TC Notes and Observations, 15 Aug

The War Room Detroit Lions — The Den
1

Newest on top, read up from the bottom if you want to. Not so good today, our OL got chewed up. Mostly the OTs. The starters.

Practice is done.
Lions backup OL Matt Nelson was just carted off the field
Jordan Thomas drops potential touchdown pass
Mercilus beats Decker around the edge. Would have been another sack on Stafford. Ball was dropped on the back end. Joseph dropped the InT too. #Texans #Lions
Stafford with no where to go. Throws it away. Watt giving Wagner all he can handle today. #Texans #Lions
Incomplete pass to Akins. Plenty of time to throw. Just good coverage from Detroit.
Henderson beat by Devon Kennard. Would have been a sack. #Texans #Lions
Watson all time to throw. Hits Carter across the field. Lions forget to touch him down. Get out of bounds. #Texans #Lions
Lions went 0 for 3 in the red zone. Matthew Stafford just threw two picks in three plays. Things going sideways for the offense today.
Watson pass to Akins broken up by Diggs. #Texans #Lions
Josh Johnson sacked by Kalambayi. Period over. #Texans #Lions
Stafford struggling with backup receivers. Picked twice on three throws in full team scrimmaging. Second was snagged by former Chip Jahleel Addae.
Now Fales hits Deontez Alexander. Would have been a long catch and run. Bademosi got lost in the traffic. #Texans #Lions
Brandon Powell across the field. Runs away from Lonnie Johnson. Easy for Fales. All time to throw. #Texans #Lions
Davin Bellamy called for offsides. Hard count getting the Texans rushers today. #Texans #Lions
David Fales hits Jesse James. Nice catch and run. A.J. Hendy with the coverage. #Texans #Lions
Stafford picked again by Addae. Intended for Tommylee Lewis. #Texans #Lions
Stafford hits Tom Kennedy for a nice gain. #Texans #Lions
With Justin Reid out. Matt Stafford throws into coverage and high. Rookie Chris Johnson picks it off. #Texans #Lions
Team. Stafford hits Golladay on a crosser. Colvin on the coverage. Short gain. #Texans #Lions
Penalties on the #Texans second O. Ends the period. Jordan Thomas and someone on the line. Not good. [for them]
Vyncint Smith elevates for an acrobatic leaping catch over the middle.
Texans first team O stalled out with an incomplete pass and delay of game. #Texans #Lions
Vyncint Smith with a great catch over CJ Moore from Joe Webb. #Texans #Lions
DeAndre Carter now beats Slay on the quick slant. #Texans #Lions
Watson hits Carter on back to back throws. The second one was a smoke screen. Untouched. Would have been a foot race to the end zone. Play blown dead. #Texans #Lions
Tyron Johnson taking reps for Fuller. Fuller back in. #Texans
It … wasn’t great. Watson has been very sharp against the Lions’ D and the offense is struggling to get guys open. First-team O just ran 3 red-zone snaps and Stafford got “sacked” twice.
Stafford hits Logan Thomas for the TD. Reid in the coverage. #Texans #Lions
JJ just works Wagner. Sack. Patricia is yelling at Watt for not letting the play go. Watt and Patricia exchanging words. #Texans #Lions
Watt beats Wagner. Cunningham runs over Zenner. Would have been a sack on Stafford. Play blown dead. #Texans #Lions
