• On their sixth day of training camp (yesterday), the Lions practiced in full pads in the morning and were in shells for a special teams session in the afternoon.
• Yesterday's two practices were open to the public, and there was a good showing of fans at the Lions' practice facility (around 500 for the morning practice).  Players and coaches stuck around after each practice to sign autographs and chat with fans, so it had to be a fun experience for those that went.  The next pair of open practices will be on Friday.  The morning session begins at 8:35 a.m., and the afternoon special teams practice starts at 3:30 p.m.
• Center Dominic Raiola sprained his ankle and missed Tuesday's morning practice.  Raiola has started 96 consecutive games, so it was a rarity that we saw the Lions' backup centers on the field for an entire practice.  Raiola's absence was evident, by the way, as the backup centers combined for six fumbled snaps during the practice.
• Ernie Sims is not likely going to play in the Lions' first preseason game against the Super Bowl-champion New York Giants.
• Defensive tackle Langston Moore, who has looked good in practice as of late, sprained his shoulder and had an MRI yesterday.
• Rookie fullback Jerome Felton put a huge hit on linebacker Buster Davis.
• No changes have been made to the PUP list.
• Lions cornerback Leigh Bodden will make more money in 2008 than Browns defensive tackle Shaun Rogers.
• Defensive tackle Chuck Darby is glad to be on a team that Rod Marinelli coaches.
• Kicker/punter Paul Ernster was waived by the Lions.  He signed with Detroit back in April to only be a training camp body.  Every year there are kickers and punters that are on the Lions' roster during camp, but only Jason Hanson and Nick Harris are left by the time the season starts.
• Rookies Jordon Dizon and Kevin Smith are writing training camp diaries on the Lions' official website.
• Below is some info on the players being honored during the Lions' 12th annual kickoff luncheon that will take place on August 27.

  The entire team annually attends the luncheon and awards from the 2007 season will be presented. Players receiving awards will include: Most Valuable Players Dominic Raiola (offense), Ernie Sims (defense) and Alex Lewis (special teams). Other awards will go to Gerald Alexander, Jared DeVries, Mike Furrey, Stephen Peterman, Cory Redding and Keith Smith.

• MLive, the Free Press, and the News all have photo galleries up from Tuesday.
• Emmitt Smith has been replaced on ESPN's NFL Countdown by Cris Carter.  The move is long overdue as Smith was terrible on the show, but it will be sad to see him go as he unintentionally provided so many laughs on Sunday mornings.  The former Cowboys running back will still be on Monday Night Countdown.
• Brett Favre has officially filed for reinstatement, meaning he is now un-retired.  As Terrell Owens would say, get ya popcorn ready, because things are about to get very interesting in Packers country.

• Saturday?  Although I rarely post on the weekends in the offseason, I felt there was a need to today since so much is going on right now with the start of training camp.  I can't tell you for sure if there will be another post tomorrow or if weekend posts will continue in the future, but as long as there is a lot to talk about, I will keep you all updated regardless of the time of the week.
• Anyways, getting to the important stuff, the Lions' second day of practice was held outside for both sessions.  In the morning the Lions wore full pads and in the afternoon were in shells.
• Jordon Dizon was able to get out on the practice field in the afternoon after missing the morning session.  He also said that he regrets not telling the Lions about his drunk driving arrest that happened just days before the draft.  He only came clean with Rod Marinelli once the arrest became public knowledge, but at least he did admit his mistake.
  
• Cornerback Leigh Bodden has officially signed his four-year, $27 million contract extension.  Back on Thursday, Bodden picked off a pass and returned it for a touchdown.  That was before he found out about his contract extension, too.  I bet he was pretty happy how his first day of Lions training camp went.
• On Friday, Bodden got another interception, and linebackers Paris Lenon and Buster Davis also got a couple of picks, although Davis was stripped by Calvin Johnson after the INT.  Is it just me, or are there way too many interceptions being thrown?  I know the Lions don't have the best QBs around, but man, it seems like a lot of passes are being picked off.
  
• Ernie Sims participated in team drills on Friday after not being a part of them on Thursday.  That's good news as it obviously means his injury isn't too big of a concern right now.
• There have been no changes to the PUP list despite some speculation that a player or two would be taken off and put on the active roster.
• Rookie running back Kevin Smith was treated like the rookie he is by a couple of veterans after his first practice.  He had to carry the shoulder pads and helmets of Tatum Bell and Aveion Cason.
• College quarterback turned NFL receiver Reggie Ball injured his knee yesterday in practice.
• An Army graduate and one-time Tigers draft pick thinks that Caleb Campbell would better serve the Army by playing for the Lions rather than possibly going to Iraq in the future.
• Speaking of Campbell, somebody needs to tell CNN he was a seventh-round pick, not a first-rounder.
• The Free Press has a partial transcript up of Matt Millen's recent interview on WDFN.
• MLive has a photo gallery of the Lions' second day of camp up.
• NBC will stream its Sunday night football games on the Internet for free.  This is the first time NFL games will be live on the Internet for free, and as expected, other networks aren't exactly thrilled about this development.
• Finally, in an unrelated note, I f***ing hate Todd Jones.  The Tigers went from being 4.5 games back to 6.5 as Jones served up a home run with only 1 more out needed for the win.  They don't call him Roller Coaster for nothing.

According to the NFL Network, the Lions have signed cornerback Leigh Bodden to a four-year contract extension.  Bodden told the Free Press earlier today that nothing had been agreed to yet, but I imagine that's only because nothing was official at the time.

Via PFT, here are the details of the extension.

