Dan Campbell took a swig of water, put his bottle down, adjusted his hat and spread his arms like an eagle.
A little more than an hour before his team was set to practice in front of anotherpacked training camp crowd, Campbell was asked about the Detroit Lions achieving a season-ticket sellout for the first time in Ford Field history and whether that puts any more pressure on him and his team to deliver.
“No, I don’t feel weight,” Campbell said. “I feel wind underneath my fricking wings, man. That’s what I feel.”
Campbell nodded his head as reporters chuckled at the image, but the third-year Lions coach couldn’t have been more serious.
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Yes, expectations have been ratcheted up to a level not seen around metro Detroit in decades, and no, Campbell is not running from the thought of achieving something great.
“I love this, man,” Campbell said. “This is outstanding. I love our fans. I love that, man, they feel it like we feel it, and, no, this is not burden, this is not pressure, this is not weight, this is — man, this gives me inspiration is what it does for me, and our guys.”
The hype machine has been operational on the Lions for months now, and it was running overdrive Saturday.
Owner Sheila Hamp spent a few minutes in the middle of practice signing autographs. WWE star Sheamus cut a social media promo from the field (before his appearance at SummerSlam, hosted by Ford Field later Saturday night). And fans lined the railings long after practice was done hoping to get a glimpse of second-year defensive star Aidan Hutchinson.
Hutchinson, after spending time with his family — as he does after almost every practice — made his way over to the screaming crowd to sign autographs while safety Tracy Walker made his way down another line of die-hards still ringing the field.
“I don’t think the guys are buying into (the hype) too much,” said long snapper Jake McQuaide, a 13-year NFL veteran and the oldest player on the Lions roster. “I think Dan has struck a chord that it’s about the work and it’s about every day, can you come out every single day and do it like a pro every single day, and that’s what it’s about. ‘Cause every team’s good, and every team feels like it’s our year this year. In camp, that’s how every team feels. Whether you’re coming off a Super Bowl or you’re coming off 0-16, you’re like, ‘Oh, this year’s different.’ Or, ‘This year’s right.’ ”
We’ll find out soon enough if this year truly will be different. The Lions open the regular season one month from Tuesday when they visit the defending Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs, and next week they take part in their first of two sets of joint practices against the New York Giants.
I’ll have more on joint practices in the coming days, but the Giants will be the first real test of whether the hype is right. They were a playoff team last year and they have top-end talent such as running back Saquon Barkley, tight end Darren Waller, offensive lineman Andrew Thomas and defensive lineman Dexter Lawrence to use as a measuring stick.
Campbell said he likes what his team has done two weeks into camp, and he called the next two weeks “critical” in their development.
“We got a long way to go,” he said. “But up to this point I’m pleased with where we’re at.”
More observations from Saturday’s practice:
Jamo out again — for personal reasons
Wide receiver Jameson Williams missed Saturday’s practice for personal reasons and has now missed 5½ of the Lions’ 11 practices this summer, including the team’s July 24 workout when he left early with a hamstring injury.
Williams is expected back after the team’s off day Sunday, but the receiving corps has struggled to stay healthy. Recent trade acquisition Denzel Mims left Saturday’s practice with an apparent right ankle injury; he limped off the field with trainers after landing awkwardly following a contested catch over Walker. Trinity Benson remains out with a knee injury. Tom Kennedy is on injured reserve with a shoulder injury. And free-agent signee Marvin Jones missed the start of camp with a back injury.
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Jones is back now, but the Lions were so light at receiver Saturday that undrafted rookie Dylan Drummond (Eastern Michigan) got a handful of reps with the first-team offense. Drummond has played well enough to earn those looks, and it helps that he has avoided the injury bug making its way around the Lions receivers room.
Rookies give Goff good targets
Jared Goff drove the first-team offense for two touchdowns in the Lions’ end-of-practice situational period Saturday, which started with 3:41 on the clock and the offense down, 24-14.
After a three-and-out by the first-team defense against the second-team offense, Goff took over against the second-team defense at his own 31-yard line with 3:23 to play. He led an 11-play touchdown drive that culminated with a 16-yard touchdown pass to rookie running back Jahmyr Gibbs over second-year linebacker Malcolm Rodriguez.
Amon-Ra St. Brown, as usual, was Goff’s favorite target, catching three passes that went for first downs. Rookie tight end Sam LaPorta also made two catches on the drive, including one he laid out for against tight coverage from linebacker Derrick Barnes.
After a simulated onside kick recovery at midfield, Goff led another seven-play drive that ended with a touchdown pass to LaPorta over rookie linebacker Jack Campbell. In the absence of great receiver weapons this season, it’s easy to envision LaPorta and Gibbs as Goff’s second- and third-favorite (in whatever order) targets (after St. Brown).
Branch saws off second-team offense
The second-team offense didn’t fare nearly as well in the same situation. Playing against the first-team defense, Nate Sudfeld threw an interception to Brian Branch on the fourth play of the drive, one play after Branch broke up a pass from Sudfeld).
Dan Campbell re-spotted the ball at the 45, only for Cam Sutton to intercept a pass targeting Chase Cota three plays later.
Sudfeld eventually threw a touchdown to Brock Wright over the top of Jack Campbell, and Parker Romo followed with a game-tying 49-yard field goal after the simulated onside recovery. Charles Harris also had a sack for the first-team defense, and one of Sudfeld’s completions came during a light moment when Jerry Jacobs was getting his helmet fixed and tried to borrow a helmet from teammate Will Harris to stay on the field.
Jacobs ran towards his left cornerback spot while putting Harris’ helmet on, only to find out it was too big for his head. He tossed the helmet back to Harris, who ran in from the sideline.
Pass blocking in pads
The Lions did go though some one-on-one work in full pads at the start of Saturday’s practice. In one-on-one blocking drills, undrafted rookie running back Mohamed Ibrahim had two good reps against Kerby Joseph and Brandon Joseph in pass protection while Gibbs lost a pair of reps to Jalen Reeves-Maybin and couldn’t hold up against a bull rush from Rodriguez. Gibbs did get Reeves-Maybin back in one-on-one pass work, beating him for two easy catches.
David Montgomery had two good pass-block reps against Anzalone, and Wright won his blocking reps against Jack Campbell and Ifeatu Melifonwu. Melifonwu had a pass breakup on a pass to Wright in their coverage rep, and Barnes did a good job jamming Montgomery at the line of scrimmage when he notched a pass breakup.
Quick hits
∎ I couldn’t quite tell from the angle I had, but Riley Patterson appeared to miss the extra point after LaPorta’s touchdown with the first-team offense. Patterson and Romo remain in a close heat for the kicking job.
∎ Jack Campbell didn’t have the best day in coverage, but he worked as the green-dot helmet with the first-team defense, relaying play calls to the rest of the huddle. Alex Anzalone, who played alongside Campbell with the ones, typically handles those responsibilities on defense.
∎ The Lions practiced in spider pads Saturday, so it was a much less physical practice than some previous workouts, but they did a lot of “move-the-ball” work again, trying to keep drives alive. Julian Okwara, who has had a quiet camp, intercepted a Sudfeld pass intended for Drummond in the first team period of the day and had a would-be sack three plays later with a quick pressure off left edge.
∎ Finally: Sheamus wasn’t the only luminary at Lions practice Saturday. Young Red Wings standouts Moritz Seider and Lucas Raymond also were in attendance.
Contact Dave Birkett at dbirkett@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @davebirkett.