After holding a lighter practice on Wednesday that consisted of just walkthroughs, the Detroit Lions ramped things back up again on Thursday and held a full practice.
Earlier in the day, the Lions made a trio of roster moves, with the team putting offensive lineman, Netane Muti, on injured reserve, ending his season. Muti suffered a shoulder injury during practice earlier in the week.
With John Cominsky also out for awhile with a torn MCL, the Lions added two players in former UFL offensive lineman Jake Burton and defensive lineman Pat O'Connor, who Lions fans may remember. He was the team's seventh-round pick in 2017 before eventually finding a home with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Now, let's take a look at the biggest takeaways of the day from Thursday's practice, which come courtesy of beat writer observations.
Lions training camp takeaways
Who didn't practice?
According to Sports Illustrated's John Maakaron, running back Zonovan Knight, defensive lineman D.J. Reader (PUP) and guards Christian Mahogany and Kayode Awosika did not take part in practice. Mahogany continues to be sidelined with an illness and has not taken part in practice once during training camp.
After getting Wednesday off, Frank Ragnow, Graham Glasgow, Kevin Zeitler and Taylor Decker all returned.
Brian Branch works only at safety
Per Tim Twentyman of DetroitLions.com, defensive back Brian Branch participated in team periods for the first time in training camp. Detroit had been working Branch back in slowly after he had offseason surgery. Prior to Thursday he had only seen action in walkthrough and individual periods. Also, Branch played only at safety.
“I need to do what I can to get on the field,” Branch said of playing at safety, per Erik Schlitt of Pride of Detroit. “Right now, safety is where they want to put me at, so shoot, I’m gonna go get it.”
Sione Vaki leaves early
Fourth-round pick and running back Sione Vaki was unable to finish practice on Thursday after suffering a shoulder injury during one-on-ones.
Sione Vaki left practice today with a shoulder injury. He did not return.
— Pride of Detroit (@PrideOfDetroit) August 1, 2024
The extent of the injury remains unknown. We'll see if head coach Dan Campbell provides an update on Friday.
A sloppy session
Per Twentyman, it was a sloppy day for the Lions at practice, and so much so that Campbell had to stop things and let his players know about it. The final straw was the field goal unit being unable to get set up in time during a team period.
Defense wins the day
Detroit's defense had the better showing when the first-team units were on the field for the first installment of the red zone period, per Maakaron. Carlton Davis and Terrion Arnold both had pass break-ups. The second-team performed better, but Ennis Rakestraw notched his second interception of camp off Nate Sudfeld.
RELATED: Lions D-line turning heads at camp
According to Twentyman, the defense then "dominated" during situational drills, with Aidan Hutchinson and Levi Onwuzurike both tallying sacks that Campbell allowed the offense to play through.
Kaden Davis stands out
During what was a rough day for the offense, Kaden Davis managed to stand out with "multiple big catches, including a touchdown grab from Sudfeld in red-zone drills," according to Maakaron. Davis has had a strong offseason and is in competition for one of the back-end spots on the depth chart.
