Lions camp observations: Hassanein banged up, Bates struggles, Meeks and Strickland have strong days
Allen Park — Here are some notes and observations from the Detroit Lions’ Monday morning training camp practice.
● In addition to some of the injury news from earlier in the day, wide receivers Tim Patrick and Tom Kennedy, running back Sione Vaki, and defensive tackle Pat O’Connor didn’t participate on Monday.
Additionally, rookie defensive lineman Ahmed Hassanein had to exit practice early after he was rolled up on during a deep pass play. He was tended to by trainers for several minutes as they evaluated him for a lower left leg injury. Regardless, he stayed outside for the remainder of practice, lessening concern.
In terms of players working out on the side, there were a handful running the hill under the supervision of the training staff. That group included rookie offensive lineman Miles Frazier, linebacker Malcolm Rodriguez, defensive tackle Mehki Wingo and cornerback Terrion Arnold.
The first three aren’t expected back for a few more weeks, at the earliest, while Arnold is inching closer to returning from a hamstring strain suffered last week.
● After the typical opening of stretching and individual drills, practice shifted into some two-on-two and three-on-three route combination work between the skill positions and back-seven defenders.
Amon-Ra St. Brown thrived during the segment, twice besting the coverage of Amik Robertson, first snagging a slant before taking in a deep ball over the slot corner.
Also scoring a deep grab was tight end Shane Zylstra. He was blanketed by Alex Anzalone, but the linebacker lost the rep after failing to get his head around to locate the ball.
The defense didn’t get many wins, although cornerback Erick Hallett had a breakup against Ronnie Bell, running a wheel route.