CANTON, Ohio — Not many things went according to plan for the Detroit Lions in a preseason loss to the Los Angeles Chargers on Thursday, but their concerted effort to put the ball in the hands of their rookie receivers did.

Heading into the Hall of Fame Game, the Lions wanted to give Isaac TeSlaa and Dominic Lovett ample amounts of opportunity. Neither receiver, drafted in the third and seventh rounds, respectively, lit the field on fire at Tom Benson Stadium, but they combined to account for more than 70% of the team’s receiving yards, and they were the only Lions with multiple targets; Lovett had nine, and TeSlaa had three.

TeSlaa, specifically, was impressive. He recorded back-to-back explosive plays on Detroit’s third drive, hauling in receptions of 24 and 22 yards. Exactly half of TeSlaa’s 46 yards came after the catch, as the physically gifted receiver caught both of his balls on the move. He appeared natural as a ball carrier, and he finished his first catch by attempting to run through a defensive back on his way out of bounds.

“It kind of felt good to drop my shoulder a bit on that DB,” TeSlaa said. “Definitely got hyped up about that one.”

TeSlaa, who played about 40% of Detroit’s offensive snaps, was wide open on both of his receptions. The Arkansas and Hillsdale product benefited from the off-ball coverage on each rep, but he was able to shake the cornerback off-balance on his second catch, aggressively attacking the defender on his vertical stem and faintly faking to the outside before he broke inside on an over route.

It was encouraging to see TeSlaa create separation. It hasn’t been a notable issue through the first couple of weeks of training camp, but most of his standout plays in practice were courtesy of his contested-catch ability. He didn’t need to use that against the Chargers.

“TeSlaa made some plays. … We wanted to get TeSlaa and Lovett the ball,” Lions head coach Dan Campbell said. “We wanted to get these receivers some throws. I wish we could’ve gotten all those guys some throws. But it was good to see. I did think those two guys showed up.”

TeSlaa admitted to having some pent-up emotion escape out of him after his first catch, but he tried to reel himself back in as the game wore on. “Football’s an emotional game,” he explained. “But you’ve gotta be able to tame those emotions.” To settle himself down, TeSlaa remembered this is the same sport he’s been playing since he was in the third grade.

“I typically don’t get too nervous,” TeSlaa said. “Obviously, this was definitely a big game for a lot of us, especially us rookies. It’s our first NFL action, so it was more of like nervous anticipation, I would say, than like jitters or anything. But it was good to get out there. Once I got out there and got in the flow of things, I definitely felt good.”

Nothing about TeSlaa’s unofficial NFL debut surprised him, but now he knows what it’s like to go up against professionals. That experience should help him continue his development, ahead of his first season on the team he grew up rooting for.

“When you get to this level, everyone’s gonna be bigger, faster and stronger. … Now that I’ve seen firsthand what it’s like, I’ll just continue to grow every single day,” TeSlaa said.

ALLEN PARK — The Detroit Lions’ hole at the center position was its most significant question mark entering camp, but some clarity has been provided after the first week of practice.

Lions veteran Graham Glasgow has been playing center for the last four practices — after rookie Tate Ratledge handled responsibilities for the first three practices — and reading between the lines on comments from Lions offensive coordinator John Morton, it seems that might be the team’s preferred course of action going forward.

Morton told reporters Monday that Glasgow is “at the center now” because “I think that’s more natural for him.” He noted the importance of trust between the center and quarterback, which is worth paying attention to since Glasgow has actually played center for quarterback Jared Goff in regular-season games.

“We’ve been in pads, what, for (three) days now. So that’s the real, true reading of where we’re going to be. I do like where we’re at right now,” Morton said Monday morning. “I think Ratledge has done a good job. I mean, we had him at center first and now we moved him to guard. Glasgow is at the center now; I think that’s more natural for him because that center and quarterback, that needs to be right.”

Campbell echoed those feelings Tuesday morning.

“Look, we just finished two days with Graham back at center in pads, and it’s looked pretty good. It’s looked pretty dang good,” Campbell said. “I think every day that it looks pretty dang good, it looks a little clearer. So it’s good to have him in there and it’s good for Tate, too, to get those right guard reps, so we’re holding tight right now.”

Over his nine-year career, Glasgow has primarily played guard. He has ample experience at center, though, having played center for an entire season in 2018 (Frank Ragnow’s rookie year), half of 2022 (with the Denver Broncos), and a few spot starts in Ragnow’s absence since returning to Detroit in 2023.

“I think things are going pretty well right now, to be honest,” Glasgow said after his fourth day of center work. “There’s a couple of little things to work out out there. I probably could’ve changed the protection today a couple times, maybe in the two-minute (drill), but other than that, today was a good day.”

Plus, Glasgow said that he actually likes playing center. If the Lions were to make him the starting right guard but still give him some center responsibilities to take a load off Ratledge, he’d rather just be the full-time starting center.

“I do like playing center. Center’s fun,” Glasgow told reporters. “I like the mental load that comes with it. I think there’s — it’s a challenge, but I think that’s something that I’m pretty good at, so I like to do it. If it came to me having to play center and make the calls or me be a guard and then think about the calls anyways just to make sure that the calls were right, I’d probably rather just play center.”

Asked how Ratledge had been doing late last week (the first day with Glasgow repping at center), Goff said, “It’s been great. Tate, I thought, was doing a good job, and Graham was in there today. I’ve been comfortable with Graham for quite some time. So whoever it ends up being, I’ll be good with.”

Of course, as it pertains to Morton’s comments, there’s still plenty of time for things to change. This time last week, it seemed the Lions believed Ratledge could be the guy — why else would they have put him there to begin training camp?

“I do like the way it’s going right now,” Morton said of the offensive line’s progress. “It’s still early, the more we do it, the better we’re going to get.”

ALLEN PARK — Here are some observations from Day 6 of Detroit Lions training camp.

• Saturday marked the first practice of the year with fans in attendance, and per usual, there was a noticeable change in the energy. Supporters in attendance gave Lions owner Sheila Hamp a standing ovation when she arrived, and later started a chant for linebacker Alex Anzalone, who returned to practice amid a contract dispute with the team.

• Ultimately, Anzalone didn’t partake much in team activities while continuing to work through rehabbing his hamstring. Neither did edge defender Al-Quadin Muhammad, who was spotted running the hill near the practice field alongside cornerback D.J. Reed. UDFA safety Ian Kennelly, who missed Friday’s practice with an undisclosed injury, did not practice again Saturday but was spotted working off to the side with trainers.

• Saturday was also the second day with pads, and the defense was feasting early on. Linebacker Jack Campbell dropped running back Jahmyr Gibbs for a loss on the second play of the day. Two plays later, edge defender Aidan Hutchinson brought down running back David Montgomery for no gain.

Defensive linemen Keith Cooper Jr. and Ahmed Hassanein immediately got a stop for the second team, and Roy Lopez, who returned to practice for the first time since suffering a foot injury on Monday, stuffed running back Jabari Small for no gain.

UDFA running back Kye Robichaux eventually snapped the drought for the offense, breaking off an explosive run after being sprung by UDFA tackle Mason Miller in the open field. Two plays later, Robichaux had another run of 10-plus yards.

• Rookie defensive tackle Tyleik Williams returned to practice on Saturday after missing Friday for personal reasons. On the first team’s second session of 11-on-11 reps, he and veteran DJ Reader teamed up to stuff Gibbs on a run. And on the very next play, Williams was at the front of another run stop for minimal or no gain. Hutchinson ended the set with a tackle-for-loss on Montgomery. A few plays later, Grant Stuard dropped Craig Reynolds for a loss, and Cooper and Chris Smith also teamed up for a stop for no gain.

