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Training camp has arrived, and with it a non-stop stream of observations and details about what is happening on the field: who is lining up where, which players got snaps with which units, and which camp darling made a spectacular play to get on fans’ radars. Alongside the actual football coverage by attendees like our fearless leader Jeremy Reisman, metrics maven Kent Lee Platte, and world traveler Mansur Shaheen, Lions fans know the human interest and character stories are also going to roll in by the truckload.
Let’s take a brief respite from the exciting minute-to-minute scrutiny of drills going on in Allen Park, and glance around the media coverage for the softer, warm and fuzzy interviews. Various writers posted training camp stories with a focus on intangibles or mental preparation:
Matt Wenzel at mlive.com offered a look at Frank Ragnow’s experience advantage in his return from guard to center.
Carlos Monarrez at the Detroit Free Press recorded Kerryon Johnson’s take on the Game of Thrones finale and a desire to get more carries this season.
Kerryon Johnson said he got a bit of a haircut and it will never happen again.
— Justin Rogers (@Justin_Rogers) July 25, 2019
Chris Burke from The Athletic has an article (subscription required) on C.J. Anderson’s work with school kids featuring an interesting anecdote on the Detroit front office:
Included in this story on C.J. Anderson opening a summer academy through his foundation is some insight into how he wound up with the Lions. He almost landed in Detroit late last year ...
— Chris Burke (@ChrisBurkeNFL) July 25, 2019
https://t.co/Gge0t2Wqwt pic.twitter.com/MTZYo3huIM
Mike O’Hara at the official Lions site wrote about Darius Slay’s thoughts on taking a bigger leadership role in the secondary now that Glover Quin has retired.
Kyle Meinke from mlive.com lets us know that Danny Amendola, Jarrad Davis, and the rest of the Lions don’t give a damn about what so-called experts think the team’s record will be.
Dave Birkett with the Detroit Free Press got some thoughts from veteran linebacker Christian Jones, who likes what he sees from Jahlani Tavai and believes the team has the pieces necessary to make the playoffs.
And now, on to the rest of today’s Notes:
- Chris Burke from The Athletic had what he calls a “5 pack of thoughts” in a tweet thread about the first day of Lions training camp. Among them was this thought provoker which our Kent Lee Platte agreed with:
2. Think I heard @PFF_Brett make this observation too, but Tom Savage's arm strength is probably the closest to Matthew Stafford's that Detroit has had in a backup. Does it matter? Not sure, but it might help WRs transition from reps with Savage to game action with Stafford.
— Chris Burke (@ChrisBurkeNFL) July 26, 2019
- Somebody get this guy a discounted Suh or Ebron jersey or something:
Just spotted an oh-so-rare Joey Harrington jersey at #Lions training camp.
— Paula Pasche (@paulapasche) July 26, 2019
- Jeff Ratcliffe from Pro Football Focus believes the Detroit Lions’ wide receivers have one of the five most favorable schedules from a fantasy football perspective (read: Kenny and Marv gonna go OFF).
- The winners of the helmet handoff sweepstakes are indeed getting their prizes (“winners receiving the opportunity to walk out to the practice field with a Detroit Lions player while carrying their helmet”) at training camp:
Our #HelmetHandoff kids are here reporting for duty. #LionsCamp | #OnePride pic.twitter.com/WYE83W4txX
— Rocket Mortgage by Quicken Loans (@RocketMortgage) July 26, 2019
- This really is crazy:
Crazy coaching stats
— Warren Sharp (@SharpFootball) July 25, 2019
• Only 3 OCs have been w their team longer than 1 year
• Avg OC is 45 yrs old w 11 OCs under the age of 40
• Nearly half the NFL is using their HC as their play caller
Means training camp is vital for chemistry & adapting
More: https://t.co/jDbct7PQOw pic.twitter.com/Pc4x3onV5R