Training camp observations Day 7: Superstars shine in red zone, situationals

Observations from Day 6 of the Detroit Lions’ 2025 training camp include notes on

The Detroit Lions welcomed the general public to Allen Park on Monday, as the team once again strapped on their pads and took the field for Day 7 of training camp.

Participation Report

The Lions continue to cycle players in and out of practice, with some exiting early and others returning to play. For the second straight practice, Kerby Joseph missed, and was joined by Amik Robertson on Monday. However, Sione Vaki and Ian Kennelly did return, albeit with limitations, as did a few of the other players who returned on Saturday. For all the information, make sure to check out latest training camp injury report .

Shifts in player roles

With several injured players returning from injury over the last two practices, we are beginning to see them slowly worked into their roles.

Alex Anzalone was splitting some starting WILL reps with Zach Cunningham, and Al-Quadin Muhammad was splitting some second team EDGE reps (behind Marcus Davenport) with UDFA rookie Keith Cooper. Ennis Rakestraw also split some reps with Rock Ya-Sin, who was in on team drills for D.J. Reed.

Other replacement roles in the secondary include seeing Avonte Maddox at first-team safety with Joseph out, and Erick Hallett repping at first-team nickel with Robertson out and Maddox at safety.

The Lions continue to roll with Graham Glasgow at first-team center and Tate Ratledge at right guard, while it was Kingsley Eguakun’s turn at second-team center. We also saw the Lions give Derrick Barnes some second-team MIKE reps for the first time in camp, which means he’s repped at all three linebacker spots.

1-on-1s

Once the Lions opened team drills, one-on-ones kicked things off, as they do in most padded practices. Sam LaPorta continues to just dominate defenders in these open-field drills, this time taking it to Brian Branch. The first rep, LaPorta dropped a spin move on the Pro Bowl safety, then hit him with power on the second rep. Both times, Branch got a hold of LaPorta, but the tight end is just too strong—which is saying something against Branch.

Montgomery has been equally as impressive in these drills, getting the best of Jack Campbell twice, giving him a 3-to-1 edge in their overall battles.

“David, in my opinion, is one of the hardest backs to tackle just because he can put his foot in the ground and his one-cut and his burst is insane, and he can also run you over,” Campbell told the media last week. “He’s one heck of a player and I’m definitely glad he’s on our team, for sure.”

We also saw a few other players with at least two convincing wins in this drill, including Craig Reynolds over Dan Jackson, Derrick Barnes over Shane Zylstra, Rock Ya-Sin over Jakobie Keeney-James, and Loren Strickland over Jackson Meeks—with Strickland even forcing and recovering a fumble. We saw all the winners in this section had a very strong Monday.

WR/DB one-on-one red zone

This section was written by Jeremy Reisman, who was on hand to witness these drills.

• Brian Branch was the standout defender in this segment. I had him with wins over just about every Lions receiver: Jameson Williams, Amon-Ra St. Brown, and Kalif Raymond. The only time he was beaten was when Jared Goff laid a had-to-be-perfect ball to St. Brown at the back of the endzone.
• Rock Ya-Sin also had a nice segment here. His standout rep was against rookie Dominic Lovett. On the play, Lovett could not get away from Ya-Sin’s press, literally gaining no more than a single yard upfield for several seconds. The play was stopped before Lovett ever got to his actual route.
• Jameson Williams had the absolute best route I’ve seen him run. He faked using his speed for a potential fade to the back of the end zone, only to chop his feet, stop his momentum, and cut back to the front pylon, where the ball was waiting. Ya-Sin had to stay faithful to the fade and Williams’ speed, so the cutback was very effective.

• Interesting set of reps from the Lions’ newest cornerback, Nick Whiteside. After getting burned by Malik Taylor for an easy score, Whiteside came back on the next rep between the two players and basically ran Taylor’s route for an interception.

One-on-one RB/TE pass protection

Despite this being a drill that should favor the defense, the Lions’ offensive players, most notably their starting skill players, performed very well as pass protectors. We saw convincing wins from Montgomery, Jahmyr Gibbs, LaPorta, and Brock Wright. The only defender who definitively won his two reps was Anthony Pittman—who also showed up in the next section.

One-on-one LB coverage

It’s been very rare to see LaPorta lose a one-on-one rep in this year’s camp, but Anzalone was the first one to get a convincing win, as he took individual drills for the first time in camp. It’s a nice reminder that Anzalone is arguably the best cover linebacker on the roster and has a chance to make an impact the more he returns from injury.

Pittman showed off his coverage skills in this drill as well, quickly shifting to mirror running back Kye Robichaux, and jamming him within the 5-yard range before the rookie could make his cut into his route. Unfortunately, Robichaux was injured during the play and was forced to leave practice.

Defense dominates first 11-on-11

While most of Monday’s team drills were designed with a specific intention, this first set of 11s was more traditional—and the defense dominated.

Aidan Hutchinson kicked things off with a sack, we saw first-round pick Tyleik Williams knifing through the line, and Marcus Davenport holding an edge and cutting off Jahmyr Gibbs on a backside cutback.