• Fans hoping to see some plays from third-round receiver Isaac TeSlaa were treated to big plays from multiple rookie receivers.

UDFA Jackson Meeks ran a slot fade down the left sideline and got perfect placement on a ball from quarterback Kyle Allen, hauling the pass in with one hand while going to the ground. Seventh-rounder Dominic Lovett caught a tight-windowed pass between two defenders on another great throw from Allen for a touchdown in a 7-on-7 red-zone drill.

“I love being able to sit back and watch those guys work,” veteran receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown said of the rookie class. “It’s a lot of fun cheering them on. They make big plays. I mean, Meeks had a one-hand catch today, Dom had one the other day, Isaac’s ending practice with touchdowns, so it’s awesome to see.”

Between TeSlaa, Lovett and the rest of the veteran receiving core, the Lions have about six receivers who have a pretty good shot of making the roster. But if Lovett can uphold his production while remaining a factor on special teams, he’s going to have a huge opportunity to be a weekly contributor come this fall.

“You guys know, and they know, they’ve been told, ‘Man, if you can help on special teams and continue to develop at your role in your position, there’s a place for you,’” Lions head coach Dan Campbell said.

TeSlaa closed the practice with one of the plays of the day. He ran a slot fade to the end zone against cornerback Dicaprio Bootle and went up to haul in a throw from Jared Goff, going down at the 1-yard line and electrifying the crowd one last time.

“I would say, Lovett has…popped more early out on the field, but I thought TeSlaa had a really good day yesterday,” Campbell said before Saturday’s practice. “I can see the uptick now with him. He’s got to stack another good day, but that was good to see yesterday. And that’s the first day of pads, by the way.”

• For the third straight practice, veteran Graham Glasgow took reps at center while rookie Tate Ratledge played left guard. In addition to struggling with the interior defensive line on run plays, Ratledge also registered a false start early in the practice.

• Hutchinson’s 2025 Defensive Player of the Year campaign is officially on. He had another standout practice, sacking Goff in team period off a nasty spin move to beat offensive tackle Dan Skipper. Hutchinson also had another highlight-reel spin on Skipper during one-on-one drills.

“I see a player that is very confident in his abilities. I see a player that appears to bend even better than last year, and I see a player who was hungry that’s even hungrier,” Campbell told NFL Network after practice. “He’s gonna have a hell of a season for us.”

• Linebacker Zach Cunningham was the most noticeable player on the field Friday, but he got off to a rough start on Saturday. He bit on play-action on the first pass attempt of the day and got torched by tight end Sam LaPorta, who ran wild after making a catch to give the offense an early explosive play.

• The best reps from the offense came in 7-on-7 red-zone drills, with all three strings making light work of the defense.

The first team got things rolling with a first-play touchdown to receiver Jameson Williams, as Goff fed the ball into a tight window for the connection. Goff then had two really nice passes to receiver Kalif Raymond and fed the ball to tight end Shane Zylstra for a completion near the sideline. Goff finished things off with a dart to receiver Tom Kennedy in the end zone.

Kennedy connected with quarterback Hendon Hooker two plays later, going up to high-point a ball on a fade route and getting two feet down in the end zone while working against cornerback Tyson Russell.

Allen, meanwhile, went 5-for-6 on red-zone attempts, with his only incompletion coming on a ball to Lovett in the end zone where the receiver could only get one foot in.

• The first-team defense got its revenge after the 7-on-7 period during full-team red-zone drills. Cornerback Terrion Arnold defended a throw to St. Brown on the first play, followed by a sack in which Reader pressured first before the whole line converged on Goff.

• During the final 11-on-11 period of the day, Raymond caught a crosser from Goff and took it 45 yards to the house for a score. Shortly after, Hassanein pressured Hooker for a near-sack after beating tackle Giovanni Manu. TeSlaa ended the day with his phenomenal catch over Bootle.

• Manu had a tough day. He got beat cleanly twice in a one-on-one pass-rush drill, losing to edge defender Mitchell Agude on a speed rush and getting beat by defensive lineman Pat O’Connor on a swim move. He was almost beaten by Hassanein on a bull rush but recovered in time to anchor and stave off the rush.

Hassanein continues to stand out in a positive way. In addition to the win over Manu during one-on-ones, he used a Hutchinson-esque spin move to beat Miller. Cooper also had a terrific rep, using a push-pull move to beat veteran Trystan Colon.

ALLEN PARK — If you hang around the Detroit Lions‘ practice field, it won’t take long to hear Ahmed Hassanein’s voice.

The sixth-round rookie isn’t shy in letting out a roar while getting in reps alongside his new teammates, whether that’s before the ball is snapped to amp himself up or after in reaction to the play’s result. It happened at least twice Friday, as the Lions completed their fifth practice of training camp.

“In my mentality, it gets the whole defense together,” Hassanein said of his shouts. The habit began at Boise State, where coaches would know the defensive end was ready when they could hear him. “I get encouraged when somebody else yells. … This is just me. I love playing like that. Whatever it takes, you know?”

Hassanein’s relentless motor has been as advertised since the Lions selected him with the 196th overall pick in April’s draft. His physical abilities need to be honed — he only started playing football in 2018, after moving back to the United States from Egypt — but his hustle is never questioned, and that effort, as general manager Brad Holmes has previously pointed out, can “make up (for) a lot of things.”

“With the way he plays, the mentality he plays with, the effort he plays with, he’s everything we’re about here,” defensive coordinator Kelvin Sheppard said of Hassanein on Thursday. “Like I said, it’s just that development piece, the learning curve.”

Hassanein, trying to absorb all the information available to him, has made a concerted effort to observe and learn from Aidan Hutchinson. Hassanein imitated one of the Hutchinson’s signature moves — a swim move to the inside — during Tuesday’s practice.

Hutchinson took notice, jokingly telling the rookie to “stop studying my tape.”

“He’s really been helping me a lot, and I’m super grateful for him,” Hassanein said. “Everybody in the room, honestly, (defensive line) Coach Kacy Rodgers, they’ve been teaching me. Because I’ve only been doing this for seven years, so I just want to learn and want to grow. … Being an open book and being a sponge. Not to have that like, ‘Oh, I know everything’ type of guy. No, I know nothing. But at the end of the day, I’m gonna give you 100%, I’m gonna run to the ball, I’m gonna run through somebody’s face.”

Fans have been clamoring for a long-term answer on the edge opposite Hutchinson. Perhaps the role could be filled by Hassanein, but that’s likely a down-the-road development than something we’ll see immediately. Sheppard doesn’t want expectations to get too high for Hassanein in Year 1, but there are clear reasons for optimism going forward.

“This guy is a rookie. He just started playing football six years ago,” Sheppard said. “He just learned the English language six, seven years ago. … (But) that guy’s all in. Whatever his potential is, Ahmed will reach it because he’s going to work at it that way.”

ALLEN PARK — Aidan Hutchinson’s goals aren’t going to change, even when he’s coming off a significant injury.

The Detroit Lions pass rusher, now more than nine months removed from the broken leg that prematurely ended his third NFL season, has high personal expectations heading into 2025. He hasn’t taken an in-game rep since last October, but playing football has been “feeling normal for a long time” after he was months ago cleared to return to play.

“I’m at a point now in my career where it’s like, you’re shooting for the stars every year,” Hutchinson said Friday, following the fifth practice of training camp. “And if that’s not the expectation or standard you put to yourself, it’s got to be that way. … Those first couple of years, you’re getting in the league and figuring it out. But now, it’s every year (that) the standard is what it is.”

Hutchinson was on the way to setting quite a high bar last year, compiling 45 pressures and 7.5 sacks through about 4.5 games before his tibia and fibula were broken in the third quarter of Detroit’s Week 6 win over the Dallas Cowboys.

