Nice day for Arnold: I thought it was a really nice practice for second-year cornerback Terrion Arnold Monday. He was sticky in coverage in a 7-on-7 period on a deep shot from quarterback Jared Goff to wide receiver Isaac TeSlaa that fell incomplete because of Arnold's coverage. He also made a play on a ball thrown to wide receiver Jameson Williams in the back of the end zone in a later team red-zone period. Arnold has had a strong camp overall despite missing a couple weeks with an injury.
Dorsey back: Khalil Dorsey broke his leg back in December against Buffalo, and it's been a long road back for the reserve cornerback and special teams ace. Monday was his first practice back and it was good to see him out there on special teams taking some gunner reps. He was arguably one of the best gunners in the NFL last season before the injury.
Route tree: Williams' speed makes him one of the best deep threats in the NFL but in a 7-on-7 drill on Monday, he showed that he can be a similarly dangerous threat on short routes with the ability to run after the catch. Williams' first catch was a tight-window reception with Arnold in sticky coverage and safety Rock Ya-Sin bearing down on him on an intermediate post route. He caught another ball on a short crosser in the period and one more on a quick out route.
Trash talk: Maybe it was because Monday's practice was inside and we could just hear them better, but it seemed like assistant head coach/receivers coach Scottie Montgomery and passing game coordinator/defensive backs coach Deshea Townsend were really going at it. There were a few coverage sacks and forced scrambles that Townsend was sure to let Montgomery know about. Montgomery went right back at him when the receivers made a play, especially Tom Kennedy, who had a long catch and run weaving back and forth down the field through the secondary for a long touchdown.
LB blitz: Last season under the direction of Aaron Glenn, Detroit's defense was an aggressive unit that had the second-highest blitz percentage in the NFL at 34.6. Only Minnesota was higher (38.9). This might be an even more aggressive unit under new defensive coordinator Kelvin Sheppard. The blitz gave the Lions' offense a few issues in team periods Monday. I counted would-be sacks on blitzes from linebacker Jack Campbell on two separate occasions and a sack by linebacker Grant Stuard as well.
Veteran perspective: After the second offense vs. defense team period Goff was spotted walking off the field with veteran linebacker Alex Anzalone. Goff has talked before about how he values the input from Detroit's defensive veterans. What did they see pre-snap? Why did they play this coverage? Right after talking with Anzalone, Goff went to Sheppard, and those two had a long discussion. The goal of camp is to push the other side of the ball to be better and also share some information that could help out later when it really counts.
Catch of the day: Veteran wide receiver Tim Patrick talked a couple weeks back about his slow start to camp and how he needed to pick up his play. Patrick had a terrific, contested catch in the end zone on a 50-50 ball thrown by quarterback Hendon Hooker. Patrick made a really nice catch and got up and spun the ball in celebration. Good to see No. 12 making some plays. He caught 33 passes and three touchdowns for the Lions last season.
Situational football: Campbell had the team run through a late practice situational period where the offense had the ball at the defense's 12-yard line with 21 seconds left in a 7-on-7 game at the end of the first half. The key part was neither team had a timeout.
Goff completed a short pass to running back Jahmyr Gibbs but safety Brian Branch made a nice play on Gibbs before he could get out of bounds. Goff was forced to kill the clock on second down at the 8-yard line with just seven seconds left. Arnold broke up a pass intended for Williams in the back of the end zone with two seconds left to force the field goal. Win for the defense.