Branch also did a great job of sealing off the edge and limiting Gibbs’ options. Branch then followed that up by meeting Montgomery in the hole and matching his power, then blitzing and leveling UDFA rookie H-back Zach Horton. Branch has had an incredible camp.

With the reserves, Grant Stuard continues to impress with lateral quickness, and we also saw defensive lineman Chris Smith produce a sack, from what looked like the 4i role, something he just started repping this past week.

Special teams

Special teams drills get mixed in between team drills to give players some breaks, but I’ll group all my observations in this section. While there have been a lot of regular standouts—like Stuard, Cunningham, Maddox, Pittman, Zylstra, Reynolds, Strickland, and Morice Norris—the player who has stood out the most to me has been Rock Ya-Sin.

Ya-Sin has been very good on special teams throughout camp, but on Monday, he dominated as a rusher, a blocker, and showed his savviness when working double teams.

7-on-7 red zone

The Lions removed their pads for the rest of practice, opting to work with “shells,” which reduced the physicality a bit for the remainder of practice. For each rep, the offense started at the 10-yard line and ran a play with the intention of scoring.

The first team offense took six tries in this drill, scoring four times, with two of Goff’s touchdowns going to Amon-Ra St. Brown and the other two ending up in the hands of LaPorta. St. Brown caught a back of the end zone crosser and another quick crosser, while LaPorta ran a dip under and up (picket fence-ish), and a post route between Arnold and Cunningham.

The second team defense stepped up early with Strickland stopping Tom Kennedy short of the end zone, followed by Norris intercepting a Kyle Allen pass intended for Kennedy in the back of the end zone. Eventually, Allen did find the end zone, connecting with Jackson Meeks, who made a great contested catch.

When the third team took the field, Kenny Yeboah dropped a pass in the end zone from Hendon Hooker, but the signal caller connected on touchdown passes to Zylstra and Meeks (again).

Red zone 11s

The offense and defensive lines joined in for the next set of team drills, and with no pads, the defense looked a bit caught off guard by the offense’s physicality.

Gibbs scored a touchdown on a sweep left, significantly aided by an edge-sealing block by Dan Skipper. When Goff went to the air, Arnold stepped in front of a Jameson Williams fade route for a beautiful pass breakup.

The first team offense went back to the ground with Montgomery straight up the middle, as the entire interior offensive line pushed both Reader and Williams back into the end zone. On the very next play, Reader and Williams responded by getting penetration and stopping Montgomery for a loss on a sweep.

The first team ended the session with a play-action rollout, with Tim Patrick slipping through the wash and out the backside, and he was wide open for a Goff touchdown.

When the second team took over, Allen and Kingsley Eguakun started having issues connecting on the snap. They put two balls on the ground in this section and another in a situational drill at the end of practice.

With the third team, Hooker found Zylstra for a score on a play-action rollout, while also running for his own touchdown. Running back Jabari Small ran the ball into the end zone, helped along the way by Trystan Colon, who pushed him the final few yards.

Situational 1st team

The Lions closed out the day with two situational drills. Here was the scenario for the first team: 1:12 left in half of a 0-0 tie game, with first-and-10 starting at own 30-yard line, and two timeouts to work with.

• First-and-10: Gibbs cleanly beats Anzalone on a wheel route and would have likely scored a touchdown had Goff not slightly overthrown him.
• Second-and-10: Hutchinson gets pressure (maybe a sack?), but Goff finds St. Brown for a quick 6 yards.
• Third-and-4: Reader pressures Goff and forces him to throw an incompletion.
• Fourth-and-4: Goff quickly finds LaPorta, who churns out 13 yards and a first down.
• First-and-10: Goff misses Williams while at midfield.
• Second-and-10: Brian Branch’s sack forces the offense to lose 6 yards.
• Third-and-16: Reader pressures Goff (sack?), who throws the ball away.
• Fourth-and-long: Lions would have had to punt.

Situational 2nd team

Here’s the scenario for the second team: 1:28 remaining in the game, with the Lions down 4 points, with first-and-10 at their own 30-yard line, and two timeouts.

• First-and-10: Allen finds Zylstra for a first down on a quick curl route.
• First-and-10: Allen finds Zylstra again, for only a minimal gain.
• Second-and-short: Allen connects with Kennedy on the sideline for a first down.
• First-and-10: Allen overthrows Patrick with Tyson Russell in coverage.
• Second-and-10: The offense tries to catch the defense off guard with a quick draw play that nets no gain.
• Third-and-10: Allen finds TeSlaa 19 yards downfield for a critical gain.
• First-and-10: This is the fumbled snap, resulting in a Dicaprio Bootle tackle for loss or sack.
• Second-and-10: The offense spikes the ball to stop the clock.
• Third-and-10: Allen finds Montgomery on a quick first-down conversion inside the 10-yard line.
• First-and-goal: Allen finds Kennedy on a toe-tapping touchdown to end practice.