Predicting Hutchinson to match those numbers this season would be aggressive, but defensive coordinator Kelvin Sheppard said Thursday he’s seeing “a better player than we had last year.” Hutchinson agreed, as he’s mentally grown after spending another year in the league: “If I wasn’t progressing every year, I think there’d be an issue,” Hutchinson said.

Pads have only been on for one of Detroit’s five practices in training camp thus far, but Hutchinson continues to pass the eye test, physically, as he doesn’t appear at all slowed down. Hutchinson said he started to feel normal at offseason team activities (OTAs), which began in late May.

“I went out there, I got kicked, stepped on, you can think of everything under the sun, on this leg,” Hutchinson recalled. “And after practice I got up and I was like, ‘All right, we’re good.’ I think it takes those physical things to happen to you to mentally solidify where you’re at and the confidence and moving past it.”

Hutchinson, playing for a new defensive coordinator (Sheppard) for the first time in his professional career, will continue to be tested during training camp, and he’ll have the opportunity to see opponents from outside the building during joint practices with the Miami Dolphins (Aug. 13-14) and Houston Texans (Aug. 21).

If all continues to go well, Hutchinson plans for the same version of himself that was toasting offensive tackles in 2024 — he had a remarkable pass-rush win rate of 38.3% through Week 6, more than 10% better than the next-closest qualified player (Cleveland’s Myles Garrett, 27.5%) — to be ready for Week 1 in 2025.

“Camp is always a grind, so you always, in these hard days, you look forward to September and opening up with Green Bay,” Hutchinson said. “So, that’s kind of the thought pattern.

“Everything is to be ready for that game.”

Jason Benetti and T.J. Lang will be on the call for three of the Detroit Lions’ four preseason games this season, the team announced Wednesday.

Benetti, the play-by-play announcer for the Detroit Tigers, and Lang, a former offensive lineman who now serves as an analyst on Detroit Lions Radio, alongside Dannie Rogers, will be the broadcast team for Detroit’s exhibition matchups at the Atlanta Falcons on Aug. 8, versus the Miami Dolphins on Aug. 16 and versus the Houston Texans on Aug. 23. The broadcast will be shown locally on Fox 2 Detroit (WJBK) and on the Detroit Lions Television Network.

“Jason Benetti and T.J. Lang are extremely exciting additions to our preseason TV broadcast,” team president and CEO Rod Wood said in a release. “Combining Jason’s unique and exciting style on the mic with T.J.’s experience as both a former Lions player and our current radio analyst will bring a new dimension to our broadcast this year. We are grateful to the Tigers organization for graciously lending us Jason for our preseason.”

Benetti, who is in his second year calling Tigers games, will be the play-by-play announcer during the preseason. Lang will be an analyst, and Rogers will continue in her role as sideline reporter.

“Detroit’s sports tide is rising and lifting all boats,” Benetti said. “I saw first-hand for Westwood One radio last year on Thanksgiving the magic of a Lions home game. We’ve seen the power of the city’s fandom at Comerica Park all summer. I’m grateful to the Lions and (Detroit Lions Director of Broadcasting) Carl Moll for the opportunity to begin their season and join their wonderful crew. I’m also grateful to the Tigers for their willingness to have me cross the street for a few games in August.”

Added Lang: “As someone who was able to spend the end of my playing career with my hometown team and continue my career as a Lion on the radio, it’s an honor to expand my role as an analyst to now include the preseason TV broadcast as well. I am excited to work with Jason and the rest of the crew and combine all our backgrounds to create the best possible show for all our viewers.”

The Lions, who are nearly a week into training camp, will open the preseason in the Hall of Fame Game against the Los Angeles Chargers on July 31. They’ll begin the regular season with a trip to Lambeau Field for a bout with the Green Bay Packers on Sept. 7.

ALLEN PARK— Kingsley Eguakun, one of the dark-horse candidates to win the Detroit Lions’ starting center job in training camp, underwent an NFL rite of passage this summer.

He lost “20, 30 pounds from the season” in hopes of improving his strength, speed and endurance.

Eguakun gained “15 or 20 of those pounds” back — pure muscle, he said — and after merely holding on for dear life as a UDFA rookie last year, is hoping to earn himself a spot on the Lions’ 53-man roster.

“I did it slowly, the right way,” Eguakun told The Detroit News. “Really, it was just me, something I wanted to just do to feel better. … I don’t know if I’ve had fast food in the last eight months, I would say. I’ve been really focused on eating whole foods and stuff, just trying to keep it real clean, not only for my weight and stuff, but just for my own health.”

Eguakun, who played his entire college career at Florida, was signed by the Lions as a UDFA last offseason. He hung around on the practice squad throughout the 2024 season. Back in the spring, Lions coach Dan Campbell mentioned him as a player who has a major opportunity in the wake of Frank Ragnow’s retirement. Monday, he explained why.

“(He’s had) a lot of scout-team reps,” Campbell said. “Man, him on Sunday, just watching him get better and better and better. The way he competes, man, he’s tough, he’s physical. He is a smart, really good athlete, man, he can move.

“And he knows this, so much about him is going to be the anchor. We put pads on, the size, and those things. Just being able to sit some guys down, anchor, things of that nature. I like Kingsley; he’s improved. He’s improved a lot.”

The new physique, combined with a full year of experience under his belt, has Eguakun playing faster than ever.

“(I’m) just playing faster. Just (identifying the middle linebacker) faster, getting on the ball quicker, being able to help guys who might be confused, not having to think as much,” Eguakun said.

“The game slowed down a lot for me.”

‘Be quiet, be a sponge’

Rookie receiver and seventh-round pick Dominic Lovett faces an uphill battle in the Lions’ wide receiver room. With at least five receivers in front of him on the depth chart — and no guarantees that Detroit will keep a sixth on the 53-man roster — training camp is more critical for Lovett than it is for, say, third-round pick Isaac TeSlaa.

But he appears to be developing good chemistry with both reserve quarterbacks, Hendon Hooker and Kyle Allen, and has popped on a few occasions during 11-on-11 periods in practice. Lovett said developing a connection with his throwers has been a point of emphasis as he begins to navigate life in the NFL, and it’s apparent.

“(I’ve been) just asking the QBs, like, do they want to get catches after practice, whether it be any of them, you know?” Lovett said. “Anybody I can get chemistry with, I want to, because you never know who you may end up in the game with,” Lovett said. “So I feel like whenever a quarterback pulls you to the side and asks if you want to get catches, the answer should be ‘yes’ automatically.”

While the number of quality receivers in Detroit’s receiving room might make it tougher for him to secure a spot on the roster, it should also aid his development.

“Honestly, just be quiet, be a sponge. I don’t know everything and that’s totally OK,” Lovett said of how he’s approaching the opportunity to learn from guys like Amon-Ra St. Brown, Jameson Williams, Tim Patrick and Kalif Raymond. “From them, I might learn different things. I might steal a release from him, I might steal a second release lever from him, I might steal a piece of his IQ. Just always picking.”

Raising the standard

Lions safety Kerby Joseph is now a veteran on Detroit’s defense, part of a budding core that has grown together over the last few seasons. On the field, he’s known for his mastery of taking the football away. Off it, he’s helping raise the standard for the entire unit following the installation of Kelvin Sheppard as the team’s new defensive coordinator this offseason.

“It’s a lot more expectations. When (former defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn) was here, we were still … in that stage of getting guys right,” Joseph said. “But now I feel like there’s a lot of things that we know what to expect, and not even with the coaches, but Shep is putting a lot on the players to make calls and understand certain situations.”

Joseph’s position is unique in that all 21 other players on the field are generally in front of his line of sight, which gives him a duty to correctly position his teammates and ensure the defense is prepared for the ball to be snapped.

