Throughout training camp, the Detroit Lions\u2019 defense has been giving the offense fits. It got to a point where some may have been questioning whether the Lions\u2019 offense was going through some issues. But if Day 1 of joint practices was any indication, the Lions defense just may be that damn good.<\/p>\n
I\u2019ve probably witnessed about 10 or so joint practices in my years on the beat, and I can safely say that I have never seen such a dominant performance from a defense as I witnessed with the Lions shutting down the Dolphins offense\u2014from the first stringers all the way down to the third team.<\/p>\n
Now, this comes with one major caveat that cannot be overlooked: for the majority of practice, the Dolphins were without their top two receivers: Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle. Waddle did participate in a handful of red zone drills, but not much. We\u2019re talking about a pair of 1,000-yard receivers, so their absence is extremely important context to this story. Still, it was a very encouraging performance from the Lions\u2019 defense.<\/p>\n
Here are my overall observations from Wednesday:<\/p>\n
With Rock Ya-Sin filling in for an absent Kerby Joseph at safety, the starting cornerbacks for Detroit\u2019s defense were D.J. Reed and Dicaprio Bootle. The latter left practice early with a leg injury<\/a>, which gave an opportunity for both Nick Whiteside and Erick Hallett to get some time with the first-team defense.<\/p>\n Before practice, coach Dan Campbell also promised that he was going to work some young players in with the first-team defense, and that certainly showed up. Both Myles Adams and Isaac Ukwu got some notable reps with the starters. Campbell praised Ukwu\u2019s performance in the preseason game against the Falcons, as well.<\/p>\n \u201cUkwu hit a long arm,\u201d Campbell noted.<\/p>\n Ian Kennelly also saw some work with the first team, as he continues to challenge Loren Strickland for a depth safety role.<\/p>\n Things start even during 1-on-1s<\/p>\n Intersquad practice started with one-on-ones, and I watched the Dolphins receivers take on the Lions defenders. On live watch, it looked pretty evenly matched, but reviewing my notes, I see that the Lions starters were the ones who performed well, while the depth defensive backs struggled. I had Brian Branch with wins in all three of his matchups: one against Tarik Black and two opposite Tahj Washington\u2014who, in my opinion, was the toughest draw with Waddle and Hill out. D.J. Reed split the reps I saw, but on the play when he was beaten on an inside move, he nearly punched the ball out of Andrew Armstrong\u2019s hands, forcing the receiver to bobble it before regaining control. Rock Ya-Sin was the only player near the top of the depth chart who was definitively beaten on a rep, with Erik Ezukanma beating him deep. For what it\u2019s worth, Ya-Sin won the previous rep between the twos.<\/p>\n Among the reserves, Dicaprio Bootle struggled on back-to-back reps, but Nick Whiteside continues to stand out in a good way. He absolutely mirrored Armstrong on a rep and nearly came up with the pick and forced an incompletion in a later rep between the two.<\/p>\n The domination begins on 7-on-7s<\/p>\n While the series of seven-on-sevens began with Tua Tagovailoa hitting De\u2019Von Achane on a wheel route over Alex Anzalone, there wasn\u2019t much success for the Dolphins\u2019 offense. Reed came away with a pass breakup, Jack Campbell had strong coverage on tight end Julian Hill, and good overall coverage forced Tagovailoa to scramble and eventually hit a receiver who had already stepped out of bounds for the final rep (a flag was called for illegal touch).<\/p>\n But it was the Lions\u2019 second-team defense that really stood out during these drills. Dolphins backup quarterback Zach Wilson had three plays during the drill. Here\u2019s what happened during those three plays:<\/p>\n A pass behind the receiver bounced off Bootle\u2019s head and was intercepted by KennellyHallett absolutely blanketed Washington for a near pickWhiteside secured an interception with perfect coverage on Black<\/p>\n Full team drills started with a sack from the Lions defense on an aggressive blitz that found both Derrick Barnes and Branch meeting at Tagovailoa for the co-sack. Only Achane had a successful play for the first teamers after a defensive communication breakdown left him wide open for a 15-20 yard gain.<\/p>\n Lions coverage looked particularly sticky, as I had the Lions down with at least one coverage sack and a forced scramble during this session.<\/p>\n Then things got really sloppy for Miami\u2019s first-team offense. As the drill moved to midfield, the Dolphins\u2019 offense started with three straight penalties: offensive pass interference, then back-to-back holding calls, as Aidan Hutchinson and Marcus Davenport were a handful.<\/p>\n