ALLEN PARK, Mich. -- The next time the Detroit Lions are on their practice field, it’ll be after the team has played the New York Jets in the preseason opener.
So a lot will have been gleaned by then about where some players stand in terms of making the team, winning a starting job or potentially even the amount of reps they receive.
Some of that came through Tuesday, during the Lions’ final open practice before the opener. Here are some things that I saw.
1. Matthew Stafford continues to look really good: The Detroit Lions starter added another strong practice Tuesday, and while I wouldn’t expect to see much of him Thursday against the Jets, he is putting together a very, very strong training camp. By my count, Stafford was 10 of 12 on Tuesday -- and one of the incomplete passes was a drop by Corey Fuller. Stafford has always had a strong arm capable of making every throw, but his accuracy seems to be improving so far this season. It’ll be interesting to see if it translates into games.
2. Don’t be surprised if Kellen Moore receives a lot of snaps Thursday: While I don’t expect Stafford to play much, I think Moore will play a lot against New York. He received the majority of the No. 2 snaps Tuesday and unlike Dan Orlovsky, there are still questions about what Moore can do. He’s been pretty inconsistent throughout camp, so this would be a big opportunity for him in the backup quarterback battle. He’s going to be given many opportunities to unseat Orlovsky, but it’ll start Thursday. For instance, Moore had back-to-back botched snaps during a team period Tuesday, but recovered well enough during one to complete a pass to Brandon Pettigrew.
3. Michael Williams once again received first-team reps at right tackle: This was likely to get Cornelius Lucas some added reps at left tackle (albeit with the second team) but it’s a good sign for Williams that he is receiving some No. 1 reps and doing well with them. He had one of his better days of practice Tuesday and beat Darryl Tapp in both of his one-on-one pass rush reps. Offensive coordinator Joe Lombardi said Williams was maybe his most improved player in camp thus far and he’s played like it. He’s still in a stiff battle for the No. 4 tackle spot with Corey Robinson, but he is starting to look like he is pulling away a little bit. He would be an interesting piece for the Lions to have considering he is a former tight end.
4. A lot of running work going on: This is more about the injured guys, but all of the injured players other than Joseph Fauria and Haloti Ngata did at least some running work off to the side Tuesday. Joique Bell continues to look like he’s ramping up speed to a return, which is a good sign both for him and the Lions. Ryan Broyles also looked OK doing some light jogging and Jim Caldwell wouldn’t rule him out for Thursday. Jason Jones ran for the second straight day and LaAdrian Waddle continued his rehab with running work. Alex Carter also did some running. The main notes here are the potential for Broyles, who is fighting for a roster spot, to play and that Bell continues to look stronger and stronger by the day.
5. R.J. Stanford is quietly doing well: He’s pretty deep on the depth chart and I give credit for initially pointing this out to MLive’s Justin Rogers, but R.J. Stanford has been slowly popping up more and more. He had a nice pass breakup in one-on-one battles with wide receivers today and also had another really strong defense on a pass in one-on-one coverage. This was mostly against third-tier receivers at this point, but he could be a guy to watch as a surprise, especially if Carter’s ankle injury lingers. Detroit is somewhat short on outside corners after the starters, so pay attention to where -- or if – Stanford gets any special teams work Thursday.
6. A third 39: The No. 39 has been worn by three separate players during this training camp. Mohammed Seisay started out with the number before being traded to Seattle. Then Ethan Davis was given the number when he was signed last week. This week – it’s going to just-signed Jocquel Skinner.