Lighter day: The Lions backed down the intensity and length of practice Wednesday after going hard on Tuesday. They have an inter-squad scrimmage planned for Thursday, which is the final practice of training camp before Saturday's preseason finale and Sunday's roster trim down to an initial 53. It was about an hour-long practice, getting in some good situational team periods.

Offense starts hot: The first 11-on-11 team period gave the offense the ball starting at the defense's 40-yard line. A Jahmyr Gibbs nine-yard run started the period off well for the first-team offense, but an Aidan Hutchinson sack on second down was a good response from the defense and set the offense up with a 3rd & 6 from the 36-yard line. It took just one play and a perfect throw deep down the middle from quarterback Jared Goff to a streaking Jameson Williams for the offense to claim a victory with a touchdown strike.

Second TD for offense: The two first-team units squared up again a short time later with the offense again getting the ball at the defense's 40-yard line. The defense started strong and forced the offense into a 4th & 2 at the 32-yard line. When Goff and the Lions have needed a big conversion or key play over the last five seasons, All-Pro wide receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown usually gets his number called.

That was the case Wednesday on this fourth-down play. Split out wide left, St. Brown ran a great route and gained a little separation from cornerback D.J. Reed. Goff found St. Brown right in stride when he made an inside move on Reed. St. Brown did the rest from there, resulting in a 32-yard touchdown connection.

Tough situation: After going two-for-two with touchdowns in the first two periods against the starting defense, the offense was put in a little tougher spot by head coach Dan Campbell in the third situational rep. Offense was down 24-20 with 41 seconds left with two timeouts at the defense's 46-yard line. A pass interference call on cornerback Rock Ya-Sin covering Williams on a third down play gave the offense a first down at the 29-yard line with a little over 20 seconds left.

Incompletions to Williams and wide receiver Isaac TeSlaa set up a third-down play. Gibbs caught a pass for a seven-yard gain on third down setting up 4th & 3 with nine seconds on the clock. Back-to-back false start penalties on the offense put them in a 4th & 13. A short catch right by Gibbs, who pitched it back to Williams, looked like it had a chance to score. Rookie defensive back Aamaris Brown made a good play, as he got over there around the five-yard line where Williams was. Campbell gave Brown credit for a tackle and winning the drill for the defense. The offense didn't agree with the call, thinking Williams got in.

Safety depth: Christian Izien is dealing with an undisclosed injury that could prevent him from playing Week 1, Campbell said Wednesday. That cuts further into Detroit's depth at safety. After starters Chuck Clark and Avonte Maddox, we saw Brown work some there on Wednesday.

Back-to-back catches: Tay Martin has been talked about quite a bit throughout camp as an ascending player for his consistent playmaking ability on both offense and special teams. He's right there in the mix for the final one or two spots at wide receiver in what's been a terrific competition all camp.

On Wednesday, Martin had two difficult catches back-to-back for the second-team offense in a situational period. Martin's earned some first-team reps at receiver in camp and has played on several first-team special teams units. If he plays in the preseason finale Saturday, he's someone to watch.

Missed opportunity: The second-team offense was put in the same tough situation as the first-team offense, down four points with 41 seconds on the clock and two timeouts at the defense's 46-yard line. Martin's back-to-back receptions got the Luke Altmyer-led unit to the 23-yard line with 22 seconds left.

Two incompletions from there set up a 3rd & 10 with 12 seconds left. Altmyer had a chance to make a big play on third down, but missed wide receiver Mailk Cunningham on a high throw down the left seam. Cunningham had gained a step and an on-target throw there would have probably been a touchdown. Altymer and Josh Dobbs are still battling to be Goff's backup. That's a throw he'll probably want back when he watches it on tape later.

Tackle production: The first-team defense featured Jack Campbell, Devin White and Malcolm Rodriguez at linebacker to start the first 11-on-11 team period. That's a lot of experience (164 career starts) and tackle production (1,324 career tackles) between them. Detroit's front seven on defense has been impressive throughout camp and looks to be one of the strengths of this football team heading into the regular season.