Pride of Detroit
Two well-coached teams, in the Detroit Lions and Houston Texans, squared off at the tail end of training camp for a crisp, competitive session, both with eyes on a prize bigger than back-to-back division titles.
I set my sights on the Lions defense while Jeremy Reisman provided his offensive observations. Here’s how Kelvin Sheppard’s unit fared against Nick Caley’s Texans. (For the full play-by-play, check out the Pride of Detroit Direct recap video from Thursday’s joint practice.)
The Lions’ secondary was finally at full strength with Kerby Joseph back in the lineup. He wasted no time, stealing a C.J. Stroud pass intended for Nico Collins on the second snap of 7-on-7s, instantly energizing the defense. Beyond that, Joseph played sparingly, logging a couple early snaps in each series, and recording and an assisted tackle on Nick Chubb in the red zone. In his place, Rock Ya-Sin paired with Brian Branch at safety.
Branch was his usual disruptive self. He knifed downhill to stuff multiple runs at the line of scrimmage, including a trap play where he stonewalled Chubb inside the Texans’ 12-yard line—just as Alex Anzalone demolished the fullback. In coverage, Branch allowed only two short completions and delivered punishing contact both times. With Joseph and Branch patrolling together, Houston’s only success over the middle or deep came on one 15+ yard Collins grab.
On the perimeter, the starting corners—D.J. Reed, Terrion Arnold, and Amik Robertson—were tested plenty. Collins made plays, and Xavier Hutchinson chipped in, but Detroit’s corners responded with tight coverage, plays on the ball, and enough blanket reps to force throwaways and coverage sacks. They were tested well and will be sharper for the season because of it.
Arnold’s highlight came on a deep shot, running stride-for-stride with Collins before cleanly breaking up the pass near the goal line.
Reed stood out for his cardio on the day, with constant motion-tracking and coverage on crossers, but also for his physicality—blowing up a WR screen and helping in run support. Robertson added a diving interception on a misfire, a handful of tight coverage incompletions, plus a well-timed blitz that just missed.
The lone real blemish came on A 7-on-7 rub route touchdown to Collins where Reed and Robertson crossed wires. Otherwise, the starting DBs looked sticky, competitive, and are very much in the conversation with the league’s best secondaries.
The reserves struggled. Allan George was picked on repeatedly, and Houston’s depth receivers—Hutchinson, rookies Jayden Higgins and Jaylen Noel, and veteran Braxton Berrios—all took advantage when they were with the reserves against George, Tyson Russell, Luq Barcoo, and D.J. Miller. Barcoo salvaged his day a little with a tipped-ball interception, and Nick Whiteside flashed with a flying run stop on rookie Woody Marks.
Returning corner Khalil Dorsey saw limited work in 7-on-7s, surrendering a slant touchdown to Higgins as he eases back from injury.
The standout was Avonte Maddox, who had an end-zone interception, a pass breakup on Quintez...
