Welcome back: Wide receiver Jameson Williams missed the last two Detroit Lions practices with a minor shoulder injury, but was back on the Meijer Performance Center field Wednesday. He made his presence felt immediately on the first play of the first team period.
The offense was backed up inside their five-yard line and needed to create some operating space. Quarterback Jared Goff dropped back and got a nice pocket. He hit Williams on a deep comeback route to the left, right in front of cornerback Rock Ya-Sin, who was in tight coverage. It was a tough catch.
Williams had another nice play in a 7-on-7 period later in practice, beating cornerback D.J. Reed on a deep crosser for a big gain. Defenses must play Detroit's offense different when Williams is on the field.
Offensive bounce-back: I thought the defense made more plays and won Monday's scrimmage. It was a much better day on Wednesday for Goff and the offense from the jump. They won a couple tough situational periods making some keys plays on third and fourth downs to keep drives alive. Wide receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown and running back Jahmyr Gibbs had key touchdown catches from Goff in late-game team situational periods.
Best practice yet: Rookie edge rusher Derrick Moore had his most disruptive practice as a Detroit Lion. The second-round pick and veteran Aidan Hutchinson met at the quarterback for a sack in one team period. Moore racked up another sack in a different team period later in practice. He has a terrific first step and has put together a couple good practices since returning from nearly two weeks off rehabbing a groin injury.
WR gauntlet: Scottie Montgomery is pretty creative with some of the drills he has his receivers go through in the individual portion of practice. One drill I like watching is what I refer to as the gauntlet.
The receivers catch an out route. When they turn upfield near the sideline, there is a coach with a long stick with a helmet on it trying to knock away the ball. Right after that, there's a coach with a pad hitting the player and trying to knock him off balance. Next, is another coach with a stick trying to knock the ball out again. Finally, there's a coach throwing a pad at the receiver's feet, making him jump over it. There's a lot going on there with ball security and balance as the main objectives.
NASCAR look: There was an obvious passing situation on a 3rd & long where defensive coordinator Kelvin Sheppard countered the offensive look with Moore, Hutchinson, DJ Wonnum and Skylar Gill-Howard as his defensive front. Gill-Howard has shown some pass-rush prowess from the interior and has earned more opportunities over the last week or so.
Walk-off win: One situation Wednesday was an end-of-game scenario where the offense was down 21-17 getting the ball back after a punt at their 44-yard line with 59 seconds on the clock. The big play on the drive for the offense came after a second-down sack by Moore, which put the offense in a 3rd & long. Goff hit St. Brown down the left seam for a 21-yard gain with rookie cornerback Keith Abney II in pretty good coverage. It was just a great throw and catch. The offense raced up to kill the clock at the 18-yard line with five seconds left.
For the final play, the secondary set up across the goal line trying to prevent any pass from going into the end zone. On his way there, St. Brown cut off his route at about the three-yard line and Goff hit him. There was no live tackling so it's hard to definitively say if St. Brown would have gotten in being contacted by defenders at about the one-yard line, but he's a tough player to tackle and head coach Dan Campbell gave the offense the touchdown.
Defensive win: The last situation of practice had the offense given the ball at their own 48-yard line with three minutes, 15 seconds on the clock and three timeouts, trailing 31-24. After three straight incompletions to start, Goff hit Williams for 12 yards on 4th & 10. A few plays later, Goff hit wide receiver Isaac TeSlaa for 23 yards down the left sideline to the four-yard line. Three plays later, Goff found Gibbs for a short touchdown grab.
The offense opted to go for the win with a two-point conversion. Goff faked a handoff to the right and when he turned to boot left, Hutchinson was there for a sack and a win for the defense.
Blitz attack: I thought Sheppard really dialed up the blitzes Wednesday and got creative with some of them. I recorded a couple sacks coming from the secondary -one from Thomas Harper on a safety blitz up the middle and another from left outside cornerback Ennis Rakestraw Jr. Part of this evaluation for Sheppard is also seeing what players can provide some pass rush and playmaking when they are called on to blitz.