“A lot of young guys grew up (in this defense) — like myself, I’m going into my fourth year — so there’s a lot on my plate to understand what’s going on and get guys right,” Joseph said.

ALLEN PARK — The interior of the Detroit Lions‘ defensive line was supposed to be a bona fide strength in 2025.

Maybe it will be, but the definitive nature in which people spoke about the unit has seemed to dissipate. We already knew Alim McNeill would be on the shelf for the start of the season, but the news of Levi Onwuzurike’s season-ending ACL injury is a notable hit. He’s never been able to stuff the conventional stat sheet with tackles for loss and sacks, but he was Detroit’s best pass rusher from the interior, sans McNeill. Onwuzurike’s pass-rush win rate of 11.9% ranked fifth among all Lions last season, and it was second (to McNeill) among players on the interior. He also finished, including the playoffs, with a team-high 47 pressures in 2024.

Onwuzurike kicking out and playing some on the edge led to a mild inflation of his pass-rush numbers. Regardless, his ability to get after the quarterback was expected to keep the Lions’ interior afloat until McNeill was healthy. There isn’t a firm date established for McNeill’s return, but general manager Brad Holmes, in an interview Tuesday with Sirius XM NFL Radio, said the Lions may be getting McNeill back “a little bit earlier than expected.”

Until then, the coaching staff will have to look elsewhere, and options range from multi-year veterans like Pat O’Connor and Raequan Williams to rookies like first-round pick Tyleik Williams and undrafted free agent Keith Cooper Jr.

“It’s kind of an open competition to see who can give us the most in there,” head coach Dan Campbell said Tuesday. “We talked about Tyleik, we know (DJ) Reader. … Look, we kind of like Cooper, now. He’s a young guy. Let’s see what he can do. We’ve got Raequan, a veteran guy. We’ve got some guys here.”

Tyleik Williams has been getting much of the first-team action next to Reader, a nose tackle, through the early portion of training camp. He was known more as a run-stopper during his four-year career at Ohio State, but the Lions, similar to how they viewed McNeill coming out N.C. State in 2021, think there are some abilities to be unlocked as a pass rusher.

The Buckeyes, who won the national championship last season, ran a “bull-rush, cage scheme,” Williams explained in a Zoom interview with reporters after he was drafted. That led to modest production: 42 pressures and 5½ sacks over 654 pass-rush opportunities in the last two seasons.

“He’s a lot like (McNeill) in terms of being able to catch an edge, rush with power, have instincts, he’s got quickness, he can counter,” Holmes has previously said of Williams. “I know his pass-rushing stats aren’t off the charts, but when you watch the tape, you see he’s a three-down player.”

Another first-year option who earned a shoutout from Campbell was Cooper, an undrafted free agent out of Houston who signed with the Lions following a tryout with the team during rookie minicamp. Cooper played off the edge with the Cougars, but the Lions value him on the inside: “They want the pass rush, especially in the interior,” Cooper said Tuesday. “That’s what I gave (during the tryout), and that’s what I hope to build on.”

Raequan Williams was also signed following a minicamp tryout, though he’s been in the league since going undrafted in 2020, making stops with the Philadelphia Eagles (2020-21), Jacksonville Jaguars (2022) and Carolina Panthers (2022-23). Williams has only one sack in the NFL (seven games), but he showed some of what he’s capable of as a senior at Michigan State, posting 34 pressures and five sacks from the interior.

O’Connor, meanwhile, has the most experience between himself, Cooper, Raequan Williams and Tyleik Williams. A seventh-round pick by the Lions in 2017, O’Connor was waived less than six months after he was drafted, and he signed with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, with whom he spent seven seasons. He was brought back to Detroit last August, and he proved integral on a defense that lost player after player to injury.

Perhaps what makes O’Connor most valuable is his versatility. He can play all over the line and contribute in multiple ways, including as a pass rusher. He finished last season with 10 pressures, including four against the Chicago Bears in Week 17.

“He’s a jack of all trades. … Played the nose, played the three(-technique), played the big end,” Campbell said of O’Connor. “He’s versatile, and that’s why he just keeps competing to stay on rosters because it’s hard to ignore a guy like him. He just — he does so many different jobs. You know if you get him into the game, you’re going to be able to use him.”

There’s also someone like Mekhi Wingo, who is recovering from a torn meniscus and should be back in September. Josh Paschal is an option, as well, though he’s also expected to be unavailable until after training camp. Paschal was drafted as an edge rusher, but Holmes said at owners meetings earlier this year he could see the former second-round pick getting more reps on the inside this season.

“We’ll be alright, we’ll find it,” Campbell said, discussing how the Lions can replace the pass-rush abilities of McNeill and Onwuzurike. “And if we need to fabricate it, we’ll fabricate it.”

The Detroit Lions have filled out their roster ahead of the start of training camp, signing running back Jabari Small, and cornerbacks DiCaprio Bootle and Tyson Russell, the team announced Friday.

Small, who went undrafted in 2024 after a four-year college career with the Tennessee Volunteers, replaces the roster spot previously occupied by undrafted running back Anthony Tyus III, who was waived Thursday with a non-football illness. Bootle and Russell, meanwhile, give the Lions some added depth at cornerback.

Terms of the deals with Small, Russell and Bootle were not announced.

The Lions picked up three roster spots this week (now all filled), due to the waiving of Tyus, the placing of defensive tackle Levi Onwuzurike on the reserve/Physically Unable to Perform (PUP) list and the retirement of former center Frank Ragnow becoming official.

Small was a reliable contributor for the Volunteers over his final three seasons in Knoxville, totaling 2,005 rushing yards and 24 touchdowns following a quiet freshman season. He signed with the Tennessee Titans as an undrafted free agent and spent the entire season on Tennessee’s practice squad after being waived on cutdown day.

Bootle went undrafted out of Nebraska in 2021 before making stops with the Kansas City Chiefs (2021-22), Carolina Panthers (2023) and Los Angeles Chargers (2024). Most of his defensive opportunities in the NFL came in 2023, when he started two games and played 183 total snaps as a member of the Panthers. He was used mostly on special teams last season, logging 85 snaps across seven games.

Russell, an undrafted rookie from Vanderbilt, was in Allen Park earlier this year for a tryout during rookie minicamp. He spent four seasons with the Commodores, posting 92 tackles, five pass deflections and an interception in 44 total games.

PONTIAC – Following repeated chants of “We want JaMo,” the boys and girls planted near the 50-yard line at Notre Dame Prep High School were greeted by not one, but two Detroit Lions players.

Somewhere around 300 participants from ages 6 to 16 showed up for the youth football camp Sunday afternoon featuring Lions receiver Jameson Williams, who was joined by teammate Kerby Joseph.

All campers got a photo with Williams — and a few did as well with Joseph, who even signed one participants’ shoes — and a couple of lucky ones were able to haul in a deep pass from the four-year pro.

“I do it just to see the smiles on the kids’ faces, you know, bring joy to them,” Williams said. “They might not ever get to see a person in my position because (some of them), they stay to themselves, don’t get out in the community. I want to be a face in the community, help the kids, give some motivation.”

Kids were split into age groups and rotated through a number of stations at the camp, presented by, FlexWork Sports Management, a company that teams up with college and pro athletes throughout the US and Canada. Stations included a variety of exercises, including back pedal and ladder drills.

When asked if any campers have tried to race him, Williams laughed. “Nobody, but they always ask me about whether I’m faster than another player, and I always yes,” he said.

Due to injury, Williams never ran the 40-yard dash at the NFL Combine, leading to questions over what his time would be, only amplified by his claims he could run a 4.1 in the dash. Williams said on Sunday that he may not do a 40, but that he would probably run a 100-meter dash at some point in the future for fun.

