Pride of Detroit
Throughout the offseason, the Detroit Lions offense has been under the microscope, and in training camp, it has taken its lumps from its own defense. Against Miami, that first-team offense found its footing and then kicked in the door, looking very much like last year’s high-powered, league-leading attack.
It’s worth noting that the Dolphins were already without edge rusher Jaelan Phillips and then lost Chop Robinson early in first-team drills. Still, this was a promising step for the offense under John Morton and with a new interior offensive line.
Jeremy Reisman already has you covered on the defensive side of the joint practices, and while he and I provided the full Pride of Detroit Direct recap video, in this article, I’ll take you through the offensive highlights.
Amon-Ra St. Brown was a supernova. As the Lions’ highlight reel has shown, it was a breathtaking display.
Jameson Williams has received plenty of buzz for his strong start to his fourth season, but St. Brown reminded everyone he is WR1 and, at times, unguardable. He opened one-on-one drills with an emphatic 40-yard touchdown on a go route, started the first-team drill with a 20+ yard catch, scored back-to-back touchdowns in red zone drills, and kicked off the end-of-game scenario with a big shoelace grab.
St. Brown dominated Dolphins defensive backs, winning over the top, making spectacular sideline catches, and carving up the intermediate to deep middle of the field. His passer rating when targeted today had to be a perfect 158.3—especially matched up against cornerback Jack Jones. The joint practice was a good reminder that St. Brown is capable of taking over games like the league’s other elite receivers, creating constant cushion with crisp route running. That performance will go down as one of the most dominant individual practices I’ve ever seen.
Miami’s defensive backs looked like freshly grilled mahi-mahi as Jared Goff filleted them throughout practice.
He had a telekinetic connection with St. Brown, attacked the middle of the field with confidence, displayed terrific touch, and navigated the pocket like the 10-year pro he is. He dominated in 7-on-7s, red zone, and midfield situations.
Goff also dialed up consistent precision passing to Williams and Sam LaPorta for big gains. Williams turned short crossers into 20–30+ yard plays, while LaPorta proved a mismatch nightmare for linebackers, repeatedly gaining first downs. With Tim Patrick out and Kalif Raymond missing some reps, Ronnie Bell ran with the first team and caught a few short gains from Goff in a muddy pocket.
Goff’s most impressive throws included a rifle to a levitating Williams in the end zone on the first red-zone play, a perfectly pearled ball past Jones’ earhole to St. Brown for a touchdown, and mustering a sideline strike to Raymond after double-clutching in the pocket.
Turns out being a 24-year-old, two-time first-team All-Pro who goes up against Aidan Hutchinson every day makes most other matchups look like a stroll...
