Tate Ratledge described his transition from college to the NFL last season as someone trying to drink water out of a firehose. Things were moving fast, and some communication issues and missed assignments popped up early for the then rookie.

Detroit's 2025 second-round pick settled in the second half of the season and finished the year ranked in the Top 12 among all NFL guards in run blocking. He gave up only one sack and four quarterback hits over his last 12 starts.

The Lions are counting on Ratledge to take a big step forward in his second season.

"Yeah, I love where (Ratledge) came back in the spring," Lions head coach Dan Campbell said. "Looked good. You could tell he worked all through that time. And then certainly being in a building with us, he looked much more comfortable, more confident.

"Then he showed up at camp, man, in great shape. I mean, you could just tell, man, he's worked and he's trying to be conscientious. One of the things we talked about for him was obviously consistency, that's when you're a rookie, but the pad level. And it's still, it's up and down, but you can tell he's trying and he wants to do it."

The advantage Ratledge has when it comes to pad level and consistently playing lower as a 6-foot-6 guard is the fact that he has to go up against Alim McNeill every day. McNeill is compact and has made a living in this league by winning with leverage. Those battles every day have been key in helping Ratledge's pad level and fine-tuning his technique.

"Man, (McNeill)," Ratledge said with no hesitation when asked recently which defensive linemen have stood out to him in camp. "I told someone the other day how excited I am to get a full camp against him when he's 100 percent because he's really good.

"What I saw from him last year at practice, he's a completely different player now. He's explosive, strong. He's getting me better every day and we're going to go back and forth, but me going against him every day gets me better."

Ratledge said his maturation going into his second season starts with him having a better understanding of the big picture on offense, not just the assignment in front of him. He's seeing things before they happen and, in turn, things have slowed down for him.

"His attitude is right," Campbell said. "You can tell that, man, he came in saying, 'I want to be much better than I was last year. I'm going to clean a lot of this stuff up.' And everything I've seen to this point has been good. I mean, he looks good. I'm glad he's here."

TAKING ADVANTAGE OF REPS

Veteran quarterback Teddy Bridgewater didn't take part in practice Thursday, which gave undrafted rookie quarterback Luke Altmyer the opportunity to take all the second-team reps for the first time in camp.

Altmyer took advantage, making several good throws and consistently moving the second-team offense down the field. His best throw was a touchdown strike to second-year wide receiver Dominic Lovett down the right sideline on a perfectly thrown ball right in stride for Lovett.

"I've always been a reps guy," Altmyer said after practice. "The more reps the better I become, I think. You know the saying practice makes perfect. It's kind of cliché but clichés are often true and I don't let that opportunity go by."

He threw for 3,007 yards with 22 touchdowns and five interceptions at Illinois last season. Can he elevate his game enough to compete for the backup quarterback job? That will be tough, but it should be fun to watch the next few weeks.

PHYSICALITY ON THE OUTSIDE

The offensive and defensive lines obviously benefit the most from getting the pads on. It's hard to evaluate line play without them.

For a player like second-year wide receiver Isaac TeSlaa, who at 6-foot-4 and 214 pounds prides himself on playing a physical brand of football on the outside, the last few days of padded work have been important.

"Everything just steps up because you got all that protection and guys are just going to be hitting each other," TeSlaa said. "The mentality is just you got to go in there and hit them first. You have to be the hammer and not the nail."

TeSlaa earned early respect as a rookie with his willingness to be a physical presence blocking in the run game. As a receiver, he's good at shielding defenders off with his body, high pointing the football and being physical. His size makes him unique in the Lions receiver room, but his willingness to play a physical brand of ball makes him fit in nicely with players like Amon-Ra St. Brown and Jameson Williams.

"I remember coming in last year and the way I kind of earned my spot was just the way I run blocked, I think," TeSlaa said. "That should just be the mentality of everyone on our offense. You can see it watching tape. I don't think a lot of wide receiver rooms in the league are blocking or putting their shoulders down on a safety the way we are and I think we take a lot of pride in that and we're not going to let that slip."

EXTRA POINT

• The Lions have placed tight end Miles Kitselman on Reserve/Injured and signed wide receiver Tarik Black.