Josh Johnson goes for Travis Fulgham. Bademosi all over the fade in the end zone. Incomplete #Texans #Lions
Josh Johnson with no where to go. Throws it away. #Texans #Lions
Dylan Cole blows through the Lions oline. TFL on Kerryon Johnson. #Texans #Lions
Stafford hits Kerryon Johnson on the slant. Cole with the stop. #Texans
C.J. anderson, already taped heavily around both feet and ankles, just came up limping after a red zone carry.
CJ Anderson walking with team personnel to the sideline. #Texans #Lions
Watt again. Beats Wagner. Would have been a TFL on Anderson. #Texans #Lions
Joseph and Watt shut down the CJ Anderson run. No gain. #Texans #Lions
Mitchell Loewen beats #Texans Marquice Shakir for the sack. Right over the center. #Texans #Lions
Cullen Gillaspia @CGillaspia great end zone touchdown catch on pass from Joe Webb in red zone
Gillaspia just ran a wheel route on Eric Lee. Webb with the dime for the TD. #Texans #Lions
Bust up front. Killebrew right to Webb would have been a sack. #Texans #Lions
Watson to Hopkins and through his hands. Slay followed him in the slot. Throwing Lane there but couldn’t come up with it. #Texans #Lions
Roderick Johnson with the false start. Replaced by Davenport. #Texans
Tracy Walker with a nice run stop on Higdon. Lions DBs active in the run game. #Texans #Lions
Miller to the left side. Minimal gain. #Texans #Lions
Nice run by the #Texans. Good kick and Miller would have gotten into the endzone. #Texans #Lions
Watson to Fuller in front of Melvin. #Texans #Lions
Damon Harrison is off the non-football injury list but not doing much at practice today
The Detroit Lions activated defensive tackle Damon Harrison off the non-football injury list before practice Thursday.
7-on-7 for the Lions’ offense ends with Chris Lacy making a leaping TD grab in traffic. “Yea, Lace!” from a clapping Stafford.
Zach Zenner ends the team session with a nice run. Chris Johnson with the run fill. #Texans
Nick Bawden with the catch in the flats. Little catch and run. Not much. Lonnie Johnson there.
Josh Johnson sails a pass intended for Tommylee Lewis. Near pick by Chris Johnson. #Texans
Kerryon Johnson stuffed by Cole and Kalambayi. #Texans #Lions
McKinney stuffs the run. #Texans #Lions
Stafford goes for Golladay again. Double covered by Reid and Roby. Incomplete in the crosser.
Golladay gets alligator arms with a well placed pass from Stafford. Dropped. Addae was coming down at safety.
Hard count by Stafford. Gets the Texans offsides.
Kerryon Johnson with the first run. Not much happening. McKinney is there
Weah with a nice reception. Defender knocks his helmet off.
Will Harris beats Gillaspia and stops the run of Crockett. Minimal gain.
Miles Killebrew in the backfield. TFL on Higdon.
Karan Higdon Jr. right behind Johnson and Kelemete for a 7 yard gain.
Texans up the gut with Millwrb first down. Looked like at least a six yard gain
Watson to Fells. Six yard gain. In front of Walker.
Texans first run play. Diggs with a nice run fill. Stop Miller for it gain.
Watson hits Hopkins with the quick throw. Good protection.
Jarrad Davis back at Lions practice today for the first time in about 2 weeks

