Lions camp observations: Several return to practice, highly physical one-on-ones and a heavy dose of end-of-game situations
Allen Park — Here are some notes and observations from the Detroit Lions’ Saturday afternoon training camp practice.
● Let’s open with participation from the first practice following Thursday’s preseason opener.
Not practicing were running backs Isiah Pacheco, Jacob Saylors and Kye Robichaux, tight end Jackson Meeks, offensive tackle Devin Cochran, center Cade Mays, defensive tackle Mekhi Wingo, edge Payton Turner, linebackers Damone Clark and Jimmy Rolder and safety Loren Strickland.
Rolder (hamstring) and Cochran were working on the side with members of the training staff.
Most of those absences were injuries lingering from last week, while Saylors, Robichaux, Meeks, Wingo and Strickland were banged up during the contest against Cincinnati.
According to coach Dan Campbell, Robichaux’s injury sounds like a long-term deal.
“God bless him, dude, he got a foot (injury),” Campbell said. “Looks like he may have broke a bone in that foot. He's been so dang durable all camp, played his heart out. He's another guy who just gives you everything he's got, maximizes everything.”
According to Friday night reports, the Lions are adding veteran running back Trayveon Williams to add depth to the depleted room, but he wasn’t practicing with the team on Saturday.
On the other side of the injury equation, the Lions got six players back in the mix. Edge defender Derrick Moore (groin), linebacker Malcolm Rodriguez (ankle), cornerback DJ Reed (groin), offensive lineman Juice Scruggs, and running backs Sione Vaki (broken nose) and Jabari Small (knee) all practiced and participated in individual and full-team work.
● Notably, Scruggs immediately jumped into first-team reps at center. Seth McLaughlin probably did enough in the preseason opener to keep it an open competition, but it remains Scruggs’ job to lose while Cade Mays is out.
Here’s what Campbell had to say about McLaughlin’s performance against the Bengals on Thursday.