Hendon Hooker didn’t throw a pass at Detroit Lions rookie minicamp Saturday, and the nature of the torn ACL he suffered at Tennessee last November means he won’t be doing any meaningful football drills for a while.
But the Lions’ third-round pick still managed to stand out during a 90-minute pad-less practice because of the presence he had on the field.
Hooker bounced from teammate to teammate during warmups with an energy that was impossible to ignore. He took a knee as he talked to offensive lineman Colby Sorsdal. He stretched in line with fellow quarterback Adrian Martinez. He skipped across field to slap fives with defensive players Isaac Darkangelo and Wyatt Ray. And when the period ended, he stopped to exchange hugs with special teams coordinator Dave Fipp.
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“Honestly, I just enjoy being around my guys,” Hooker said after practice. “We coming in here, working hard every day so why not have fun while doing it? So building those relationships, day to day, and creating moments and memories, that’s what it’s about.”
Hooker likely is headed for a redshirt year this fall as he strengthens his knee and learns a new offense, but watching him interact with teammates Saturday he seems to have the “it” factor teams want in their quarterbacks.
After practice, he told a story about his draft night and how second-year Lions tight end James Mitchell, his former teammate at Virginia Tech (where he played four seasons before transferring to Tennessee) called to congratulate him on being the 68th pick.
Before they hung up, Hooker asked Mitchell to send him part of the Lions playbook so he could “get a little head start” on rookie camp. Mitchell was on vacation at the time, but by the end of the night had given Hooker every Lions formation.
“That’s where it starts,” Hooker said Saturday. “You got to know where everyone aligns and then the plays, the protections, and the concepts come after that. And that’s just the basics, so if you get those basics right then everything else can kind of follow suit.”
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Hooker excelled at Tennessee in part because he took a similar approach to learning the Volunteers playbook. He said he spent eight hours a day in the Tennessee football offices the first week after he transferred, then had to learn a completely different offense when the Tennessee coaches who recruited him got fired at the end of the week.
This isn’t the movies. There’s more to playing quarterback in the NFL than studying hard and being the anti-Bo Callahan.
But on a weekend intended to help rookies acclimate to the NFL, Hooker already looks ahead of the curve.
The slow journey back
Hooker said he is “fiending to get back out there on the field and compete,” but as he did in his post-draft conference call with Detroit reporters, he declined to put a timetable on his return from a knee injury Saturday.
“Just trusting the process, honestly by taking it day by day,” he said. “Making sure that I’m doing what I have to do to be a better me when I return.”
Hooker did throw lightly after practice, but he said there are things “in terms of just speeding my feet up and putting a lot of pressure on that left leg and try to change directions (that) I can’t do it right now.”
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It’s far too early to say when he’ll be cleared in practice, but going off the timeline the Lions used with Jameson Williams in his return from a January ACL injury last year, I’d guess we’re looking at mid-September at the earliest.
A tight start
Tight end Sam LaPorta had a nice day Saturday. I wasn’t charting plays, but the second-round pick out of Iowa caught a handful of passes in team period and looked every bit the pass-catching weapon he was billed to be coming out of the draft.
I would caution reading too much into anything that happens at rookie camp. Some of the guys LaPorta was playing against could be delivering mail next week.
But LaPorta showed impressive movement skills in a special teams drill at the end of practice that was designed to simulate open-field tackling. Matched against first-round pick Jack Campbell, LaPorta got the better of Campbell on two straight plays. He looked decisive and quick, beating him with a cutback one play and down the sideline the next.
“You guys just saw that one,” LaPorta said. “I win some and lose some, and he does, too.”
Whoa there, big fella
Campbell is a massive linebacker at 6 feet 5 and 249 pounds, and watching him roam the middle of the field Saturday, his size can be a weapon. Campbell batted down one Martinez pass near the line of scrimmage during the Lions’ opening team period and seemed to clog the middle passing lane just by standing still.
He’s got a ways to go to cover NFL tight ends and running backs, but his length could lead to turnovers at some point.
On guard
Sorsdal played exclusively right tackle at William & Mary, but some predicted he’d move to guard in the NFL because of his 33-inch arms. On Saturday, the Lions used Sorsdal at right guard — the lone starting spot that seems up for grabs on their offensive line this fall.
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To be clear, I can’t imagine Sorsdal starts over Halapoulivaati Vaitai or Graham Glasgow as a rookie, but the Lions have long-term guard needs with Vaitai, Glasgow and Jonah Jackson on expiring contracts, so it makes sense for Sorsdal to start his NFL career at that position.
One other position note: The Lions list second-round pick Brian Branch as a cornerback on their roster.
Branch did not practice Saturday because of an undisclosed injury, but it will be interesting to see in the coming weeks if he sees time at outside cornerback and how the Lions use him in their base defense. At Alabama, Branch was a safety who excelled as a slot corner in nickel packages.
Final thoughts
UDFA receiver Chad Cota (6-4, 201) is tall enough that I mistook him for a tight end on a couple reps Saturday. Cota moves well for his size and could help fill the roster void left by the release of Quintez Cephus and Stanley Berryhill after their suspensions. … Eastern Michigan receiver Dylan Drummond, who is in camp on a tryout, beat tryout safety Chris Bacon with an ankle-breaking cutback in the aforementioned special teams drill. Drummond missed time with a punctured lung last season, but can be electrifying with the ball in his hand. … UDFA Mohamed Ibrahim handled all the work at running back Saturday with Jahmyr Gibbs sidelined by an ankle injury. Ibrahim caught the ball well and will be an interesting rookie to watch once pads come on this summer.
Contact Dave Birkett at dbirkett@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @davebirkett.