Pride of Detroit
Observations from Day 6 of the Detroit Lions’ 2025 training camp include notes on Aidan Hutchinson, Ahmed Hassanein, and Jackson Meeks.
The Detroit Lions welcomed season ticket holders to Allen Park on Friday, as the team once again strapped on their pads and took the field for Day 6 of training camp.
The Lions were able to return several injured players to the field on Saturday, including Alex Anzalone (hamstring), Tyleik Williams (personal reasons), Roy Lopez (foot), Ennis Rakestraw (chest), and Al-Quadin Muhammad (undisclosed). Unfortunately, Kerby Jospeh was a new absence, but it’s unclear as to why. For all the relevant attendance information, make sure to check out our Day 6 updated injury report.
With Tyleik Williams back in the fold, the Lions had their entire starting defensive line back together, and it didn’t take long for them to establish themselves.
Aidan Hutchinson is getting a lot of attention and rightfully so. Not only did he headline our observations from Day 5, but he was also all over the Lions' social media highlight reels. On Saturday, he once again swept his one-on-one drills, this time showing off his spin move to Dan Skipper. Hutchinson also got the better of Skipper during 11-on-11s, blowing by the reserve left tackle on his way to a would-be sack.
Marcus Davenport hasn’t made as many splash plays as Hutchinson, but he’s been steady. He got locked up by Penei Sewell in one-on-ones, but pushed Skipper to his limits in one-on-ones and team drills. He found his way into the backfield a handful of times, but he drew Sewell a lot on Saturday morning, so it was a long day for the vet.
The defensive lineman not being talked about enough is DJ Reader, who has been a powerful force in the middle. He’s been tremendous against the run. He’s been savvy against the rookie Tate Ratledge and has used his power to put Graham Glasgow in tough positions. The Lions' defensive line will need Reader to be at his best while Alim McNeill is rehabilitating and Williams acclimates.
In addition to Williams, the Lions had a couple of other defensive linemen who showed up in my notebook on Saturday.
Edge rusher Ahmed Hassanein is doing his best to emulate Hutchinson, and while some of it is working, there’s still a lot for him to learn. In one-on-ones, it looked like he tried to set up a secondary pass rush move by attacking Giovanni Manu with power before switching to his second move. Unfortunately, the power move got him too far into Manu’s grasp, and the big tackle handled the rookie. Later, during 11-on-11s, Hassanein hit the second move and got the edge on Manu, who let his feet stop. It’s debatable if Hassanein did enough to get to the quarterback, but it’s an illustration that he’s certainly learning.
Hassanein is also playing a ton of special teams snaps, and with kick-offs on...