When asked about the first player he was wowed by at a camp when he was younger, Williams named fellow St. Louis native and former New England Patriots running back Laurence Maroney.

Campers weren’t the only ones getting face time with the Lions’ speedy target. Irish football players who were scattered throughout the stations as volunteers also got to meet and greet with Williams before things got underway.

“This is awesome,” said Josh Laura, a defensive back who will be a senior this fall for the defending D5 state champs. “Just being out here with the guys, showing the little kids what football’s like, it’s just a great experience for everyone and great for all us to be out here.”

ND Prep head coach Pat Fox was present, too, and talked about the benefit of opportunities like Sunday to expose so many kids to the campus.

“It’s a fantastic thing,” Fox said. “We’ve got beautiful facilities, and I think that’s tremendous. But more importantly, I think it perpetuates the game of football. It gives young kids a chance to enjoy playing this great game with some new kids, gives our kids a chance to work with them, show a little patience, giggle and laugh. And we got a chance to meet Mr. Williams and meet Kerby Joseph, and what a nice couple of young men they are. So yeah, we’re really excited, and we’re happy to have kids on our campus whenever we can.”

For the Irish players, getting out on the field on a hot, sunny afternoon was a reminder that practices are just on the horizon.

“Oh, absolutely,” Laura responded when asked if it gets the juices flowing. “We’ve got a strong squad coming back on offense and defense, bringing back our quarterback, linebackers on the squad. I’m so excited for this year and the team.”

MIAMI (AP) — Former NFL quarterback Teddy Bridgewater said he has been suspended from coaching his former high school team in Miami because he provided players with financial benefits that he says he’d reported to the school.

The 32-year-old Bridgewater publicized action taken against him by Miami Northwestern High School in a social media post in which he also reaffirmed his desire to continuing coaching the team for which he once played.

“I’m not going anywhere,” Bridgewater’s social media post said. “And if it comes down to it, I will volunteer from the bleachers like I used to in 2018 and 2019 when no one had a problem.”

A message left for school administrators on Monday was not returned.

Last fall was Bridgewater’s first season coaching his former school, which he led to a Class 3A state championship before signing with Detroit in late December to serve as a backup for the playoff-bound Lions.

He wound up seeing his only action in the postseason, completing his only pass for 3 yards in a divisional-round loss to Washington.

Bridgewater had written in an earlier social media post that he paid for rides, meals and treatment for players last season. This year, he solicited donations to help cover those costs.

He said in his more recent post that he reported those payments to the school.

Drafted 32nd overall out of Louisville by Minnesota in 2014, Bridgewater appeared in 79 regular-season NFL games during 10 seasons split among the Vikings, New Orleans, Carolina, Miami, Denver and Detroit.

ALLEN PARK— For David Shaw, it was supposed to be a one-year detour.

Instead, it turned into a nearly two-decade run that’s defined his career.

Jim Harbaugh convinced Shaw to join his staff at San Diego in 2006, becoming the team’s passing game coordinator and wide receivers coach. Shaw was direct in his intentions: This shift into the collegiate ranks — Shaw had spent about the previous 10 years in various assistant roles in the NFL — was to last one year. At season’s end, he was returning to the league.

That was the plan, until Harbaugh landed the job at Stanford, Shaw’s alma mater where he tallied 664 yards on 57 catches from 1991-94. Shaw couldn’t pass that up. He followed Harbaugh and was the Cardinal’s offensive coordinator for four seasons. He was named head coach in 2011 after Harbaugh left for the San Francisco 49ers, and he led the university to a 96-54 record over the next 12 years. The Cardinal made a bowl game in each of Shaw’s first eight seasons, and they won at least 10 games five times.

Shaw, 52, finally made his return to coaching in the NFL earlier this year, hired by the Detroit Lions to be their passing game coordinator under head coach Dan Campbell and new offensive coordinator John Morton. Joining the Lions is poetic for Shaw, who remembers being around running back James Jones and wide receiver Pete Mandley while his father, Willie Shaw, coached Detroit’s defensive backs from 1985-88.

“It was my dad’s first NFL job,” Shaw said in May. “To be there for training camp, to meet a lot of the players and be there for (the) ‘Monday Night Football’ game against the ‘85 Bears, like, that was an exciting time for me. (There’s some) nostalgia to be back in this area. I went to Rochester Adams High School. Did that a couple weekends ago, went back up to Rochester Hills and drove around a little bit. It’s been a lot of fun.”

Shaw is now tasked with helping the Lions maintain their elite offense, which has posted more total yards (20,134) and helped the team score more points (1,478) than any other franchise in the league over the last three seasons. Shaw will be working alongside Morton, who he has been close with since the two crossed paths with the then-Oakland Raiders in the late 1990s.

Morton was an offensive assistant (1998-99) and quality control coach (2000-01) with the Raiders before he was promoted to senior offensive assistant (2002-03) and tight ends coach (2004). Shaw, meanwhile, was a quality control coach (1998-2000) and the team’s quarterbacks coach (2001).

“We present very, very differently. We are flip sides of the same coin,” Shaw said of his relationship with Morton. “Super competitive. (Jon) Gruden-trained. … We have a very, very similar mind in attacking defenses and what we see in the game. While we present very differently, since the first day we have met, our personalities have meshed.

“We’ve always pushed each other, too. It’s not one of those relationships like, ‘Oh, I just want to say hi once in a while.’ It’s, ‘Hey, you looking at this here? What do you see there? Why did you guys do that?’ We’ve always had the personal side of a professional relationship that has always meshed.”

Shaw estimates he had about three NFL interview opportunities each year through his first decade at Stanford, but he turned them down because of the principles he developed as a coach’s kid. He never wanted to be looking over the fence, wondering what else was out there. He would see through his Stanford tenure, which ended with his resignation in November 2022 following a pair of three-win seasons.

Much of Shaw’s success with the Cardinal can be drawn back to his implementation of NFL concepts on the offensive side. He was also able to learn from and work with Vic Fangio, who spent one season as Stanford’s defensive coordinator in 2010. Fangio is one of the most influential defensive minds in recent history, and he won Super Bowl LIX with the Philadelphia Eagles in February.

“If you ever watched us play, we looked starkly different than most college offenses,” Shaw said. “Pretty much my entire time at Stanford, we were a West Coast-based NFL offense and a Vic Fangio-based NFL defense.”

The Denver Broncos hired Shaw in 2024 to be a senior personnel executive, an off-field role that gave him a chance “to look at the game from a different point of view, knowing that eventually I was probably gonna come back to the coaching side.”

Now, fulfilling a goal that was set almost 20 years ago, Shaw intends to do all he can to make the most of it.

“One of those things I believe in — it was on our wall back when I was at Stanford — every single day, you’re either getting better or you’re getting worse,” Shaw said. “You’re never staying the same. So, we’re not resting on our laurels. We’re trying to push the envelope. We’re trying to grow, we’re trying to push ourselves, push the players to be better. That’s the goal every year, is to be better, to go farther and take our best shot at winning that trophy.”

ALLEN PARK — After a strong showing in his rookie year, the Detroit Lions made Brian Branch a full-time safety to pair alongside budding star Kerby Joseph.

Fast forward just one year, and the two have a strong case as the best safety tandem in the NFL. Joseph just received the most lucrative safety contract in NFL history, while Branch is sure to command a similar deal starting next offseason.

For as good as the two have been, their youth suggests there’s an even higher level of play that’s attainable.

“They definitely had a great year, but we’re expecting even more from them this year,” Lions safeties coach Jim O’Neil said.

Branch, 23, and Joseph both received honors during the 2024 season, with Branch making his first Pro Bowl and Joseph, 24, earning First Team All-Pro after leading the league with nine interceptions.

