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Lions OTAs: Rodney Austin, Corey Hilliard get turn with No. 1 offensive line

The Detroit Lions had Rodney Austin and Corey Hilliard practicing with their No. 1 offensive line on Wednesday.

Andrew Weber-US PRESSWIRE

When the Detroit Lions first opened up their OTAs to the media last week, head coach Jim Schwartz stressed to not read too much into who was lining up with the first team. He noted that the Lions are rotating players to give multiple guys a chance to run with the first team, and since the media only got to view one practice, they were merely getting a snapshot of that day's No. 1 offense and defense.

Proof of this came when the media got access to the Lions' OTA on Wednesday. Last week, Dylan Gandy and Jason Fox served as the No. 1 right guard and right tackle, but the rotation was different this time around, according to Dave Birkett. Rodney Austin and Corey Hilliard were with the No. 1 offensive line this time, as were Riley Reiff, Rob Sims and Dominic Raiola.

Austin and Hilliard are just two of the players hoping to win the vacant starting jobs on the right side of the O-line. Gandy and Bill Nagy are also in the mix with Austin at right guard, but rookie Larry Warford remains the favorite to lock down that spot. At right tackle, Hilliard and Fox should be the main competitors for the starting job with Reiff at left tackle.

In other rotation news, Chris Houston and Ron Bartell were the No. 1 cornerbacks on Wednesday, according to Birkett. Also, the Lions had Bill Bentley at nickelback, Travis Lewis at outside linebacker and Don Carey in Louis Delmas' spot at safety.

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