2

From Twentyman and O’Hara, DetroitLions.com:

Injury updates: Defensive tackle Damon Harrison Sr. came off the NFI list and was dressed for Thursday’s joint practice with the Texans, but didn’t do too much. He’ll work himself back in the coming weeks. Wide receiver Marvin Jones Jr. didn’t make the trip to Houston. Head coach Matt Patricia said the team is trying to be smart with his reps leading into the third preseason week. Jones did miss time last year and this offseason with a knee injury. Wide receiver Danny Amendola made the trip to Houston, but is in the same boat as Jones. Patricia said he’s trying to do his due diligence to make sure Jones and Amendola are ready to go when needed. – Tim Twentyman

Familiar face: Former Lions safety Glover Quin, who lives in the Houston area, was at joint practice Thursday. Quin played for both Houston and Detroit over his 10-year career. Quin is enjoying retired life, and said he enjoys getting up in the morning and not having anything to do but hang out with his family and his kids. – Tim Twentyman

Special plays: The Lions’ coverage team made plays on two consecutive plays that would have forced the Texans to start possessions inside their five-yard line. Dee Virgin would have forced a fair catch on the first punt, and Mike Ford got in position to down a punt at the two on the next punt. – Mike O’Hara

Rocky day: It wasn’t a smooth operation all the way around for the first-team offense Thursday. I thought Houston’s defensive line was better most of the day, forcing a number of sacks, pressures and hurried throws that Texans defenders were able to get their hands on or intercept. It’s still early to be overly concerned, but it wasn’t a good showing on that side of the ball in the preseason opener, and they weren’t great over the last couple days. – Tim Twentyman

Backup QB competition: Josh Johnson has come in and played pretty well over the last week after he was signed when Tom Savage suffered a concussion in the preseason opener. Johnson is a six-year vet, and it shows when he’s out on the field with the second or third-team offense. He’s looked better than David Fales in his short time with the team, and could potentially push Savage for the backup job whenever he returns to the field. – Tim Twentyman

J.J. Watt: The Texans’ star defensive lineman made his presence felt throughout the two practices, but the Lions neutralized him on one play to get a nice completion to wide receiver Kenny Golladay. Watt was lined up wide left, outside a tight end. A combination block with tackle Rick Wagner gave quarterback Matthew Stafford time to get off a quick pass to Golladay. – Mike O’Hara

Just a little jawing: Watt beat Wagner in a team drill, and was credited for a sack on Stafford. Watt looked over to Patricia, who was watching from his ATV behind the offense, and said something to Patricia, who jawed right back at Watt as he walked back to his defensive huddle. – Tim Twentyman

Who was good Thursday?: Two players on Detroit’s defense stood out to me. I thought outside linebacker Devon Kennard was really good. He dominated in 1-on-1s with the Texans o-line and made some nice plays in a couple team periods as well.

Defensive tackle Mitchell Loewen also caught my eye. He would have had a couple sacks in a team period, and was a load with the bull rush in 1-on-1s. He’s been a nice surprise in camp. – Tim Twentyman

Who’s the fastest?: Talking to reporters after practice, rookie running back Ty Johnson said he would win in a race between himself and cornerbacks Darius Slay and Jamal Agnew. Slay caught wind of the comment, and when asked who he thought would win, to no one’s surprise said himself. Slay said that race just might have to happen between him and Johnson at some point. – Tim Twentyman

Campground: That’s what the practice fields resembled after Thursday’s practice. It was the last of the two joint practices, and the end of official training camp for both teams. Players, coaches and staff members lingered for a long time, shaking hands and taking pictures with family members. It’s the brotherhood of sports, and a cool scene. – Mike O’Hara

3

From Dave Birkett, Det FreeP:

HOUSTON — There’s no debate about who the top three wide receivers are on the Detroit Lions roster.

Kenny Golladay is the clear-cut No. 1. He had 70 catches last season and could be in for an even bigger 2019. Marvin Jones is a reliable No. 2, a vertical threat who’s just a year removed from the best season of his career. And Danny Amendola is the starter in the slot, a trusted security blanket for Matthew Stafford on third downs.

If Golladay, Jones and Amendola are healthy, they’ll see the vast majority of the playing time at wide receiver this fall.

Of course, they’re not all healthy now. Jones hasn’t practiced in a week and did not travel to Houston as the Lions continue to manage his return from last year’s season-ending knee surgery, and Amendola sat out team drills this week for what coach Matt Patricia said Thursday was “really kind of the same situation.”

I wouldn’t read too much into Amendola’s absence. He’s played 15 games each of the last two years, is one of the best workers around and looked fine the little bit he was on the field Thursday.

But I’m not quite sure what to make of Jones’ absence. When asked Thursday if Jones’ knee is still an issue, Patricia said, “Again we’re just trying to take some time off to make sure we’re being smart with it in the situation.”

Whatever the situation, it’s allowed the Lions to take a longer look at a number of the receivers competing for back-end roster and practice-squad spots.

Chris Lacy and Tom Kennedy took the bulk of the first-team work in the absence of Jones and Amendola this week, and Lacy has the inside track on one of probably two openings at wide receiver. (I’d give rookie Travis Fulgham the edge for the other job based on his status as a sixth-round pick.)