Offseason growth isn’t just rooted in getting bigger, faster and stronger. It begins with a self-scout, aided by O’Neil, who creates a series of cut-ups for each player so they can study their games and approach their goals for the summer with nuance and deliberation.

“It’s always good to kind of go back (and) watch the whole year,” O’Neil said. “They’ve both been outstanding. I made tapes for each guy that pulled the critical things that they need to see, but also all the different techniques so they can go back and study themselves. It’s been pretty cool.

“Like, ‘Hey, BB, watch all your blitzes. I’ll watch them, and then let’s talk about it the next morning.’ I think when they watch it instead of you just telling them, I think you get more out of it. If they’re seeing the same thing that you’re seeing, instead of you just saying, ‘Hey, this is what I saw, you need to bet better at this (and) this,’ they come back to you and say, ‘Hey, coach, I saw I was doing this.’ (Then I say), ‘I agree. Let’s work on it this way.’”

The Lions deploy Branch as a do-it-all weapon who defenses have to account for on every play, whether he be coming off the edge as a blitzer, crashing down on a run to make one of his 109 tackles, or lurking in the secondary to come down with an interception, of which he had four in his second season.

Branch and Joseph combined for 13 of Detroit’s 16 interceptions, tied for sixth in the league.

One area Branch does need to clean up, though, is his tendency to hit players high. While head coach Dan Campbell has repeatedly said he doesn’t want to take away the player’s “stinger,” Branch was fined seven times for a total of $70,896, including several for either hitting a defenseless receiver or impermissible use of the helmet.

O’Neil said the team bought a custom tackling dummy to help Branch aim lower, but defended the intentions of his Pro-Bowl safety.

“We’re going to live on that post-practice and save some of his money,” O’Neil said, adding, “He’s not trying to hurt guys out there. A lot of times … those are bang-bang plays. If I’m a DB, I have my aiming point of where I’m about to strike a guy, and then if a guy catches and his aiming point drops, it ends up helmet to helmet or shoulder to helmet or shoulder to neck.

“That stuff is a lot easier to coach in slow motion than it is full-speed. The answer is you just go lower, but now you’re hurting guys. We’ll work it.”

Conversely, one of the things that impressed O’Neil about Joseph was his growth as an open-field tackler. Joseph, who finished sixth in Defensive Player of the Year voting, had a career-high 83 tackles, just one more than he achieved in each of his last two seasons.

“One of the things that I’m most proud of with him is I thought he did an unbelievable job in open-field tackling last year. It was even more impressive than I thought when I went back and watched the cut-ups,” O’Neil said.

“You’re really known for two things as a post safety: Obviously, a guy who can go get the ball, and a guy that can erase mistakes when the ball pops, and I thought he did an outstanding job of that.”

Last season, Joseph’s third in the league, also saw him take on the role of a locker room (and position room) leader. He hired a private chef and hosted the rest of the defensive backs for dinner on Thursday nights and has taken seriously the example he sets for younger players.

“Just his leadership in the meeting room, like, ‘Hey, make sure you write that down,’” O’Neil said.

“Or (he will) reemphasize a coaching point that he might know for a player that’s hard on the grass, or, ‘I didn’t get that the fist time around,’ so looking at a younger guy, ‘Hey, did you get that? Coach, can you go over that again?’ Or he might ask questions that he knows the answers to that other guys might need to hear the answer again or in a different way.”

Joseph and Branch earned some of the highest honors a player can achieve last season, but with so much room to grow, one can’t help but wonder what another year of growth looks like for those two players — especially when you put them side by side.

There’s no way around it: All-Pro center Frank Ragnow’s retirement is a significant blow to the Detroit Lions.

Ragnow, a first-round draft pick in 2018 who racked up accolades in the middle of Detroit’s vaunted offensive line, is irreplaceable. He’s among the best centers of this generation, and his early exit at 29 years old leaves a massive hole at one of the NFL’s most important positions.

But the Lions, eyeing their first Super Bowl in 2025, have no time to feel bad for themselves. Replacement plans have presumably already begun inside the mind of head coach Dan Campbell, and there are some in-house options that make sense. Graham Glasgow’s 40 career starts at center make him a logical first thought.

Another idea, however, is to have second-round rookie Tate Ratledge move inside. Ratledge, a former Georgia standout, is a natural right guard, with all 34 of his collegiate starts coming in that role. During rookie minicamp and offseason team activities (OTAs), though, he’s been getting first-team reps at center.

What will it take for Ratledge to fully make the transition and grab hold of Detroit’s vacant center spot? The Detroit News spoke to Cole Cubelic, a former starting center in the SEC who now offers analysis for ESPN and on his radio show (The Cube Show), to find out.

“First off, the operation of it is unique,” said Cubelic, who played at Auburn (1996-01) and has been covering the SEC for more than a decade, overlapping with Ratledge’s five-year run at Georgia (2020-24). “It’s different if you haven’t done it. … But with proper repetition, you can get to where it is second nature more so than you can a lot of other things, even in football or other sports. It’s never gonna be just natural, but you can simplify it with repetition.”

Cubelic, a respected voice when discussing trench play, tabbed physicality as one of Ratledge’s defining traits as an offensive lineman. He also mentioned Ratledge’s “natural strength,” which “most offensive lineman are going to have to have, but his is definitely above average.”

Ratledge’s mean streak and rugged style is beneficial — there’s a reason general manager Brad Holmes compared him to 2024 sixth-rounder Christian Mahogany, who Holmes complimentary referred to as a “dirtbag” — but that aggression is something Ratledge will have to learn to turn on and off at center, Cubelic said.

Guards often don’t have to communicate heavily when at the line of scrimmage. Centers, meanwhile, are in charge identifying the defensive front, noting where pressure may be coming from and disseminating that information in a conscience manner to the quarterback and fellow linemen.

All the while, the play clock is ticking, and fans are making it difficult to hear.

“There has to be a calming factor, specifically at that position pre-snap, because you have to distribute a lot of information. … You have to see things, you have to react to things and there needs to be an understanding of processing that quickly and then sharing that quickly,” Cubelic said. “All that can be difficult. …

“You’re worried about you a lot of the times (at guard). Well, at center, very rarely can you get away worrying about yourself. You’ve got to make sure that four other guys are on the same page; you’re going to have to make sure that you and your quarterback are on the same page. … Getting to the line of scrimmage, processing those things, seeing those things, understanding how to share that information quickly and in a way that everyone understands and can absorb it and then utilize it, that’s not easy.”

Becoming adept at center — both as a communicator and as a blocker — takes time, but that’s why the Lions have Ratledge working at the position so early in the offseason. The team knows he can play guard, so now they’re letting take his lumps at center.

At best, he could be Ragnow’s replacement. At worst, he can serve as depth behind whoever ends up at center.

“He definitely needs some time there (at center) training. It’s going to become natural for him,” offensive line coach Hank Fraley said last month. “I thought what he did in rookie minicamp was pretty good, for handling that. Our centers, like across the whole league, they do a lot. They have a lot on their plates. They’re like quarterbacks of that O-line. They set a lot of the protections, a lot of the calls, and they work one-on-one with the QB.

“In time, he’s going to get it down and become a pretty good center here.”

The writers from Sports Illustrated/All Lions give their opinions on a handful of Lions-related topics, heading into OTAs:

1. What are you looking forward to learning about at Lions OTAs?

Christian Booher: I’m excited to learn about what the offense looks like under new leadership in John Morton. The new offensive coordinator teased the fact that not much would change within the scheme, but I’m eager to learn about what wrinkles the team does have that are new. Another aspect of OTAs that will be exciting is learning about how the rookies stack up in early competitions.

