Rookies and veterans took the field together for the first time since the draft to begin a mandatory three-day mini-camp earlier today. Every member of the Lions was in attendance minus Cory Redding, who is still unsigned after having the franchise tag placed on him. It was nice to see everyone out there, but one specific defensive tackle really stood out. Shaun Rogers, who is not known to be the friendliest face to the media, was joking with those around him and seemed to be enjoying himself. Although he isn't practicing yet since his injuries are still healing, this is great progress compared to where the situation was at last month when Rogers didn't show up to a voluntary workout.
"Sometimes things happen that you can't control, and sometimes you're humbled," Rogers said. "It's always a good thing to be humble and level-headed. So I take it in stride and come back and prepare like I prepared last year, and the year before and the year before that."
Rogers isn't the only player stuck on the sidelines due to injuries. Many others are still unable to practice, but some are getting healthier. According to Tom Kowalski, Kevin Jones is raising a few eyebrows as he is showing great signs of getting better from his foot injury.
The Lions don't want to say much about it because there's always the possibility of a setback, but they're very excited about the possibility of Jones being 100 percent ready for the start of the regular season.