ALLEN PARK -- Matthew Stafford is having a really, really good camp for the Detroit Lions. There’s just no other way to put it. He hasn’t been perfect, but he’s been really, really good, allaying concerns about his fitness after breaking his back each of the last two seasons.
All signs continue to point toward this guy having another very good year.
Take Friday’s practice for example. Stafford opened team drills by threading a pass deep down the left sideline for tight end T.J. Hockenson. Safety Jayron Kearse is 6-foot-4, just might be the biggest safety I’ve ever seen on a Lions practice field, and was all over Hockenson. But Stafford whistled the ball between Kearse’s hands, and Hockenson made the difficult catch.
It was a spectacular play. And it might not have even been his best play.
Detroit wrapped up practice with an end-game situation where the offense was trailing by four points as they took over at their own 46-yard line with no timeouts and 40-something seconds on the clock. Stafford kept the drive alive by hitting Jamal Agnew on a key fourth-and-4, then threw a dart to Marvin Hall in the corner of the end zone for a 32-yard touchdown.
Hall was double-covered on the play too. Jeff Okudah, the third overall pick in the draft, was smothering him. It was third-and-10, too, and time was running short. That’s quite the spot -- and Stafford put that damn football right where it needed to be, threading it between Okudah’s hands and hitting Hall in stride for a bang-bang toe-tapper in double-coverage.
That window was about this big, and Stafford hit it.
“Man, he’s been awesome,” coach Matt Patricia said. “He’s dialed in, locked into the coaching, the teaching, practice, meetings, his leadership has been outstanding. I think he’s fired up every day out there, he’s competing really hard and wants everything to be perfect, and you love the drive of everything that he does right now. It’s been great, it’s been unbelievable, and for me, it’s been awesome just to watch him take that upon himself to push the team.”
Stafford hasn’t been perfect, and he wasn’t on Friday either. There were some problems in the red zone, where receivers were struggling to get open and Stafford wasn’t getting the ball out quickly enough. He completed 12 of his 19 throws overall during team drills and seven-on-sevens, and had two interceptions. Those numbers aren’t exactly razor-like.
But here’s what you need to know about that. First, the starting receivers sat out portions of team drills, so Stafford did a lot of work with backups. Hence, why they were so damn covered all the time. Plus, three of Stafford’s seven incompletions were throwaways, which you like to see. The key to his success last year was learning to unleash the deep ball while staying out of the mistake areas that plagued him earlier in his career.
He did that for the most part on Friday, as he has throughout camp. He made some huge throws downfield, including the passes to Hockenson and Hall, and another to Kenny Golladay streaking double-covered up the right sideline. Stafford threw a bullet that Golladay speared in stride.
This is how Stafford has played for most of camp. He hasn’t been error-free, but he’s been damn close much of the time. And he’s still dropping dimes to Kenny Golladay, Marvin Jones and T.J. Hockenson -- and when those guys get breathers, like on Friday, to Isaac Nauta and Marvin Hall instead.
“He looks great, healthy,” Amendola said. “Arm is live. He’s hungry, he’s ready to go. Can’t wait to watch him in games.”
Sixteen days, Danny. Sixteen days.
Other observations from practice:
-- As I mentioned, Stafford was picked off twice in practice. The first came on an excellent play from Tracy Walker during goal-line work. Detroit emptied the backfield, and Walker deflected a pass over the middle into the air. Defensive end Romeo Okwara caught the carom as he fell to the ground, an athletic play for the big guy.
Safety Duron Harmon had the other pick, shagging a Stafford long ball that sailed on him. It was probably Stafford’s worst throw on, again, a very effective day.
-- The Lions moved practice indoors for the first time because of a series of storms that wre rolled through the area. Due to COVID regulations, only reporters who have been testing every day were allowed to observe practice. That made for an intimate setting where voices could be easily heard. Team rules prohibit me from reporting anything that was said, but let’s just say this practice gave me a whole new appreciation for receivers coach Robert Prince and special teams coordinator Brayden Coombs. Both men bring so much energy to the practice field, often running with players and everything.
“Brings the juice every single day,” Amendola said, before later adding: “Best in-shape 55-year-old I’ve ever met in my life. We work out together usually, every other day in the weight room, and he’s incredible.”
-- Yes, rookie running back D’Andre Swift missed another day of practice. He’s done very little for more than a week while tending to some kind of lower-body injury. I think it’s premature to say the injury will impact his role for the start of the season, and he was working on the side with a trainer, which is usually a good sign a player is nearing a return. He still has 16 days to get right for Chicago. But obviously a rookie missing this much time in what is already a truncated offseason isn’t ideal. Every rep means more than ever, especially for rookies, and Swift has missed a lot of reps.
-- Bo Scarbrough also didn’t practice, but joined Swift in working on the side with a trainer. Running back Kerryon Johnson and fullback Nick Bawden got maintenance days, leaving Detroit strapped in the offensive backfield. Left tackle Taylor Decker, defensive end Trey Flowers, left guard Joe Dahl and defensive lineman Da’Shawn Hand did very little while tending to injuries.
Tyrell Crosby took Decker’s spot at left tackle, while Oday Aboushi was the left guard.
The good news is Halapoulivaati Vaitai was back at right tackle after leaving practice early on Thursday. Patricia said he was just battling the heat, and his health is fine.
“He’s good,” Patricia said. “It was a hot, hot day. ‘Big V’ is a big guy.”
-- Cornerback Mike Ford left practice after sustaining some kind of leg injury. He jammed Victor Bolden to the ground, but tripped over him and fell to the ground too, clutching what appeared to be his knee area. Detroit moved practice to the other side of the field as trainers continued to evaluate Ford.
-- If the Lions ever need to clean the roof of their indoor practice facility, they should give punter Jack Fox a call. Because that guy spent much of Friday morning scraping the ceiling with some absolute moonshots. He’s in a tough fight with Arryn Sippos for the starting job, but Fox seems to have the better, more consistent leg. He pinned four straight punts inside the 11-yard line during an extended special teams period. Like I said, he’s been more consistent.
But Sippos, the rookie out of Australia, isn’t going quietly. He opened the punting period with a 39-yard punt, then rebounded with a 45-yarder along the sideline, then shots of 61 and 51 yards.
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August 29, 2020 at 04:27AM
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