Detroit Lions Training Camp: 10 Things I Found Interesting (Photos)

Wednesday’s training camp practice was more of a light walk-through for the Lions than a spirited practice. 

Unlike Tuesday’s emotion-filled session, this was more subdued, but it was not lacking for excitement, as the boys in Honolulu blue and silver delivered plenty of wow moments for the big crowd in attendance.

One thing that I like this year is that the Lions have chosen to open up at least part of the west sideline for people to watch practice.  The extra room was noticeable.  This is definitely an upgrade over previous years.

The following slides contain 10 things that I found interesting.  No breaking news here, simply some random observations.

Mikel Leshoure Is a Really Big Dude

I knew Mikel Leshoure is a big guy, but what I didn’t know is that he would make Fullback Jerome Felton small.  If I didn’t know better I would say they are both fullbacks. 

Hopefully, he will be able to help the Lions out on those third-and-short situations that they have struggled with for years.

Jason Hanson Has Still Got It

Hanson was booming kicks all over the field today.  For anyone concerned about his health or if he has lost some of his skill, don’t worry, he looked great. 

He was perfect on field goals of varying distances, with the longest being 45 yards.

Louis Delmas Is Back

Delmas was flying all over the field today.   He broke up a couple of passes and seems to be his old self. 

It now appears that his injured groin was hindering him worse than he let on last year.

Suh and Vanden Bosch Are Great Examples

We have all heard the stories about how hard Ndamukong Suh and Kyle Vanden Bosch work, and today was just further proof of that. 

During full team drills, whenever a receiver caught a pass, he would keep running while the back seven would watch, but just like clockwork the closest person to the receiver at the end of his run was either Vanden Bosch or Suh. 

It was also true for chasing running backs. If that is not leading by example, I don’t know what is.

Aaron Berry Is a Tiny Dude

I always knew Berry was small, and today he looked the part.  He was matched up one-on-one against Calvin Johnson, and let’s just say it wasn’t fair. 

It might as well have been Papa Smurf out there, because he would have had as good of chance to stop Calvin as Berry did.

Derrick Williams Is Fighting For His Job

Derrick Williams is working hard and making a lot of good plays.  He looks like he knows he is fighting for his job. 

I don’t know what to make of it, because he looked really good last training camp as well and didn’t do much when given the chance to play.

DeAndre Levy Is All Grown Up

When the linebackers were doing individual drills, it was Levy who always went first. It was as if he was showing them how it’s supposed to be done. 

What was nice is that when they were part of the team drills, he was like a coach out there. 

More than one time he would talk to the other linebackers to let them know how they could have handled certain situations better. 

Stafford Looks Great

I don’t mean he looked great in drill, which he did, I mean he looks like he has bulked up to the point where he could play linebacker. 

A big deal was made of some pictures that were leaked a couple of weeks ago on the Internet that made Stafford look as if he has not worked out a day this offseason, but that is just ridiculous. 

Stafford’s chest and shoulders looked huge.

Detroit’s Tight Ends Are Really Good

Detroit’s top three tight ends were all in action, and all looked good. 

Brandon Pettigrew looks slimmer and quite a bit more fluent in his movement.  I believe now that he is more than a year removed from knee surgery, he should be more of a downfield threat. 

Will Heller nearly made an impossible catch on a ball that was thrown too high, as he managed to get his fingertips on it.  One play later, he made a nice catch along the sideline and went in for a touchdown.

Making Free Agents Wait Is a Waste

Watching this practice was very entertaining.  The big crowd on hand seemed to enjoy it.   But one has to wonder how much better it would have been if all the players that were not allowed to participate had actually taken the field. 

The free agents, along with the fact that Detroit’s top two picks were injured, took something away.  Thankfully this was the last practice before most of these guys are allowed to join. 

At the end of the day, I guess it’s a small price to pay for 10 years of labor peace.

It Is Hard Not to Root for Tim Toone

I see Toone practicing harder than anybody. I see him making play after play.   I see him smiling the whole time. 

He is also one of the few that walked over to see the fans after practice.  It just makes me wonder if its possible for the Lions to find a spot for this guy on the roster somehow.