to ask Gardner-Johnson about his injury scare, as well as how the young defense is coming together.

Gardner-Johnson quickly dismissed any notion of him missing key time in practices. He initially refused comment about the injury, and then fired right back at reporters’ questions about not being on the field.

“I didn’t miss practice,” Gardner-Johnson said. “I was part of practice every day.”

I was standing directly behind Kory Woods of MLive as he rolled film on the press conference. It was something to behold.

He’s a player known for bringing an edge to a team, going back to his college days at Florida. This was the first real taste for Detroit of the truculence that Gardner-Johnson embraces. It has driven him to be the very good player that he is across stints with the Saints and Eagles. And it made for a very interesting press conference, including a great quote and sound bite.

“It’s very important, because I’m contagious. I’m like the flu. It’s gonna go through your body, and you either get it or you don’t get it,” Gardner-Johnson stated. “That’s not because I’m cocky. No. I’m confident in my job. I’m confident in my coaches, my teammates, my coaches, the training room, my strength guys. That’s why.”

The infectious energy and edge Gardner-Johnsson brings is a welcome addition to what has been a relatively vanilla defensive locker room. While it’s an unusual tone for a press conference, Gardner-Johnson’s intensity shouldn’t be viewed as a negative.

Undrafted rookie CB Steven Gilmore making plays at Lions camp

Steven Gilmore, an undrafted rookie CB from Marshall, is making a name for himself at Detroit Lions training camp

More than once on a damp Saturday morning in Allen Park, I was able to overhear a Detroit Lions fan wondering aloud, “Who is that No. 36 guy?”

That would be Steven Gilmore. The undrafted rookie cornerback from Marshall commanded a lot of attention from the fans in the stands at the first Lions practice of the summer open to the public. The younger brother of All-Pro CB Stephon Gilmore has the coaching staff taking notice too.

Head coach Dan Campbell is a fan of Gilmore’s early work in a Lions uniform.

“Yeah, we like Gilly,” Campbell said before Saturday’s practice,  once again adorning every player with a nickname. “We liked his tape too when he was coming out and he has some awareness about him, he has some instincts, he has ball skills, pretty good movement skills.”

Campbell then got to the physical limitations. Gilmore is listed at 6 feet tall and a scant 170 pounds. In person, he doesn’t even seem that heavy; his frame is very slight and the arms and legs are quite skinny even with some muscular defintion. While he doesn’t lack strength or fight for his mass, Gimore’s lack of bulk could be a real hindrance.

“I think for him, it’s going to be – some of it, along with development, is the physical development. He’s not a real big guy. He has to get a little bit of mass on him, get a little bit stronger. I think that will be – that’s kind of going to be part of what, with him, how fast can those things come to really help him, but we see growth out of him.”

That growth and potential was on full display in Saturday’s practice session. Gilmore had a nice strip tackle to create one takeaway, as well as an opportunistic interception off backup QB Nate Sudfeld where Gilmore’s alertness allowed him to capitalize on a forced, off-target throw deep down the seam.

Gilmore has had some other plays throughout the first week of practices, too. He’s sticky in man coverage and adjusts to the ball in the air better than many of his Lions DB peers. While he lacks mass, Gilmore does not lack fight — an endearing quality to both Campbell and defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn.

“We see development. We’re excited about him,” Campbell concluded about Gilmore.

Lions fans should be, too.