Football
Observations from Lions’ second joint practice with New York Giants: Joseph punches Nabers, defensive line steps up
The Detroit Lions and New York Giants completed their two-day joint practice session in yet another fiercely competitive environment.
After a calmer start to practice, the end was marred by several scrums breaking out and eventually the second session ended early with likely one period remaining that did not get started.
Though the practices will be remembered for the fights that occurred, there was still plenty of good to take away from the competition between the two teams in a practice setting. Coach Dan Campbell explained the benefits of facing Brian Daboll’s creative offense before Tuesday’s practice.
“For us defensively, it’s the first time we’ve faced, this year, a significant amount of gun,” Campbell said. “Gun action, gun runs, some of these things where they’re creating two-back out of 11 personnel. It’s just a little different. And then Daboll’s got some wrinkles here, offensively, that are really good for us. Some of it are things that we’ve kind of seen from our offense, but they’re different. They’re different wrinkles on top of things they see every day with us.”
The next step for both teams will be a preseason matchup at 7 p.m. Thursday at MetLife Stadium.
Here are observations from the Lions’ second joint practice session with the Giants:
Defensive line rebounds, secondary struggles
Giants’ quarterback Daniel Jones diced up the Lions’ secondary in 7-on-7 drills, going 8-for-8 including a touchdown pass to Malik Nabers. The rookie from LSU briefly left practice but quickly returned and was a force throughout the day.
Nabers, the sixth overall pick in the 2024 Draft, is poised for a big rookie year as evidenced by the problems he gave Detroit’s secondary throughout the day.
After the rough start, the Lions’ defense rebounded in team drills. The Giants’ first series was limited by a penalty to start, and Detroit’s first-team unit would’ve had at least three sacks including one from Levi Onwuzurike.
“When you’ve got a bunch of guys that’s hungry to go get the ball, that makes it easy,” said linebacker Derrick Barnes. “I think that before I’ve got into this role, the guys have built a chemistry amongst each other, they know exactly what each other can do. That’s how they view the games and stuff, who can do this and who can do that. Also, the guys compete and get to the ball. You have the defensive line competing to get to the ball, that’s how you get a lot of sacks.”
Second-team quarterback Drew Lock hit Gunner Olszewski for a long touchdown after a broken coverage. The third-team, however, was limited after Steven Gilmore logged a breakup on a Tommy DeVito’s pass.
Jones would later hit Nabers for a long touchdown, with rookie Terrion Arnold in coverage. The two players have a history of matching up against each other with their SEC roots.
With the second defense, undrafted free agent Nate Lynn made a couple plays working in the pass-rush and run game. The UDFA out of William & Mary has had a strong start to training camp but remains a long-shot to make the team.
Tempers flare
When the two teams got together for team drills, the intensity from Monday’s practice returned. After a calmer start to practice, several skirmishes broke out between the two teams.
The most notable came with the Giants’ offense on the field against the Lions’ defense. Terrion Arnold broke up a pass in the end zone intended for Nabers, who gave Kerby Joseph a pop in the helmet while jogging back to the huddle. This set Joseph off, as he threw multiple punches causing the teams to converge in the end zone.
Levi Onwuzurike was sent to the sidelines by Campbell after some shoving following a rep. Undrafted rookie defensive back Morice Norris received the same treatment after throwing punches at Giants’ receiver Gunner Olszewski.
“I think it’s just people being competitive. Obviously you want to keep everybody safe, everyone has a season to go out and play,” Barnes said. “But it gets intense on the field, and it’s just a bunch of guys out there. Most people trying to win jobs, most people trying to win starting positions. It gets like that, and that’s the nature of football. But also you want to make sure we protect each other because a lot of people have the season to look forward to.”
Ultimately, practice came to an early end after the tensions boiled over and kickoff reps ended in skirmishes.
Lions win red-zone period
The two teams squared off in the red-zone late in practice. Detroit’s first-team offense was able to punch the ball in twice, once with a run by David Montgomery and another on a pass from Jared Goff to Amon-Ra St. Brown.
New York’s second-team logged a score on a pass from Drew Lock to Allen Robinson. The Lions’ second-team offense scored twice led by Hendon Hooker, but the second score came with frustration from Ben Johnson after Hooker made a mistake within his pre-snap reads.
Jermar Jefferson scored the first touchdown with the second team, while Hooker hit James Mitchell for the second on a play that drew the ire of Johnson.
Lions’ offense vs Giants’ defense
Kaden Davis once again got some time with the first team offense and made the most of it, catching a long touchdown pass from Jared Goff during team drills.
Donovan Peoples-Jones was targeted but couldn’t get going during the team’s red-zone work.
Patricia Traina is a beat reporter for New York Giants On SI. On Tuesday, she observed the Lions’ offense squaring off against the Giants’ defense.
From her perspective: “Lions backup quarterback Hendon Hooker did not have a very productive day. He was either late with his throws or just flat out missed wide open guys.
The Lions running game, as was the case on Monday, continued to have success against the Giants second team run defense. Detroit had a couple of long runs off the edges where the Giants defenders got sealed off on the play.
RB Craig Reynolds had himself a fine day in the run game, making smart reads and cuts. Jamyr Gibbs, against het Giants first team defense, also had a rushing touchdown.
In the o-line vs. the defense 1-on-1s, Brian Burns was just unstoppable regardless of who he went against. Burns zipped around his man and into the backfield, winning his reps. Meanwhile Kayvon Thibodeaux won most of his reps but ran into a change against Penei Sewell.
Kalif Raymond got the first kickoff return of the practice and he broke through a wall of Giants to take it to the house.”
Quick hits
1. Detroit’s second-team offensive line struggled at points during practice, as they were flagged multiple times and displayed sloppiness.
2. Kicker Jake Bates was 6-for-9 on field goal attempts Tuesday. He went 2-of-4 on attempts from 50-plus, including makes from 50 and 53 yards. However, his other miss came from 46 yards out. The mid-to-high 40-yard attempts have proven to be difficult for Bates since signing with Detroit.
This article was produced by the staff at Detroit Lions On SI. For more, visit si.com/nfl/lions
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