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TIM AND MIKE: Training camp Day 8 observations

Tempers flare: It's reached the second week of training camp, and players are starting to get sick of going against the same guys day after day. Thursday's practice got a little chippy with a scuffle breaking out between tackle Dan Skipper and defensive lineman Austin Bryant, and then wide receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown and cornerback Amani Oruwariye got into a little bit too. It wasn't anything serious, and Bryant said after practice it was just football. A lot of Lions coaches are former players, and they know what it's like when 90 guys are competing for 53 spots. Tempers flare sometimes, but the team got right back to work. – Tim Twentyman

Catch of the day: Wide receiver DJ Chark wins Thursday's honor. He completely laid out for a 35-yard touchdown pass from Jared Goff in a late-practice two-minute period. He got behind safety DeShon Elliott, laid out for a pass out in front of him, and hung on to the ball as he hit the ground. He stood up and rifled the ball into the stands to a big cheer from the crowd in attendance. – Tim Twentyman

View photos from Day 7 of Detroit Lions training camp on Wednesday August 3, 2022.

Quick learner: The o-line and d-line took part in pass-rush drills again Thursday. The first such drills were in Monday's practice, when second-year tackle Penei Sewell handled rookie defensive lineman Aidan Hutchinson pretty easily. That was not the case Thursday. Hutchinson won his first rep pretty easily against Sewell with an outside rush. I called the second rep between the two a push in my notes as Hutchinson had a nice bull rush to push Sewell back, but Sewell was able to re-anchor right before the quarterback. Hutchinson also won a later rep rushing from the inside against guard Zein Obeid. Overall it was a really good day for Hutchinson. He was disruptive. – Tim Twentyman

Defensive start: The one-on-one drills between the receivers and defensive backs are usually dominated by the receivers, just because of the nature of the drill. The offense knows where it's going, can use the whole field, and there's no pass rush. So, it was nice to see cornerbacks Oruwariye, Jeff Okudah and Mike Hughes all win the first three reps of those drill. Wide receiver Josh Reynolds got the first win for the offense on the fourth rep, but it was a nice catch with cornerback Will Harris in great coverage. – Tim Twentyman

Getting noticed: Trinity Benson hasn't been mentioned often with the Lions' other wide receivers, but he took matters in his own hands – as a receiver should – to get noticed Thursday. He had three good catches, with two long ones down the sideline and another in traffic. It was a good day for Benson. – Mike O'Hara

Fleet footed: Goff isn't often described as fleet footed, but he showed off some scrambling ability in a red zone period in Thursday's practice. With the offense operating inside the 5-yard line, Goff faked a handoff to the running back and saw an opening on the left side and took off for the end zone. He crossed the goal line, kept running and finished by dunking the ball over the goal post. He had a nice 13-yard run in a two-minute period later in practice. – Tim Twentyman

Kicker competition: A week into camp and Austin Seibert and Riley Patterson continue to duke it out for the kicker job. I had Seibert going 4-for-4 on his four kicks ranging from 43 to 53 yards Thursday. Patterson was 3-for-4, missing from what looked like around 50 yards and hitting from 53. There's a lot more than practice kicks that will go into determining who will win the job, but it seems Seibert has the edge early on. – Tim Twentyman

Making sure: Elliott left nothing to chance when he pursued the ball carrier on a running play. The ball carrier stumbled and went down when he tried to cut back up the middle. Elliott touched him to make sure he was down. It was a typical pro play. Leave nothing to chance. – Mike O'Hara

Two-minute period: The team ended practice with a two-minute situation. The offense had the ball at the defense's 41-yard line trailing 30-24 with 31 seconds on the clock, down six. Goff opened the period with a 13-yard run to the 28-yard line and a timeout. Hutchinson then got a sack from the interior for a 7-yard loss back to the 35-yard line with 18 seconds left that forced another offensive timeout. The next play Goff found Chark behind the defense for a 35-yard diving touchdown that was the catch of the day. – Tim Twentyman

Making a play: It was good to see rookie tight end James Mitchell find his way into the end zone in what I think was his first day doing team drills after working his way back from an injury to start camp. He hopes to be in the mix for a backup role at tight end on the 53-man roster. – Tim Twentyman

Official review: The Lions welcomed Brad Rogers and his officiating crew to practice Thursday. It's always good when the officials come to start flagging the grabbing, illegal contact and holding – and there was a lot of it all Thursday. It's a good learning resource for the coaches and players. It's also a good tune-up for Rogers and his crew. – Tim Twentyman

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