One thing the Lions have done well in recent years is give players competing for jobs similar looks. Kennedy, Tommylee Lewis and Brandon Powell have all taken first-team reps at various points in training camp as the Lions try and determine if any of those guys is worth keeping around as a backup slot.

Likewise, Fulgham, Lacy, Andy Jones and before he got hurt, Jermaine Kearse, all got time with the ones. Not only does that give them a chance to work with Stafford, as opposed to David Fales or Tom Savage or Josh Johnson, but it also allows coaches to see them go up against a better caliber cornerback.

“Honestly, we have a great opportunity here to take a look at some of the other guys against good competition in practice settings as opposed to trying to guess or hope that that’ll happen during preseason games,” Patricia said. “It just works out as a good opportunity for us to control it. It’s about controlling those repetitions and controlling those opportunities to be able to go get those guys a good look.”

One final note on the wide receiver battle: I don’t know how this will play into the evaluation, or where the fault even lies, but Stafford threw two interceptions in a span of three plays at Thursday’s joint practice against the Houston Texans.

He overshot Kennedy on his first pick, though he appeared to be motioning towards tight end T.J. Hockenson after the play, and he threw wide of Lewis on the second, when he was forced to step up in the pocket due to a protection breakdown.

Again, I don’t know where the blame lies for those plays, but I bring them up to point out the opportunity a couple players on the roster bubble had and what they did (or didn’t do) with it.

More observations from Thursday’s practice with the Texans:

• The Lions got linebacker Jarrad Davis back on the field for individual drills for the first time in nearly two weeks. I can’t imagine Davis plays in Saturday’s preseason game given his limited workload this summer, but the Lions should finally have their full complement of linebackers back for next week’s all-important third preseason game.

• Trey Flowers and Damon Harrison, in his return from the non-football injury list, also were limited to position drills. Even if it’s only for a few plays, I’d like to see the Lions’ entire defensive line (save for the injured Da’Shawn Hand) on the field this preseason.

• Lewis is not very big but he is a lightning bolt on returns. I was standing next to a Lions fan Wednesday when Lewis darted upfield on a punt return. The fan casually said, “(Expletive), he’s quick.” My sentiments exactly.

• Stafford threw the aforementioned picks in team drills to safeties Chris Johnson and Jahleel Addae, and he nearly had another one a period later during two-minute work when he threw a pass that bounced off running back Mark Thompson’s hands and was dropped by a Texans defender.

The Lions weren’t especially crisp on offense Thursday. In that two-minute period, Stafford threw low and incomplete to Isaac Nauta on first down then completed a couple checkdowns to Kennedy and Thompson for a first down. After a spike, he threw the near-pick and the Lions were left with one final heave at the end zone.

• When the second-team offense went to a red-zone period next, Deontez Alexander dropped the first pass of the period before Josh Johnson threw a touchdown to Jonathan Duhart in the back of the end zone.

JJ just works Wagner. Sack. Patricia is yelling at Watt for not letting the play go. Watt and Patricia exchanging words. #Texans #Lions

• I didn’t hear the exchange, but Patricia and Texans defensive lineman J.J. Watt apparently exchanged some expletives after Watt beat Rick Wagner to blow up a play earlier in practice. Watt was in the backfield a handful of times during red-zone work, and officials were quick to blow plays dead for sacks on Thursday whereas they usually let them run to completion even knowing that wouldn’t happen in a game.

• Patricia also got ticked at his defense for being slow to get substitutions on the field Thursday after the Texans were called for a penalty during red-zone drills. When officials backed the ball up 5 yards, Patricia wanted a different sub package on the field. No one from the Lions bench came running in, and Patricia couldn’t hide his disgust.

• The Lions did make a couple nice defensive plays during red-zone drills. Mitchell Loewen beat Maurquice Shakir with an inside rush for a would-be sack and Miles Killebrew showed his speed shooting a gap on a running play. In the Texans’ two-minute offensive period, Quandre Diggs had a pass breakup and Devon Kennard a sack to force a Hail Mary pass at the end that fell incomplete.

