Lions training camp: Big plays from Jack Campbell, Jameson Williams

Wednesday was the Detroit Lions’ official end to training camp practice, and it was supposed to end with a bang. Coach Dan Campbell wanted to close out the week with a full-on scrimmage, but, unfortunately, with the amount of injuries the team is dealing with, they opted to dial down the intensity of Wednesday’s practice.

“We’re going to have to back down,” Campbell told 97.1 The Ticket before practice. “We are going to start with 9-on-7. I’m going to take the pads off and it’s going to be a little more ones vs. ones, with twos mixed in. We’ll load them away. We had to adjust a little bit, which is fine.”

But as Campbell pointed out, there were still a ton of team drills to break down, so let’s do that on Day 14 of our Detroit Lions training camp recaps.

And to catch up on the latest injury news and participation reports, check out this post.

Some safety adjustments

With Brian Branch out, the Lions played around with their safety pairings. When working on 9-on-7s (run support), it was C.J. Moore and Ifeatu Melifonwu with the first team. But when they broke for team drills, it was Kerby Joseph and Brandon Joseph who saw the most time with the ones—with Melifonwu getting some time there as well.

Brandon Joseph has been having a great stretch of camp, so it’s not surprising to see him get the temporary promotion in Branch’s absence.

“The thing that B-Jo brings to this team is he’s a very, very heady player,” defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn said on Wednesday. “He understands this game inside and out, he’s almost like an extra coach out there, so when he’s out there with the young players, he’s able to direct those guys on what we’re doing and how we’re doing it.”

Jack Campbell's coverage skills on display

Campbell was my early standout in practice, particularly during the 9-on-7 drills. His violence and aggression make him an ideal off-ball run defender.

But what will make Campbell special in Year 2 is his growth in coverage, as explained by Glenn before practice.

“His ability to drop in coverage has improved tremendously, and that was one thing we’re going to ask of him,” Glenn said. “His ability to match guys has improved tremendously, and that’s going to help us be a better defense.”

Seemingly on cue, Campbell picked off Jared Goff in a team drill during practice where he sat in a zone, read Goff’s eyes, and made the play.

There are still some inconsistencies here and there—a blown coverage late in practice seemed to be in his neck of the woods—but it is easy to see the game slowing down for the second-year player.

Jameson Williams hype

The Lions are going to rely a ton on Williams this year, and while there are still some inconsistencies, Wednesday was a strong practice for the third-year receiver. He had the catch of the day, fully extending to haul in a two-point conversion on a fade play—and somehow got both feet inbounds. Shortly after that, he made a key play during a situational drill, pulling in a 21-yard crossing route that set the offense up in the red zone.

What is most impressive about Williams’ camp is he’s winning in different ways. It’s not just vertical routes and it’s not just speed. The releases are better and the routes are crisper.

But at the same time, it’s not happening every down. For example, on a deep shot, Kindle Vildor’s physical jam at the line proved to be too much for Williams, messing up the timing of the play and leading to an overthrow.

While I’m on the topic, Vildor has put together two impressive practices working with the first-team defense. In addition to the above play, he also had a teach tape rep lined up opposite Amon-Ra St. Brown for a red zone play. Jared Goff threw a nice fade to St. Brown, but Vildor was all over it, elevated, and swatted the ball away for the incompletion. Vildor may be down on the depth chart, but he’s still proving he can look the part with starters.

Scrimmage...ish

While the Lions ditched scrimmage plans, they did something similar to a scrimmage. Basically, this was how it worked:

Score: 21-21, 4:57 left, each team with 2 timeouts

The first-team offense would go up against the first-team offense, and the second-teams would pick up wherever that drive ended.

First drive (first team)

A tackle for loss by Kerby Joseph on the very first play set the first-team offense back, and they wouldn’t recover. On third-and-medium, Goff was waiting for St. Brown to come open on a crosser route, but the Lions quarterback didn’t see Campbell reading his eyes for the aforementioned pick.

Second drive (second team)

Hendon Hooker and the second-team offense took the ball over at the defense’s 22-yard line, and it only took them a single play to find the end zone. Kaden Davis broke wide open, with newly-signed cornerback Essang Bassey the closest defender several yards away. Hooker hit him in stride for an easy score and a 28-21 second-team offense lead with 3:17 remaining.

It was a tough look for Bassey, but it’s worth noting he had a brilliant pass breakup on an accurate pass to Tom Kennedy.

Third drive (first-team)

Unsurprisingly, Goff targeted St. Brown early and often on this drive. The All-Pro receiver picked up 8 yards by finding the soft spot in the zone, added 15 yards on a post route (that could’ve been blown up by Brandon Joseph if it was a padded practice), and closed out the drive with a touchdown catch on a pass that was lasered just beyond Jack Campbell’s outstretched reach. Williams added the two-point conversion (as mentioned earlier) to make it 29-28 first-team offense with only 50 seconds left.

Fourth drive (second-team)

Despite starting at the 30-yard line and only needing a field goal, Hooker couldn’t get anything going. Back-to-back checkdowns only picked up 8 yards to start the drive (and bled the remaining timeouts). On third down, Donovan Peoples-Jones dropped a pass that it appeared he was expecting to get deflected by Steven Gilmore. Then on fourth down, Hooker held onto the ball too long and was sacked. Win for the first-team offense.

Final situational drill

The first-teamers were put into this situation to close camp:

Offense, down 9 points, with 2:42 left, 1 timeout, starting on their own 30-yard line.

What followed was a 14-play touchdown drive. Here are some of the highlights:

• Goff hit Kalif Raymond with a turkey hole pass for 21 yards.
• The 21-yard crosser pass to Williams that was thrown just out of the reach of Brandon Joseph.
• A fourth-down interference call that was not made by the officials, but Dan Campbell himself—perhaps just to keep the drill alive.
• A red zone sack by Aidan Hutchinson. While whistles blew the play dead, Goff continued the play and was picked off by Amik Robertson, who continues to have an excellent camp.
• A fade touchdown to St. Brown with Kerby Joseph in relatively good coverage.

After pulling the score to just two points, the Lions opted to just give the ball back to the offense, with no onside kick attempted. From there, the offense started on their own 45-yard line with 45 seconds left and no timeouts.

It only took two plays to get into scoring position. With Loren Strickland filling in at nickel, St. Brown beat him on a wheel-ish route for 21 yards, and then a linebacker coverage bust left Craig Reynolds wide-open for a 25-yard gain. Detroit would intentionally bleed the rest of the clock, and Jake Bates booted a 32-yard field goal to win it.

Odds and ends

• So-so day for Bates. He made field goals of 32 and 35 yards and made an extra point. But he also missed an extra point and doinked a 53-yard field goal off the left upright.
• With the CB injuries, Strickland was the second-team nickel behind Amik Robertson. While Steven Gilmore and Essang Bassey were the second-team outside cornerbacks, Vildor and Khalil Dorsey remain the current “starters.”
• Parker Hesse continues to be the only tight end I see rep at fullback.
• The WR3 battle may be over. As was trending in earlier practices, the Lions almost exclusively had Kalif Raymond with St. Brown and Williams when they went three wide (with St. Brown on the outside). The only exception I saw was in the red zone, where Peoples-Jones replaced Raymond for another big-bodied option. I did not have any notes about Daurice Fountain today.