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Below is a look at what Detroit Lions head coach Jim Schwartz had to say after Friday's training camp practice. (Quotes provided by the Lions.)
On his assessment of the first few practices: "Yeah, I think you can tell things like technique and you can tell, you know, responsibility, assignment and things like that. We've had a couple live periods where, you know, I think we've done some pretty good things. But until we're truly in competition like preseason games, we'll have a little better idea of where those guys are. We're encouraged by them. We have a lot of different options in there, a lot of guys competing for jobs. We won't lack for any of the positions up there, but it's probably too soon to really judge the competition out there."
On G/C Dylan Gandy taking over the right guard spot: "No, you've got to avoid rushing the judgment on anything. All those guys are in the mix. They're all working hard, but it's going to be a little bit like we talked about the linebackers the other day. It's going to be who can be consistent over time and who can be reliable over time. So, I'd caution against judging who leaders are and things like that because we're looking for someone who is going to be consistent over time. Not a one day of flashing the hand. But Dylan is having a very good camp. I don't want to make it sound like he's not."
On G Larry Warford's progress in camp: "He's doing fine. He's making progress. He's a rookie, he's very strong. There are things that he does well and there are other things that he still working on like a lot of the rookies."
On WR Chaz Schilens' worth: "We talked about that before camp opened about how we need playmakers to step up on offense. From the wide receiver group in general. He's got good size and he's made some plays down the field. We have good competition there too. Chris Durham had an excellent practice today down in the red zone using his size. That's another thing that a guy like Chaz Schilens can do also."
On the progress of the defense and offense and QB Matthew Stafford's assessment: "I wouldn't assess him anyway, except in the meeting rooms and for our own private consumption. We don't share any of that. I would certainly disagree that defense was ahead of the offense today. Defense got their butts kicked today."
On S Louis Delmas not participating in practice: "One of them was a day off. Again, we're just going to try to be proactive and give them days off and try to keep him from practicing when he's already sore. He was still a little bit sore and had a little bit of swelling in there today. It's not that much of a changeover what we have done."
On the balance between what he sees on the practice field versus the skill someone shows in a game: "Significant. We talked about what the offensive linemen have to do, there is technique and assignment. Same thing with catching a punt, there's technique and assignment. Nobody's bearing down on them getting ready to hit them. It's a completely different feel. It's batting practice opposed to the real thing. We're looking for guys that when it's live action, again in training camp we will not have any live punt coverage in practice, but when we get to preseason games, we want guys that make good decisions. Also, it looks the same as it does in practice."
On if a player can lose a spot more easily than win one during training camp: "I would say that's a pretty good assessment. You can tell out here who has the fundamentals of catching and who's been consistent catching. You don't want to read too much into that because again none of them have been under pressure. If they don't do well catching out here without a whole lot of pressure, it's hard to imagine them catching well when the lights come on."
On what is unique about WR Ryan Broyles' productivity on the field: "I don't know. He has that intangible of being able to get open. He's got good body control. He's got really good hands. He's very strong for his size. He might be small, but he's very strong. He just knows how to setup defenders. Plus, he has a really good feel for zones and how to stay open in zones. You can get open in zones, but you have to stay open and a lot of that depends on you knowing how the defense is going to react and where the sports in there are."
On having a veteran player like CB Ron Bartell around: "Let's call him a veteran. If they're younger than me, they're not old. He's a veteran player. He has a calming influence out there. Even when he was injured for a day and was missing practice, he was helping the younger guys. He was sharing his experience and knowledge. He's out here competing every day, but he's also trying to help the younger guys. You don't see him rattled. You see some guys that will make a play and then give up on it. Then maybe giving up on it affects the next play for them. Ron knows how to bounce back from those and how to be consistent. That's one of the things that he's shown that's always valuable. I think that's one of the things that vets bring."
On Gandy with the right guards first group two days in a row: "We're still competition. We'll mix guys up a lot and work a lot of different combinations. We want a guy that's consistent over the course of time. We have good options in there. Dylan's having a good camp. We'll see where it all shakes out. I'd caution against reading anything with any of our rotations or depth charts this time of year. We're trying to get guys reps and work a lot of different combinations. We're battling some injuries where even some guys that are out there aren't in every single period and things like that. I wouldn't read too much into that."
On Warford taking snaps at left guard: "You can't be a one trick pony. You have to be able to play a lot of them (positions). Our players have traditionally done that. We move them around quite a bit."
On K David Akers' kickoffs: "We know David can do it. It's something we're on a program for him. We'll take those all day-by-day and everything else. Sam's (Martin) had a bunch of kickoffs too."