The Detroit Lions open their second set of joint practices Wednesday in Allen Park against the Jacksonville Jaguars, and Lions coach Dan Campbell said they will look similar to the first with one small adjustment.
“There’s going to be more reps with ones,” Campbell said. “We’ll have more than we had with the Giants last week on both days.”
As teams inch closer to the NFL regular season, it makes sense to get starters a bigger workload.
The Lions sat most first-teamers for last week’s preseason opener after two days of joint practices with New York, and they’re expected to do the same this week after practicing with the Jaguars.
With the season opener three weeks away and no reason for the Lions to use key players in next Friday’s exhibition finale against the Carolina Panthers, this week’s practices could be the last best chance for starters to get the work they need to be ready for the Kansas City Chiefs on Sept. 7.
Campbell said facing a Jaguars team favored to win the AFC South and with different strengths than the Giants will be beneficial for his team as it tries to navigate the gauntlet of the regular season.
The Jaguars have one of the NFL’s top passing attacks with Trevor Lawrence entering Year 3 at quarterback and a slippery collection of skill talent, and their defense is built different, with longer players at the point of attack led by the dynamic duo of Travon Walker and Josh Allen.
The Lions practiced without defensive starters Aidan Hutchinson (ankle) and Cam Sutton (sick) Monday, and their status for joint practices is unknown.
Here are five matchups I’ll be keeping an eye on this week, ahead of Saturday’s 1 p.m. exhibition game at Ford Field:
Lions LT Taylor Decker vs. Jaguars OLB Travon Walker
Last week’s top trench battle between Frank Ragnow and Dexter Lawrence never materialized as Ragnow sat out practices after his wife gave birth to their first baby. Both Decker and Walker are expected on the field this week, and they will be the feature attraction of one-on-one pass rush drills.
Decker does not get enough credit as one of the top left tackles in the NFL. He has quietly put together another solid training camp, his eighth with the Lions, and looks primed for a good season after enjoying a healthy summer.
Walker, last year’s No. 1 pick, is coming off an uneven rookie season but is an ascending player who the Jaguars expect to have a breakout season. He has the added incentive this week of trying to outshine Hutchinson, the No. 2 pick of last year’s draft whose big rookie season hung like a cloud over Jacksonville’s top pick.
Jaguars WR Christian Kirk vs. Lions DB Brian Branch
Branch has been as impressive as any Lions player this summer and is closing in on the starting slot cornerback job. The rookie second-round pick routinely delivers big plays in practice, but said Monday he’s trying to be better with eye discipline in coverage.
Kirk will test Branch’s coverage ability as one of the league’s best slot receivers. He set career-highs with 84 catches, 1,108 yards and eight touchdowns last season, and is Lawrence’s version of Amon-Ra St. Brown. When the Jaguars need a big play, they tend to look Kirk’s way — and Kirk usually delivers.
Branch and Kirk should match up in one-on-one passing drills, seven-on-seven action and team drills, where Branch has excelled as a blitzer.
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Lions DT Levi Onwuzurike vs. Jaguars RG Brandon Scherff
Alim McNeill is the Lions’ starting three technique (aligned on outside shoulder of the guard) and will spend a good chunk of the week matched with Scherff, but I’m more interested to see Onwuzurike battle Jacksonville’s top interior lineman to get a better sense of what contributions he can make in 2023.
Onwuzurike missed all of last season with back surgery, but has been effective this summer while playing mostly against backups. He had three tackles, including one for loss, vs. the Giants, and followed with a strong practice Monday.
Onwuzurike, a second-round pick in 2021, has the potential to be a disruptive interior pass rusher, but he has to prove he can do it against NFL-caliber starters. Scherff is one of the most respected interior linemen and his blocking was a big part of Jacksonville’s offensive success last year. He can be a measuring stick for where Onwuzurike is at in his return.
Jaguars TE Evan Engram vs. Lions LB Jack Campbell
Engram is another measuring stick of sorts for a young Lions defensive player who has flashed his prodigious talent this summer. Campbell drew rave reviews from Dan Campbell for his play against the Giants and is in the mix for the starting linebacker job next to Alex Anzalone.
“I thought he did some really good things (against the Giants),” Dan Campbell said. “I thought he was physical, I thought he saw it. There’s things as he goes, just cutting it loose. Like he sees it, but now pull the trigger just a little bit faster. He’s a smart player and every time that he goes and gets that environment, he’ll just be better and better, but his physicality certainly showed up.”
Jack Campbell remains a work in progress in coverage, with Derrick Barnes taking most of the first-team nickel reps alongside Anzalone, which is why I put his matchup with Engram as one to watch. Engram caught 73 passes last season and will test Campbell.
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Lions WRs Dylan Drummond and Chase Cota vs. Jaguars CBs
Drummond and Cota joined Jameson Williams in working with the second-team offense for most of Monday’s practice, and it’s clear the Lions want to see more of their two undrafted rookies this week as they look to fill the final one or two spots on their receiving corps.
Both Drummond and Cota have good size and reliable hands, and perhaps most importantly both have been on the field all summer. Dan Campbell didn’t seem thrilled Denzel Mims missed another practice Monday with an ankle injury. Maurice Alexander also sat out Monday, and Trinity Benson has been out with a leg injury for weeks.
Top Jaguars cornerback Tyson Campbell is in concussion protocol, so his status for the week uncertain. But for Drummond and Cota, joint practices are more about taking advantage of another opportunity than the name of the opponent they face.
Contact Dave Birkett at dbirkett@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @davebirkett.