Vito Chirco: I’m looking forward to observing how D.J. Reed, Tyleik Williams, Tate Ratledge and the Lions’ other offseason additions mesh with the rest of the roster. These Dan Campbell/Brad Holmes-led Lions are all about chemistry and maintaining a positive locker room full of hardworking, high-character individuals. So, it will be something to see if Reed and the team’s other offseason acquisitions add to the winning culture that’s been established in Detroit.

Additionally, I will be interested to see how new offensive play-caller John Morton meshes with the offense and how new defensive coordinator Kelvin Sheppard assimilates with his unit.

Those are the big storylines I’ll be watching closely during OTAs.

2. What do you expect from DJ Reader this season?

Booher: I expect Reader to start for the defense and play a significant role. He will have the added benefit of having two solid other options at nose tackle in Roy Lopez and Tyleik Williams, which will give him the ability to be rested and refreshed throughout the season. I expect Reader to be able to notch multiple sacks and around double digit tackles for loss as the primary anchor of the defense.

Chirco: I think that Reader will provide the Lions with another season of solid work as a starter along the interior of the defensive line. While offseason additions Roy Lopez and Tyleik Williams will compete for reps, I believe that Reader will still garner the bulk of the snaps on the interior alongside Alim McNeill (once he recovers from his ACL injury). Additionally, I believe that Reader will remain a valuable asset for the Lions’ defense, notably continuing to clog running lanes for the opposition.

3. Is Sam LaPorta going to have a rebound season?

Booher: The way Sam LaPorta finished last season suggests to me that he’ll be just fine. With the emergence of Jameson Williams, LaPorta’s target share did dip for most of the year. He did, however, save his best for last as he was a consistent threat all throughout the postseason. I think LaPorta will be just fine in 2025 and beyond, as he reminds the league why he was considered one of the best tight ends in football.

Chirco: Honestly, I think that LaPorta will have a very similar season as a year ago. I believe that he will remain top three in targets on the team (83), behind Jameson Williams (91) and Amon-Ra St. Brown (141). However, I do believe that Williams will surpass LaPorta in receptions. The former Iowa tight end finished with just two more catches (60) than Jamo (58) in 2024.

With all that being said, I will predict that the 2023 second-round pick will amass double-digit touchdown catches in 2025. It’s something that LaPorta failed to do last year but accomplished as a rookie.

4. Who could be a surprise breakout player in 2025?

Booher: I think a surprise breakout player in 2025 could be Terrion Arnold. How well he adjusted at the cornerback position late in the year last season was encouraging, and he seemed to have left his penalty issues in the past. Arnold has the confidence to be a reliable and steady force for the defense, and he is continuing to grow. The Lions seem to feel good about his progress, and he should have the opportunity to be a reliable shutdown corner in 2025.

Chirco: I think it could be offseason acquisition Avonte Maddox.

I know he’s not the typical definition of a “breakout player” since the Super Bowl champion has already appeared in 81 career games.

However, he’s been primarily a reserve throughout his career, including during his final season in Philadelphia in 2024 (three starts). He compiled 20 total tackles and five passes defensed with the Eagles last season, and earned a Pro Football Focus overall grade of 56.3. He also posted a PFF coverage grade of 56.6 and a pass-rush mark of 71.9. He did all this while logging 345 total snaps, including the majority of them (259) in the slot.

Maddox also notably deflected a pass of Kansas City Chiefs signal-caller Patrick Mahomes late in the third quarter of Super Bowl LIX. It came on a fourth-and-5 play, with the Eagles already leading, 27-0.

Maddox is not expected to steal snaps on the outside from fellow offseason addition D.J. Reed and 2024 first-round pick Terrion Arnold. However, the University of Pittsburgh product should provide solid competition for the other nickel corners on Detroit’s roster, including Amik Robertson and Ennis Rakestraw. And if Robertson or Rakestraw were to miss time due to injury, I believe that Maddox would fill the void rather seamlessly. He’ll be a valuable depth piece for the Lions’ secondary in 2025.

5. Which two Detroit Lions should star in a reality show?

Booher: The Lions’ best option for a reality show might be safeties Kerby Joseph and Brian Branch. Both players have personalities that contrast a little bit, with Joseph being outgoing and Branch being more reserved. As a result, I think the interactions between those two players could make for pretty entertaining television.

Chirco: I’m going to say the Lions’ “Sonic and Knuckles” running back duo of Jahmyr Gibbs and David Montgomery. I think the Detroit fanbase would thoroughly enjoy watching how Gibbs and Montgomery interact with each other off the field. Additionally, I believe a reality show would keep the duo popular not only among Lions fans but also NFL fans as a whole.

This article was produced by the staff at Sports Illustrated/All Lions. For more, visit si.com/nfl/lions

The Detroit Lions will once again have a battle for their backup quarterback position behind quarterback Jared Goff.

Incumbent backup and 2023 third-round pick Hendon Hooker will face new competition for the spot after beating out Nate Sudfeld last year.

This year, Hooker’s training camp competition will be veteran Kyle Allen. Armed with plenty of experience scattered across five teams and seven seasons, Allen is aiming to usurp the team’s current option behind Goff.

Beating out Allen will be no easy task for Hooker, who will begin just his second full offseason as an NFL quarterback.

Allen, meanwhile, has 31 career appearances and 19 starts, 13 of which came for the Carolina Panthers in his first two seasons.

Though he hasn’t started a regular season game since 2022, quarterbacks coach Mark Brunell believes what he’s put on tape throughout his career was enough to grant him an opportunity to join the Lions’ quarterback room.

Key elements of this year’s backup battle will be being an asset in game preparation for Goff and showcasing an ability to efficiently operate and lead the offense when granted the opportunity.

“What we saw in Kyle was a quarterback who has experience. He has played, he’s been on multiple teams, different systems, very smart,” Brunell said. “What I loved about the tape we saw (was) he made good decisions with the ball. He managed very well. You can tell he was operating within whatever offense that he was in, and just has a good grasp on how to play at this level and has for a while. In our room, being a resource for Jared. Always being ready, that’s at the top of the list if necessary, but be a good resource for Jared, another set of eyes.”

In his opportunties as a starter, Allen has showcased some consistency. He was 5-7 in 12 starts for Carolina in 2019, he completed 62 percent of his passes and threw for 3,222 yards, 17 touchdowns and 16 interceptions.

Brunell believes that Allen’s experience will be an asset, but his comfortability and consistency within the offense during the offseason program will be one of the deciding factors in whether or not he’s able to beat out Hooker for the backup job.

Both quarterbacks will likely get plenty of opportunities to showcase their ability in a game setting, as the Lions have an extra preseason game on the docket on account of playing in the Hall of Fame game.

With three quarterbacks currently on roster, the competition for the backup spot is strictly between Allen and Hooker. Together, the group has already been able to start building consistency and camaraderie within the quarterback room ahead of the start of organized team activities.

“Once again, in year five, we have another good room. Obviously we have Jared, we’ve got Hendon and we’ve got Kyle, and they all work very well together,” Brunell explained. “We’re finding that out this offseason, and there’s good synergy in that room. Even today, we’re watching tape, and Kyle was kind of coaching Hendon a little bit and talking a little bit. So I’m really pleased with what I see with Kyle, he’s gonna be a huge asset for us and we’re glad to have him.”

This article was produced by the staff at Sports Illustrated/All Lions. For more, visit si.com/nfl/lions

ALLEN PARK — On paper, there isn’t much room for Sam LaPorta to grow.

The Detroit Lions tight end has tallied 1,615 yards and 17 touchdowns on 146 receptions through the first two seasons of his career, numbers that each rank in the top four among players at his position since 2023. The former Iowa standout has seemingly improved as a blocker, too, both in the run game and a pass protector.