• Last note for the day on one-on-one pass-rush work: Kennard showed good speed on the outside to run by Seantrel Henderson for a would-be pressure on the first rep of the period, then beat Martinas Rankin inside with an excellent rip move for what probably would have been a sack. Kennard didn’t rush a ton from the inside last year, but the Lions have enough chess pieces up front that he might be able to do more of that this year, which could help him set another career-high in sacks.

4

From Kyle Meinke, MLive:

HOUSTON – It’s not that Matthew Stafford has been bad in training camp. It’s just that he hasn’t really been consistent. He’s missing more throws than usual this time of year, and struggling to string together good days.

Consider his body of work this week in joint practices with the Texans.

Stafford was fine on Day 1. He did have his first pass batted down and his last pass intercepted, but was otherwise solid in between. He was especially good in the red zone, much like the rest of camp. Stafford said he felt good after that practice, and his arm felt healthy after taking a week off from heavy throwing.

A day later, though, the offense was a mess.

Stafford’s first pass was dropped by Kenny Golladay, and it rarely got any better from there. He didn’t score on either of his two red-zone series, and took two sacks. He airmailed a pass to Tom Kennedy on the first play of his next series, and the ball was picked off easily by safety Chris Johnson, a rookie out of North Alabama. (It’s worth noting Stafford appeared to be gesturing to rookie tight end T.J. Hockenson after the play, so perhaps that was a communication breakdown more than anything.)

Two plays later, Stafford missed Tommylee Lewis as he tried to side step some pressure and was picked off once again, this time by safety Jahleel Addae.

Stafford ended the day with another end-game situation, this one giving Detroit the ball at its own 40-yard line with 50 seconds left. He did hit Kennedy and running back Mark Thompson with short passes to move into Houston territory, but then took another sack and threw another would-be interception that was dropped to end practice.

It’s worth noting there were some got-to-have-its in there, where Stafford is pressed into making a throw because of the situation. He was also facing a pretty good defense, and doing so without key pieces like Marvin Jones and Danny Amendola. Still, there’s little disputing today was another chapter in Stafford’s up-and-down camp.

Stafford is expected to see his first action of the preseason on Saturday night in Houston, and it’ll be fascinating to see which quarterback shows up.

Here are some other observations from practice:

– I don’t know what to make of Marvin Jones’ absence, but it can’t be good if Matt Patricia is volunteering information about his injury. He did miss seven games last year with a knee injury, but then again, he looked great to open camp this year. Maybe it’s a veteran maintenance thing, although I suspect it’s a little more than that. He’s missed more than a week now and didn’t even make the trip down here. Amendola, on the other hand, hadn’t missed a day of camp until now, and was down here riding an exercise bike when he couldn’t be on the field. He looks just fine to me. Jones, I’m not so sure about.

Either way, being down two starting receivers gave opportunities for others to show their stuff. Chris Lacy has made the most of it, making plays in one-on-ones and team drills alike. Less so today – there really were few bright spots – but he did connect once with Stafford on a nice pitch and catch. Tom Kennedy also drew a long look in the starting lineup, but I think he’s well behind Lacy, Andy Jones and Travis Fulgham in that race for one of the backup jobs at receiver.

– Lions coach Matt Patricia and Patriots star J.J. Watt exchanged some four-lettered pleasantries in practice today. Watt had beaten Rick Wagner on a play and then got a little closer to Stafford than Patricia liked. Patricia said something about it to Watt, who replied with a [not appropriate for a family publication], and Patricia replied with a [not appropriate for a family publication] of his own. Things settled down from there, so don’t read too much into it. Patricia was just trying to protect his guys, while Watt was just trying to get in good work. These things happen in a competitive environment.

