Detroit Lions: What We've Learned Through Week 2 of Training Camp

The eve of the Detroit Lions' first game in over seven months is a time for reflection. You should spend the buildup to the Thursday evening kickoff thinking about what this offseason has meant to you and everything you've learned.

That's what I'm here to do. I want to guide you through the meditation to reach your Zen level of understanding.

Or you can click through to find out the five things we've noticed through the second week of camp while acting like you're working. That's what I'd do.

Zen is overrated.

The Coaches Will Be Flexible

Stephan Savoia/Associated Press

The NFL's new point-after rule has Detroit's top minds ready to adapt for whatever is thrown at them.

For those who aren't aware, point-after kicks worth one point will be taken from the 15, equaling the distance of a 33-yard field goal—an easy chip shot, but not a lock like before.

However, teams can still go for two points from the 2-yard line. Head coach Jim Caldwell has been around so long that he probably remembers the goal posts when they were stationed on the goal line (he was a college coach then), so he isn't fazed by the change, per Josh Katzenstein of the Detroit News:

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When you go on the road with the wind and all those conditions, it may make you think about going for 2 a little bit more often. But even more so, I’m sure there are going to be some teams that we play against — (and) we may be one of them — that decide to go for 2 every single time. So with the point differential, you’re going to have to be good at that particular execution of the 2-point play.

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That same flexibility is apparent across the board according to the actions and statements of offensive coordinator Joe Lombardi. He admitted to Carlos Monarrez and Dave Birkett of the Detroit Free Press that he should have simplified the offense earlier than he did last year.

That type of honesty shows a dedication to learning and improving instead of stubbornness, and that's how you create long-term competitiveness.

Look at the New England Patriots. They started out as a plucky defensive team, then transitioned to an offensive juggernaut and then signed the most expensive cornerback on the market after years of frugality.

Adapt or die. Or in this case, adapt or get fired.

Talk Is Cheap

Paul Sancya/Associated Press

For a little more than a week, Eric Ebron didn't have anything he wanted to say. Or maybe he just didn't want to talk to those who were asking the questions.

Whatever the reason, Ebron stayed silent, refusing to entertain questions from the media until this week.

Ebron admitted to Kyle Meinke of Mlive Media Group that he "wasn't 100 percent last year," adding he "could never get healthy." He also went as far to say his "rookie season was not a disappointment, "but to [him], it was a learning experience."

For a man who considers himself "a clown," it's somewhat concerning that he isn't anywhere near as jovial as he was this time last year. However, the trade-off is a more focused Ebron taking the mistakes of 2014 and turning them into opportunities in 2015.

Here's betting the fans are more restless for scores than for quotes.

Two Surprise Veterans Are Hoping for a Callback

Marcio Jose Sanchez/Associated Press

Buried deep in a couple of beat writers' camp observations was an interesting nugget that doesn't get discussed often: off-roster depth.

There is no official term to my knowledge, but teams keep scouting reports of non-practice-squad-eligible players who can help in times of injury. Obviously, there's nothing that stops another team from scooping said depth, yet teams can't be stalled by injury when it gets late in the season. They must be prepared.

Cornerback R.J. Stanford and defensive tackle Jermelle Cudjo are two guys bound for that list.

The former was noted by Michael Rothstein of ESPN.com for "popping up more and more" with pass breakups and sticky coverage and the latter by Dave Birkett of the Detroit Free Press for making plays in the backfield and getting jotted down in his notebook every practice.

Again, neither is likely to make the original 53-man roster without an injury or two, but it's comforting to know they're out there.

The Linebackers Are Loaded

Paul Sancya/Associated Press

More than likely, you probably already knew the Lions were set at linebacker. You just didn't realize how much so.

Obviously, DeAndre Levy and Tahir Whitehead were integral to last year's success. However, the names to be thinking about as we barrel toward September 13 are Stephen Tulloch and Kyle Van Noy.

The captain has returned with a flair. Alex Reno of Pride of Detroit stated such in his latest observational piece: "he looks even healthier now than he did before the injury last year, and he's been around the ball at all times during running drills."

And now he may be joined by a new weapon in the making. Van Noy has seemingly turned his early troubles defending the pass into his own learning experience and is starting to look the part of a second-rounder, per Kyle Meinke of Mlive Media Group.

Justin Rogers of Mlive Media Group described at least three passes defended for Van Noy earlier this week. It appears Jim Caldwell hasn't missed the uptick in confidence and performance and ruminated on the subjects to Rogers:

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I think that's one of the areas [coverage] where it's his strong suit. He really can move in space, has a very good feel for reading routes and being able to get his hands on balls on the break. He's working at it and improving, but there's a lot of other things he's just got to keep growing and developing in and I think he's doing that.

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The Lions brought in Tulloch years ago to be the lead wolf of the defense. Now it appears his pack of linebackers is fully formed with a reserve who gives defensive coordinator Teryl Austin options. That's an enticing thought for Lions fans.

Ditching His Walker

Uncredited/Associated Press

Things weren't looking terrible for Tyrunn Walker last week, but there wasn't anything to latch onto either.

In fact, Justin Rogers of Mlive Media Group opined that Walker looked the slowest of the defensive tackles. That may be excusable if Caraun Reid and Gabe Wright have serious get-up-and-go. It isn't when you remember that there are seven defensive tackles currently on the roster.

However, as Jay-Z told me when I was still in high school, it's funny what seven days can change.

Walker told Michael Rothstein of ESPN.com he was only at "'over 70'" percent last week in terms of understanding his role and what's expected of him. Now, his defensive line coach Kris Kocurek thinks he is putting it all together:

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He'd always been told to get a little bit more weight back, get a little wider in your stance and mirror some of the guards. We're asking him to narrow your stance down, get as much weight forward as you can and get into them guards as fast as you can.

About halfway through OTAs, you saw it, the light switch like, 'Hey, I can do this, you know.' Then he started out camp and been nothing but getting better.

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Detroit needs each defensive tackle—save for Haloti Ngata—to be better than he was and scale up his production. And when everything sinks in, that's when these guys will be able to play with their instincts and explode rather than think their way through everything.

Brandon Alisoglu is a Detroit Lions Featured Columnist who has written about the Lions on multiple sites. He also co-hosts a Lions-centric podcast, Lions Central Radio. Yell at him on Twitter about how wrong he is @BrandonAlisoglu.