So, what’s next?

“Start to see the game from the quarterback’s perspective, what Jared (Goff) needs exactly,” LaPorta, who is in the midst of his first healthy offseason since he was a senior with the Hawkeyes, said Thursday. “And maybe not just knowing what I’m doing on the field, but what other people are doing, as well. Just seeing the big picture.”

LaPorta’s cerebral growth will have much to do with guidance from new tight ends coach Tyler Roehl, who was hired in February to replace Steve Heiden. Roehl, 39, came over from Iowa State, where he spent one season. Before that, he held various roles — ranging from fullbacks coach to offensive coordinator — at North Dakota State from 2014-23.

Roehl’s job with the Lions is his first gig in the NFL.

“He’s been great so far,” LaPorta said of Roehl, who interviewed with the Lions in previous years before he was hired this time around. “Our first phone call he talked about gaining trust with us. I think he’s starting to do that. I love him so far. Very fiery. … And we appreciate all of that.”

It took some time for LaPorta to look like himself in 2024 — he averaged 37.3 yards through the season’s first six games, and his targets in that span (17) trailed receivers Amon-Ra St. Brown (50) and Jameson Williams (30) and running back Jahmyr Gibbs (22) — but he got rolling midseason and finished strong, averaging 67 yards over the regular season’s final five weeks.

The early dip in production concerned some who hoped LaPorta would continue a linear ascent following his record-breaking rookie season, but LaPorta wasn’t sweating much. He’ll never turn down more targets, but he’s aware of the talent surrounding him. Sometimes, passes wouldn’t come his way. Other times, he’d be fed. That’s the nature of being a part of an offense with two 1,000-yard receivers (St. Brown and Williams) and perhaps the league’s best tandem at running back (Gibbs and David Montgomery).

“There were a lot of weapons last year, so I kept hearing comments this offseason, ‘Why didn’t you get the ball as much?’” LaPorta said. “It’s like, ‘Dude, we scored the most points of any team in the NFL in the last five years. Everybody deserves the ball.’”

LaPorta expects the offense to look similar despite Ben Johnson’s exit to Chicago, but he’s open to hearing new ideas from new coordinator John Morton: “There might be different ways that Johnny wants to give me the ball, maybe other areas where we might step away from it,” LaPorta said.

“I think there’s a relationship that needs to be built there as well, and we’ll learn what each other needs.”

ALLEN PARK — Rookie minicamp can be overwhelming.

The on-field work isn’t terribly taxing compared to what’ll come in training camp, but first-year players are often drinking from a firehose — learning the playbook and getting mental reps is the biggest test — when they initially arrive in the building of the NFL team that drafted them less than a month prior. Doing this amongst a crowd of new coaches and teammates makes it all the more challenging.

But for wide receiver Dominic Lovett, who the Detroit Lions selected with the 244th overall pick, he’s got a familiar shoulder to lean on.

“I’ve seen (cornerback) Ennis (Rakestraw Jr.) around the building. I almost cried. He’s done gotten so big. He’s grown up,” Lovett, clearly a jokester, said Friday after the first practice of rookie minicamp. “That was a great full-circle moment because Ennis really helped me when I got to Mizzou. He was that big-brother figure for me. Just to come back, see him — him basically being another big brother for me, just at a higher level, the highest level, I can’t ask for more than that.”

Lovett and Rakestraw spent two seasons together at Missouri (2021-22) before the former transferred to Georgia ahead of the 2023 season. Rakestraw, Detroit’s second-round pick in last year’s draft, arrived to college one year ahead of Lovett, and he imparted his knowledge on the receiver early on in their overlapping tenures.

“I would say that Ennis helped me from Day 1 when I was at Missouri, all the way up until now,” Lovett told reporters through a Zoom call April 26, shortly after the Lions drafted him. “We had great battles, one-on-ones. There were days he got the best of me and there were days that I got the best of him. But every day after practice, he would stay with me and help me with something on how I can beat a defender and what a defender doesn’t like. And vice versa, I would also give him tips, as well. … Even when I was at Georgia, I could still call him and get tips.

“And now that we’re teammates, man, it really just come full circle.”

It’s no guarantee Lovett makes Detroit’s initial 53-man crew as a rookie — standing out as a seventh-round pick is difficult on one of the NFL’s best teams — but his path to the active roster is clear: Make the most of his moments on offense, and (more importantly) shine when given a chance on special teams.

Lovett didn’t play much on special teams at Missouri, but he served an important role on punt coverage while at Georgia. The Bulldogs allowed 57 yards on punt returns last season, but they didn’t allow a single yard in 2023. That’s a credit to punter Brett Thorson and Georgia’s gunners — Lovett and Arian Smith, who the New York Jets selected in the fourth round last month.

“Honestly, it was really just hard work,” Lovett said of the incredible defense on punt return. “Really, the big thing is probably communication, just being on the same page as the other 10 guys with you, knowing what everybody’s assignment was, where they had to be. Shout out to the greatest punter in the world. You know who you are.”

Lovett added: “I didn’t play special teams until I got to Georgia. That’s where I found my value — actually, my love in it. I feel like special teams is just another way to be on the field and also another way to compete. I feel like it’s a one-on-one battle from the man across from you. It’s just you versus him. I told them I’m willing to do whatever to get on the field. So, you need me on special teams? I’ll do it to the best of my ability and have fun.”

Lovett (5-foot-10, 185 pounds) spent most of his time at Georgia in the slot, but he’s confident in his ability to play on the outside. Lovett did receive 223 snaps out wide when he was a freshman at Missouri, though that number shrank in 2022 (54), 2023 (82) and 2024 (79), as he took on more of a slot-centric role.

But just because he didn’t see much opportunity there doesn’t mean he thinks he can’t get the job done, if needed.

“It don’t really bother me,” Lovett said of those who claim he can’t play on the outside. “It’s an adjustment. Everybody has to get adjusted. That’s a challenge that I’m ready to take on. When the time comes, I’m just going to do what I do.”

The Detroit Lions have been quite active throughout the duration of the 2025 NFL Draft, having pulled off three trades.

Finally, the team addressed the defensive end position. In the sixth round, Detroit targeted Boise State edge rusher Ahmed Hassanein.

Last season at Boise State, Hassanein recorded 9.5 sacks and 15.5 tackles for loss in helping the Broncos reach the College Football Playoff.

According to NFL Draft analyst Dane Brugler, “Overall, Hassanein is a try-hard edge rusher with plenty of redeeming qualities that will endear him to coaches. He lacks high-level athletic traits, though, and will be low on an NFL depth chart until he improves his predictability as a pass rusher. Given his meager football experience, NFL teams are intrigued by his untapped upside.”

In the first-round, the Lions selected defensive tackle Tyleik Williams from Ohio State. An anchor for the Buckeyes’ national championship team, he projects as an immediate rotational contributor on the defensive line against the run with pass-rush developmental upside.

Holmes was active in trading up on the second day of the draft. He first traded up three spots with the Denver Broncos to acquire Georgia offensive lineman Tate Ratledge. After Kevin Zeitler’s departure, Ratledge appears to be a potential competitor for a starting spot right away.

In the third round, Holmes traded up 32 spots with the Jacksonville Jaguars to select Arkansas wide receiver Isaac TeSlaa. A Hudsonville native who wore a custom Lions jersey to his top-30 visit with the team, TeSlaa is a big and fast wideout with the potential to contribute either in the slot or out wide on the perimeter.

Detroit’s first Day 3 selection came in the fifth round, as Holmes swapped two picks to move up 11 spots and select LSU offensive lineman Miles Frazier with the 171st pick of the draft.

This article was produced by the staff at Detroit Lions On SI. For more, visit si.com/nfl/lions