Pride of Detroit
Observations from Day 5 of the Detroit Lions’ 2025 training camp include notes on Aidan Hutchinson, Tate Ratledge, and Sam LaPorta.
The Detroit Lions welcomed in their “friends and family” to Allen Park on Friday, as the team suited up in pads for Day 5 of training camp.
After leaving practice early on Thursday, both Terrion Arnold (calf) and Derrick Barnes (finger) were back on the practice field on Friday and looked no worse for wear. While no players left practice early with apparent injuries, they were without rookies Tyliek Williams and Ian Kennelly.
Heading into training camp, one of the big questions repeatedly asked was: Will Aiden Hutchinson return to form after breaking his leg last season? After five days of practice, including Friday’s padded practice, he certainly looks all the way back. And if you ask defensive coordinator Kelvin Sheppard, he may be even better than last year.
“Listen, I’m not saying anything about numbers, statistics, any of that. But I see a better player than we had last year,” Sheppard told the media on Thursday.
Before the pads went on, Hutchinson was able to showcase his elite burst and timing, and he looked very comfortable trusting his leg. When pads went on, he was able to dial things up even further and showed very well in both individual and team drills on Friday.
Every training camp, the first rep of one-on-one OL vs DL is always Hutchinson against Penei Sewell. In a matchup of arguably the best two players on the field, it’s a battle worth the trip to Allen Park. Hutchinson cleanly won the rep, a rare occurrence in this battle of elites.
In his next matchup, Hutchinson squared off against Dan Skipper, and the replacement left also had no answer for Hutchinson, who stabbed outside and dipped in and under, passing him nearly untouched.
Hutchinson also looked strong in team drills, setting firm edges against the run and even getting a sack on third down to help the defense end the drive during 11-on-11s.
“I’m at a point now in my career where it’s like, you’re shooting for the stars every year,” Hutchinson told the media after practice. “And if that’s not the expectation or standard you put to yourself, it’s got to be that way. I think from here on out, those first couple of years you’re getting in the league and figuring it out. But, now it’s every year, the standard is what it is.”
After flipping Graham Glasgow back to center and rookie Tate Ratledge to right guard on Thursday, the Lions kept things the same on Friday, sending out this starting unit:
LT Dan Skipper
LG Christian Mahogany
C Graham Glasgow
RG Tate Ratledge
RT Penei Sewell
“When you get the day off (Wednesday), you have the ability to kind of sit back, look at it all, think about it. And then it’s like, ‘You know what?...