Adam Schefter of NFL Network reports that the Lions have reached an agreement with Bodden on a four-year, $27 million contract extension.

Bodden has two years left on his current contract at base salaries of $1.7 million in 2008 and $1.8 million in 2009. But the Lions have given him a hefty raise in order to keep him around and keep him happy.

Per Schefter, Bodden will receive a $2 million signing bonus immediately and an option bonus of $8.6 million at the beginning of March. The option bonus is not guaranteed, meaning if Bodden has a bad year, the team could cut him loose and let him become an unrestricted free agent on the first day of the 2009 league year.

If the Lions do exercise the option bonus, Bodden will be under contract through the 2013 season.

Bodden didn't want to wait until after this season to get his contract extended, so it's probably good that the Lions did get it done now to keep him happy.

• Lions players report to Allen Park today to signal the beginning of training camp.  It doesn't officially start until tomorrow morning when the Lions have their first practice, but to compare it to Christmas, the presents are under the tree waiting to be unwrapped.  Once the pads start popping, we'll know football is finally back.
• Four players may start training camp on the physically unable to perform (PUP) list.  Those players are tight end Dan Campbell, linebacker Ernie Sims, safety Daniel Bullocks, and wide receiver Shaun McDonald, who are all dealing with injuries. 
  
  The reason for a player being on the PUP list is because he doesn't count against the active roster.  If he's injured and can't practice, then the Lions (or any team) can use his absence as a way to bring in another player to occupy the void.  Once the player is healthy enough to get back on the football field, he is simply taken off the PUP list and that's that.  The whole deal with the PUP list gets much more complicated once the season rolls around as the rules change a bit, but for now we won't worry about that.
• The Lions will not sign a fourth quarterback for training camp.  Why?  Well, Lions coaches want Dan Orlovsky and Drew Stanton to get as many reps as possible, and Detroit wants to fill up roster spots at other positions.
• Mike O'Hara took a look at some issues the Lions will face when training camp begins.  The last one he mentioned is that Detroit is having trouble selling tickets, meaning that blackouts are a real possibility for home games this season.  There were a few home games last year that were nearly blacked out, but the Lions always ended up getting all of their tickets sold one way or another.  This year, though, could prove to be much different as it is already evident that tickets aren't selling.
  
  If the Lions don't have a sellout at some point this season, not only would it mean that the game would be blacked out locally, but it would be the first non-sellout since Ford Field opened in 2002.  Maybe that will send a message to William Clay Ford that it's time for some changes.
• Dan Orlovsky is ready to battle Drew Stanton for the right to be Jon Kitna's backup.
• Yahoo! Sports' Michael Silver ranked all 32 NFL owners, and William Clay Ford came in at 24th.  That is way, way too high as WCF is one of the worst owners in the league.  I mean, seriously, the man has kept Matt Millen around for this long.  He should be near the bottom of this list if not at the very bottom.
• The Sporting News continued to rank NFL players based on position, and the latest list was for defensive backs.  Leigh Bodden, a corner the Lions acquired in the Shaun Rogers deal, was 18th on the list.
• Former Lion Lomas Brown is excited to work with rookie offensive tackle Gosder Cherilus during training camp.

• Even though training camp begins later this week, the Lions have only signed one draft pick so far (Cliff Avril).  I imagine the later picks will be inked to deals in the coming days, but I do wonder if Detroit will be able to get all of their draft picks signed in time for training camp.  For rookies, training camp really is one of the most important times of their development, and even a few missed practices could hurt them in the long run.  With that in mind, I hope the Lions get the contracts signed soon as it would just be stupid for any rookie to get a late start.
• As stated above, training camp begins later this week.  Specifically, players report on Wednesday and practice for the first time Thursday morning.
• New Lions cornerback Leigh Bodden wants to pick off at least 10 passes this season. 
• Tom Kowalski discussed 5 questions about the Lions as training camp nears.
• Mike O'Hara has more details on open practices during training camp.
• Roger Goodell is keeping his eye on Gosder Cherilus and Jordon Dizon.  Both Cherilus and Dizon were involved in legal troubles before being drafted by the Lions, but that doesn't mean they're out of the clear.  Cherilus will get a personal conduct review and Dizon will have to deal with what I imagine is a first offense in the substance-abuse policy.
• The Sporting News ranked the top 20 tight ends, and the Lions' Michael Gaines came in at #20.
• Defensive end Jason Taylor finally got his wish and was traded to the Redskins.

• Tom Kowalski has notes on yesterday's OTA.  Something worth noting is that no rookies are starting yet.  Although that's not a big surprise, Rod Marinelli is making them earn their way into the starting lineup.  Ditto for cornerback Leigh Bodden, who was acquired from the Browns in the offseason.
• A writer from the Sporting News believes Ernie Sims can make the Pro Bowl next season.
• The Lions are claiming that what Tom Lewand said to Pat Caputo wasn't a threat.  I guess it makes more sense if Lewand was saying he would come after Caputo with a lawsuit, but regardless, the phrase shouldn't have been said anyways.
• MLive has a photo gallery of yesterday's OTA up.
• Calvin Johnson has big expectations for 2008.
• Similarly, the Lions have big expectations for Dewayne White this coming season.
• Indianapolis will host the 2012 Super Bowl.
• The NFL is enacting the idea that Michael Irvin had about sending all rookies to Canton, Ohio, for a tour of the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
• Roger Goodell talked yesterday about the possibility of adding a 17th regular season game to each team's schedule in the future.  If something like that were to happen, the preseason schedule would likely decrease to 3 games so teams still play 20 total games between the preseason and the regular season.