Lions camp observations: LBs pop during red-zone work, TeSlaa's sluggish start and Mahogany delivers punishing block
Allen Park — Here are some notes and observations from the Detroit Lions’ Sunday morning training camp practice.
● As usual, let’s kick things off with participation. Defensive back Christian Izien was activated off the non-football injury list and saw some snaps at slot cornerback, a previously announced adjustment to his usage from earlier in the offseason.
Alim McNeill was also back on the practice field after exiting Friday to be evaluated for a neck injury. McNeill noted that he went through concussion testing after he got knocked to the ground and accidentally kicked in the head by teammate Derrick Barnes.
Not practicing for the Lions were defensive lineman Payton Turner, who missed his third straight day with a back injury, rookie linebacker Jimmy Rolder (leg) and running back Jahmyr Gibbs (hold-in).
Rookie offensive tackle Blake Miller was limited to individual drills and was notably wearing a compression sleeve on his left leg. For what’s it's worth, he looked to be moving around fine during some of the drill work. Meanwhile, Derrick Moore (groin) and tight end Miles Kitselman (concussion) left practice to be evaluated for injuries.
Kerby Joseph, Brian Branch and Tyler Conklin remain on the physically unable to perform list. Conklin, who was expected to miss the first two weeks of camp with a calf injury, was working off to the side with a trainer.
● With the day’s one-on-one work, my attention went to the wide receivers going against the defensive backs.
Predictably, All-Pro receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown continues to dominate. He made a contested grab on a go ball, working against DJ Reed, and followed that up with a teach-tape example of late hands on a vertical route to get the best of Ennis Rakestraw.
If you’ve been following along, I’ve already been highly complimentary of Jameson Williams’ continued development. One area that’s extended to has been his releases on slant routes. He’s been borderline uncoverable on the short-area pattern, beating Rakestraw with it twice and Reed once.
Meanwhile, Isaac TeSlaa continued what’s been a sluggish start to camp. He didn’t win a single rep in one-on-ones, losing to the physical coverage of Rock Ya-Sin twice and proving unable to come up with a fade ball against Roger McCreary.
TeSlaa’s struggles continued to the team periods, with Ya-Sin breaking up a fade into the end zone. TeSlaa also had a post pattern tipped away by the corner, with safety Chuck Clark converging to help over the top on the route.
TeSlaa did have one touchdown, a 5-yarder where he took advantage of a legal pick from St. Brown out of the slot.