– With so much going on at the same time during joint practices, I’ve found the best method to covering them is to forget about trying to see everything, because you’ll miss everything. Instead, I try to focus on a different phase of the game each day. On Day 1, I was impressed by the offensive line’s one-on-ones and two-on-twos with Houston’s defensive line. On Day 2, I focused on Detroit’s defensive line. Man, without Snacks Harrison and Trey Flowers (who are back but not doing one-on-ones yet), plus Mike Daniels and Da’Shawn Hand and Austin Bryant, those guys struggled. Mitchell Loewen led things off by jumping offsides and was forced to run a lap around the field. Three reps later, Romeo Okwara did the exact same thing. Most of Detroit’s defensive linemen were beaten or forced into a stalemate, but Devon Kennard was excellent, including blowing by Martinas Rankin almost untouched. Give P.J. Johnson credit too, because when the seventh-round pick was forced into a surprise rep by Loewen’s offside penalty, he ran over Zach Fulton with a bull rush.

– Loewen did help make up for his mistake by blowing into Houston’s backfield on the first series of team drills and sacking Deshaun Watson.

– I don’t know how good Dee Virgin’s roster chances are because of how deep Detroit is in the secondary, but he continues to excel on special teams. Charles Washington looks like the best gunner to me, but Virgin has made a lot of plays too. On the first rep today, he beat the ball to the punt returner and forced a fair catch. On his next rep, he downed a punt inside the 5-yard line. Mike Ford, another defensive back who probably needs to separate himself on special teams to win a roster job, also downed a punt inside the 5.

– The Lions had a pretty good safety pairing on the field in Quandre Diggs and Tracy Walker. They also had a pretty good safety pairing on the sideline in Glover Quin and James Ihedigbo, both of whom have retired to the Houston area. Quin and Ihedigbo formed one of the best safety duos in the league in 2014, when Quin picked off a league-high seven passes and the Lions rode a dominant defense to an 11-5 finish.

Ihedigo played with the Lions for another year before moving on to Buffalo and then calling it quits. Notably, he once finished a game on a broken leg. Still one of the toughest dudes I’ve ever covered. Quin played with Detroit through last season before getting released. He elected to retire rather than try to catch on with another team. He played six years with Detroit, and four in Houston before that.

– It was hot in Houston this week, no doubt about that, and players were congregating by the cooling fans on the sideline whenever possible. I saw big ol’ Snacks Harrison clutching one of those things at one point, and he barely practiced in his return to the field. But having said that, once again, give the Lions staff credit for preparing these guys for the elements. I saw no cramping from Lions players, and the only injury I saw of any kind occurred when offensive lineman Matt Nelson was carted off very late on Day 2.

– In a bit of good injury news, linebacker Jarrad Davis made his return to practice after missing a couple weeks with an undisclosed injury. He was held out of most team drills and almost certainly won’t play Saturday against Houston, but he’s trending up heading into the third week of the preseason.

5

  1. Tough day for the offense. Couldn’t block J.J. Watt (who can?) and struggled in the passing game. Doubt it means more time for Stafford in the game Saturday, but … not great.

  2. One highlight: Jonathan Duhart made a great leaping TD grab during a 7-on-7 drill, with Josh Johnson at QB. Probably too much in front of him for Duhart to threaten a roster spot. He’d be a quality practice-squad option, though. Size is intriguing.

  3. Between Jalen Reeves-Maybin’s steady improvement and Miles Killebrew’s play, the Lions have to feel a lot better about their off-ball LB depth. Killebrew made a nice play in the backfield Thursday, shooting a gap and notching a tackle for loss.

  4. Johnathan Alston had a good couple of days down here. Can’t say I knew much about him before Detroit signed him, but he used his size well against Houston’s receivers. Was one of their better defenders on Wednesday.

  5. Devon Kennard could be primed for some big things once this D-line is healthy and together. He won a couple more 1-on-1 reps Thursday, as he’s been doing on a consistent basis. Should see a lot of those when offenses have to account for Flowers, Daniels, Harrison, etc.

6

From Justin Rogers, Det News:

Houston — Here are some notes and observations from Thursday’s joint practice between the Detroit Lions and Houston Texans.

