Allen Park — Here are some notes and observations from Tuesday’s joint training camp practice between the New York Giants and Detroit Lions.
These shared practices get a little chaotic. To maximize our coverage, I looped in colleague Nolan Bianchi. I spent the day watching Detroit’s offense, while he kept tabs on the defense. To keep things organized below, our initials will be tacked on at the end of each of our observations.
▶ It’s of mild concern, and didn’t limit him in any way, but Lions quarterback Jared Goff was sporting a knee brace on his left knee. It’s made sporadic appearances throughout the offseason, but I hadn’t recalled seeing him wear it since camp began. After practice, he noted he wears the brace every Sunday and was just getting used to it again ahead of the season. — JR
▶ Emotions were largely kept in check, with only a few extra shoves after the whistle. Detroit’s defensive backs were not backing down, with C.J. Gardner-Johnson, Starling Thomas V and Brady Breeze all giving a little extra after snaps. For Thomas and Breeze, that’s par for the course. — JR
▶ This was an important practice for undrafted rookie receiver Dylan Drummond, who has been a bright spot through two weeks of camp. And, to be fair, he looked a little shell-shocked to open this practice, not catching any of his three one-on-one reps against New York’s defensive backs.
But when things shifted to team periods, Drummond came to life and continued his steady reliability as a target for backup quarterback Nate Sudfeld. Drummond easily found space several times and showed reliable hands when targeted, including an impressive grab on a corner route over safety Jason Pinnock. — JR
▶ It was an up-and-down day for Thomas, who broke up two of his one-on-one reps, including one interception and a late punch-out against Jalin Hyatt. Later in practice, the rookie corner didn’t get his head around, conceding a touchdown on a fade route to Collin Johnson. But Thomas rebounded and closed the day out with another PBU in the end zone on a throw to Kalil Pimpleton, the former Central Michigan standout who was in camp with the Lions last offseason. — NB
▶ Let it be known, Marvin Jones still has gas in the tank. The veteran receiver, who turned 33 in March, flashed a career-spanning ability to win contested catches with superb body control, hauling in an impressive deep ball over cornerback Darren Evans. — JR
▶ Simply put, the Giants’ offense didn’t have its best day. Quarterback Daniel Jones was inaccurate — he was 5-for-12 during 11-on-11 drills, with three interceptions — rendering an offense that already lacks creativity lifeless. A significant portion of Jones’ completions were easy pitch-and-catches to a receiver out of the backfield or taking advantage of a soft zone. The Lions’ first-team defense also had no issue bottling up running back Saquon Barkley for the day, stuffing his first three carries. — NB
▶ Sterling Shepard had the best day of any Giants offensive player, but that could largely be attributed to a veteran receiver taking advantage of second-teamers. Giants receiver Parris Campbell departed briefly after an awkward collision but later returned to practice. — NB
▶ Frank Ragnow, Jonah Jackson and Denzel Mims (ankle) were sidelined Tuesday. Ragnow was tending to a personal matter, while Jackson and Mims have injuries that aren’t considered serious.
Graham Glasgow filled in at center, while Kayode Awosika handled most of the reps in place of Jackson at left guard. Newcomer Bobby Hart saw work at right guard with the third-team offense. — JR
▶ While Lions defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn recently warned against reading into who’s getting reps with whom, Detroit’s rotation at safety can no longer be ignored. A majority of snaps featured Gardner-Johnson and Joseph up top with rookie Brian Branch at nickel. Tracy Walker was running with the second team almost exclusively on Tuesday. There’s a lot of time between now and the regular season, but if nothing else, Branch’s play early on has earned him a vote of confidence from the Lions. — NB
▶ Once the Lions shifted to full-team offensive work, the game plan was a mix of running the ball and short passing. The ground game was mostly ineffective, although Jahmyr Gibbs flashed his speed, getting the edge on an outside run, while David Montgomery picked up a couple of nice blocks, including a two-fer from tight end Brock Wright, initially working a combo with Penei Sewell before shooting into the second level to clear out a linebacker.
The passing game was highly efficient, but rarely attacked downfield. Goff went 8-for-8 in an early seven-on-seven portion, while Sudfeld was 6-for-6 running the second-team offense. But between the two, only one pass, a post pattern to Jameson Williams, traveled more than 10 yards beyond the line of scrimmage. — JR
▶ Veteran linebacker Alex Anzalone may have had the best play for Detroit’s defense. He covered Darren Waller out of the slot on a wheel route down the sideline and made a terrific pass-breakup to set the tone early in the day. Third-year linebacker Derrick Barnes and rookie Jack Campbell split time alongside Anzalone with the first team. Barnes continues to show refinement at the position; he contributed to a handful of stuffed runs on Barkley and James Robinson. — NB
▶ I think there’s reason to be concerned about Detroit’s gunner competition. The Giants absolutely dominated those reps, shutting down reps for Thomas, Ifeatu Melifonwu, Drummond and Chase Lucas. The only player to have even moderate success was rookie receiver Antoine Green. — JR
▶ There were plenty of Lions defensive linemen who picked up small wins. Aidan Hutchinson and John Cominsky each had two sacks, with both edges contributing to more pressures and showing up huge in the run. Christian Covington batted a pass at the line. James Houston had a quarterback pressure and a tackle for loss. And Levi Onwuzurike and Josh Paschal combined for a sack. — NB
▶ It was another heavy day of national media rolling through town. The interest level in this team is as high as it’s been during my 12 years on the beat. Additionally, retired running back Marshawn Lynch and a small group of Detroit Tigers players were in attendance. — JR
▶ Practice closed with some red-zone work. The Lions’ first-team defense overcame an early pass-interference penalty against Jerry Jacobs, stuffing a pair of zone-read keepers, which drew a joyous reaction from Glenn.
For the second-team defense, Paschal recorded a sack and another pressure on Thomas’ breakup in the end zone.
For Detroit’s offense, Amon-Ra St. Brown caught a pair of passes, including a third-down conversion. With a fresh set of downs from the 5-yard line, Goff found Gibbs in the right flat on a sprint rollout to that side for a score. — JR
@detroitnews.com
Twitter: @Justin_Rogers