After a handful of days off, the Detroit Lions were back on the practice field on Tuesday, but this time around, things were mandatory, as it was the first day of minicamp.
And, thanks to the session being open to the media, we were able to get the inside scoop on who took part, who didn't, and what went on in practice on both sides of the ball.
With Tuesday's session in the books, the Lions will have two more practices of mandatory minicamp before another handful of days off ahead of their last three practices of voluntary organized team activities.
Once that's completed on June 12, the Lions will get a month-plus off before they begin training camp in late July, when business will really pick up. Now, a look at the biggest takeaways from Tuesday's mandatory minicamp practice.
Participation report
According to Jeremy Reisman of Pride of Detroit, LT Taylor Decker, DT DJ Reader, DT Kyle Peko, CB Terrion Arnold, CB Emmanuel Moseley, CB Craig James, and DB Brian Branch did not participate.
Arnold was the only new addition to the list of non-participants from last week's open practice of OTAs. It isn't clear what he's dealing with, but he was spotted out there, so it must not be serious. Reader and Decker were out there watching, also. Moseley was completely absent due to the birth of his child.
Meanwhile, RB Jahmyr Gibbs, C Frank Ragnow, G Kayode Awosika, EDGE Marcus Davenport and S Kerby Joseph did "very minimal walkthrough/trainer work".
That was at least an upgrade in participation from last week's OTAs practice for Gibbs, Ragnow, Awosika and Davenport.
As far as the limited players were concerned, that group included G Kevin Zeitler, EDGE James Houston and cornerback Ennis Rakestraw. The limited work was an upgrade for Zeitler and Houston. Rakestraw has been limited all offseason but did get some work in 7-on-7 red zone drills, so that's a step in the right direction.
Defense wins the day
According to Tim Twentyman of DetroitLions.com, the defense got the better of the offense on Tuesday, and it was a particularly rough day for Jared Goff, who threw three picks. Here's the details from Twentyman:
Defensive day: The team went through a lot of situational periods Tuesday in the first day of mandatory minicamp practice and it was also a heavy red zone day. I thought the defense had a heck of a practice and won the day. This defense wants to get more hands on footballs and generate more turnovers. Linebacker Jack Campbell had two interceptions off quarterback Jared Goff (one tipped), safety Brandon Joseph had a red-zone pick off Goff, and cornerback Khalil Dorsey had a pick-six off backup quarterback Hendon Hooker. How much more of a playmaking defense the Lions are in 2024 is going to determine how much better of a team they can be overall.
Making this more impressive is the fact that the Lions did not have some key starters out there. On top of Campbell, Levi Onwuzurike stood out with a pair of sacks/pressures, per Reisman.
A big day for Jack Campbell
As was previously stated in Twentyman's write-up, linebacker Jack Campbell had a pair of interceptions off Jared Goff. Reisman notes that Campbell had multiple standout plays on top of the picks and he saw the majority of the first-team reps as the MIKE. Derrick Barnes saw first-team reps, also, but most of them came in three-linebacker sets.
Backup QB battle heating up
The backup quarterback battle is heating up, according to Twentyman, who said "don't be surprised if the battle for the backup quarterback job in training camp is tighter than people think between Hooker and Sudfeld."
Twentyman writes this after noting how Hooker was 4-for-8 during the red-zone period. The second-year signal-caller did throw four touchdown passes, but had an interception, a dropped interception, and held onto the ball for too long on some plays. Campbell was not thrilled that Hooker took a sack on one play instead of getting rid of the ball.
Meanwhile, Sudfeld threw two touchdown passes and had one more completion than Hooker. Reisman says that Hooker is still getting most of the second- and third-team reps.
Kalif Raymond shines
Speaking of the red-zone period, Raymond was a standout, catching a whopping three touchdown passes, with two coming from Jared Goff and one from Hooker. Raymond is trying to secure the No. 3 receiver role this offseason and should be considered the favorite for it.
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Brandon Joseph with the ones
Kerby Joseph is rehabbing a hip injury that will keep him out until training camp, but in the meantime, Brandon Joseph is getting looks with the first-ream offense, according to Twentyman. Earlier in the day, head coach Dan Campbell praised Joseph for the strides he's made.
Campbell says Brandon Joseph noticeably improved during the 2023 season. Says they wish he would have got to play. Says he's continued to improve this spring
— Mike Payton (@AtoZ_Payton) June 4, 2024
Joseph also came up with a big play, nabbing an interception on a pass from Goff.
Giovanni Manu has work to do
Campbell touched on fourth-round pick Giovanni Manu, basically saying that the rookie has a lot of work to do to get himself ready to play in the NFL.
"Yeah, he's swimming. But we expected him to be swimming," Campbell said. "We fully expected for this to get worse before it ever gets better. He's trying to find his way. I mean, we're back to the basics of just how you get in stance properly, where your weight goes when you get out of the stance, where your help is, certainly the scheme, the working with others, working with the tight end in this combination, working with the guard, pass and twist."
"He's just in the infant stages," Campbell added. "So we're literally working from the ground up and we knew it was going to be that way....You got to break them down and then and build them back up. And that's what Hank (Fraley) is doing right now."
Campbell also left the door open for Manu to not contribute this year.
"I would love to say 'hey, we're gonna get him this year, you know, by middle of the season,' and that would be great. And that's always gonna be the goal, is how fast can we get one of these guys contributing and helping us. But we also knew what we were acquiring and so we're prepared to take this as it comes. Whenever he's ready, he's ready. And that's okay, if that doesn't mean it's this year and its next year, that's great. But certainly we're trying to push to get him ready now...."
This really shouldn't be surprising. It was pretty much assumed that Manu would be a project. What could make his development even more difficult is if the Lions decide to move him to guard, something Manu said might be the team's vision for him back in April. Of course, Manu played tackle in college.