  • With Marvin Jones and Danny Amendola nursing injuries, a number of backup receivers received steady reps with the first-team offense this week. That group included Chris Lacy, Andy Jones, Tommylee Lewis and Tom Kennedy.

The drop off in talent at the position was noticeable when the two teams shared the field, and starting quarterback Matthew Stafford struggled working with different weapons. He was picked off three times during the practice, including twice on three plays.

The first ball was intended for Kennedy, but it sailed over the 5-foot-10 receiver’s head down the seam, into the waiting arms of safety Chris Johnson. After completing a pass to Kennedy on the next snap, Stafford fired wide on a throw to Lewis, running a post pattern, where former Central Michigan safety Jahleel Addae came up with the sliding pick in the middle of the field.

A third interception came in a 2-minute situation. Unable to initially find an open receiver, Stafford rolled out of the pocket to his right and fired a bullet in the direction of running back Mark Thompson, near the right sideline. The pass deflected off the back’s hands directly to cornerback Johnathan Joseph, ending the series.

  • It was another scorcher in Houston, but unlike Wednesday, this one lacked scattered cloud cover and an occasional breeze. A day after Houston had record-high temperatures, the mercury once again above 90 degrees, with smothering humidity to boot.

  • A couple former Lions were in attendance, with safety tandem Glover Quin and James Ihedigbo in the house.

  • In one-on-one pass rush drills, Devon Kennard was a standout among Detroit’s defenders. He blew around offensive tackle Seantrel Henderson on the first rep, then easily got by guard Martinas Rankin with a swim move on a second snap, rushing from an inside alignment.

Defensive tackle Kevin Strong, who has thrived in the drill against teammates, and even against the Patriots during joint practices last week, struggled to beat his man for the second straight day. He was stuffed on his two rushes by Max Scharping and David Steinmetz.

Damon Harrison and Trey Flowers, both recently activated off injured lists, did not participate in the drill.

  • In seven-on-seven red zone work from the 5-yard line, Texans quarterback Deshaun Watson had his way against Detroit’s linebackers and safeties. But that success didn’t carry over to the full-squad work.

Starting from the 20-yard line, the Texans picked up a first down after a short completion to Will Fuller and a Lamar Miller carry for a conversion. The back got the ball again on the next two plays, getting stuffed at the line by Tracy Walker on second-and-goal, leading to third-and-goal from the 4-yard line.

Watson zeroed in on Deandre Hopkins on the play, but the All-Pro receiver was bracketed by Walker and cornerback Darius Slay, resulting in an incompletion.

Detroit’s second-team defense had less luck. After linebacker Miles Killebrew recorded a tackle behind on the line on the first snap, Houston backup quarterback Joe Webb connected with fullback Cullen Gillaspia on a wheel route for a touchdown from 11 yards out.

  • Detroit’s first and second-team offenses were both held out of the end zone in the same practice segment. C.J. Anderson was stopped for minimal gains on first and second down, coming up limping after the second carry. Stafford threw a short pass to Kerryon Johnson on third-and-goal and the back was stopped well short of the goal line.

Josh Johnson, leading the second team, missed his target on second and third down, gunning wide of tight end Jerome Cunningham on the first and overshooting rookie Travis Fulgham on the fade on the second.

  • The Lions’ first team came game out for two more situational reps. The first, a third-and-goal from the 5, saw Stafford get sacked by J.J. Watt, who dominated Rick Wagner on the snap. The Lions QB finished on a positive note, connecting with tight end Logan Thomas for a 2-yard touchdown.

  • Sam Martin was sharp with some punting work, pinning the Texans inside the 10-yard line on three of his four efforts, including one downed by cornerback Mike Ford at the 2-yard line.

Backup punter Ryan Santoso was less precise, putting two into the end zone and sending a third out of bounds around the 15-yard line.

7

Patriicia arguing with JJ Watt?
Sounds really funny.
Seems like we are having massive issues with the OL.