Pride of Detroit
Throughout training camp, the Detroit Lions’ defense has been giving the offense fits. It got to a point where some may have been questioning whether the Lions’ offense was going through some issues. But if Day 1 of joint practices was any indication, the Lions defense just may be that damn good.
I’ve probably witnessed about 10 or so joint practices in my years on the beat, and I can safely say that I have never seen such a dominant performance from a defense as I witnessed with the Lions shutting down the Dolphins offense—from the first stringers all the way down to the third team.
Now, this comes with one major caveat that cannot be overlooked: for the majority of practice, the Dolphins were without their top two receivers: Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle. Waddle did participate in a handful of red zone drills, but not much. We’re talking about a pair of 1,000-yard receivers, so their absence is extremely important context to this story. Still, it was a very encouraging performance from the Lions’ defense.
Here are my overall observations from Wednesday:
With Rock Ya-Sin filling in for an absent Kerby Joseph at safety, the starting cornerbacks for Detroit’s defense were D.J. Reed and Dicaprio Bootle. The latter left practice early with a leg injury, which gave an opportunity for both Nick Whiteside and Erick Hallett to get some time with the first-team defense.
Before practice, coach Dan Campbell also promised that he was going to work some young players in with the first-team defense, and that certainly showed up. Both Myles Adams and Isaac Ukwu got some notable reps with the starters. Campbell praised Ukwu’s performance in the preseason game against the Falcons, as well.
“Ukwu hit a long arm,” Campbell noted.
Ian Kennelly also saw some work with the first team, as he continues to challenge Loren Strickland for a depth safety role.
Intersquad practice started with one-on-ones, and I watched the Dolphins receivers take on the Lions defenders. On live watch, it looked pretty evenly matched, but reviewing my notes, I see that the Lions starters were the ones who performed well, while the depth defensive backs struggled. I had Brian Branch with wins in all three of his matchups: one against Tarik Black and two opposite Tahj Washington—who, in my opinion, was the toughest draw with Waddle and Hill out. D.J. Reed split the reps I saw, but on the play when he was beaten on an inside move, he nearly punched the ball out of Andrew Armstrong’s hands, forcing the receiver to bobble it before regaining control. Rock Ya-Sin was the only player near the top of the depth chart who was definitively beaten on a rep, with Erik Ezukanma beating him deep. For what it’s worth, Ya-Sin won the previous rep between the twos.
Among the reserves, Dicaprio Bootle struggled on back-to-back reps, but Nick Whiteside continues to stand out in a...
