Allen Park — Here are some notes and observations from Thursday’s joint training camp practice between the Detroit Lions and Jacksonville Jaguars.
Note: To fully capture this practice, John Niyo and I split the two fields. I stuck with Detroit’s defense for the day, while John kept eyes on the offense. Each observation will include the reporter’s initials at the end of the bullet point.
▶ I’ve watched Trevor Lawrence play before, both in college and last year when the Jaguars came to town for a regular-season matchup, but there’s something about seeing a guy running through rep after rep on the practice field to truly gauge their mastery of their profession.
And while there’s still some consistency Lawrence needs to iron out as he develops, his future as one of the league’s best quarterbacks feels apparent. The defining trait that stood out watching him operate on Thursday was the touch he put on throws, none more pristine than his touchdown toss to receiver Zay Jones in the back corner of the end zone, floating it just over the outstretched arm of cornerback Cam Sutton in coverage.
Lawrence had a few of these touch throws, where he threaded a needle by putting just the right amount of air under the pass to avoid the reach of an underneath defender. — JR
▶ Had Lawrence been more consistently accurate when his receivers got open downfield, it might have been an overwhelming win for Jacksonville’s offense, but the reality is the quarterback misfired on several targets. He also had an egregious error, heaving up a deep ball for Calvin Ridley into double coverage, which was easily intercepted by deep safety C.J. Gardner-Johnson. — JR
▶ Ridley was Lawrence’s favorite target and is looking like an excellent pickup for the Jaguars. There was a stretch during an 11-on-11 portion where he caught three consecutive passes, including a long touchdown, while working against Sutton. — JR
▶ Gardner-Johnson keeps stacking good days on top of each other. On top of the aforementioned pick, he also drove hard across the field to break up a deep ball intended for tight end Evan Engram. And you know the veteran defensive back was chirping all day to anyone who would listen. Lawrence, Ridley, the Jaguars’ second-team offense and even kicker Brandon McManus were victims of Gardner-Johnson’s trash talk.
Of moderate interest, the Lions’ coaching staff doesn’t seem to mind how much Gardner-Johnson chatters, even if it occasionally leads to some post-whistle shoving. If anything, it seems like they’re embracing his personality and swagger and trusting him to walk up to the line and not cross it, which, for the most part, he seems to do well. — JR
▶ The Lions’ first-team offense had a much better day Thursday, as Jared Goff looked extremely comfortable in seven-on-seven drills to start the joint practice.
In three series in the red zone, he went 7-for-8 and threw three consecutive touchdown passes to three different receivers — Sam LaPorta, Josh Reynolds and Kalif Raymond.
With Amon-Ra St. Brown sitting out with an injury, Raymond was Goff’s primary target all day, routinely getting separation on a variety of crossing routes underneath.
But in the first series of 11-on-11s for the Lions’ offense, Reynolds got behind Jaguars cornerback Tyson Campbell and Goff hit him in stride for a 60-yard bomb. Goff followed that up with a well-timed ball to Trinity Benson on a dig route that went for another would-be touchdown as Jaguars safety Andre Cisco lost his footing. — JN
▶ Nate Sudfeld, on the other hand, had a shaky start in seven-on-sevens. Safety Andrew Wingard took an underthrown ball away from Chase Cota on Sudfeld’s first attempt, and his second was nearly picked by linebacker Shaquille Quarterman.
Teddy Bridgewater jumped in for one series with the second unit and completed all three of his passes for short gains to Brock Wright, Dylan Drummond and Jermar Jefferson. — JN
▶ Jack Campbell will probably end up a starter sooner than later, but Derrick Barnes isn’t making it easy for the rookie to jump him on the depth chart. He continues to see most of the first-team reps and has held his own against both the run and pass.
Campbell’s athleticism is special, though, and shows up regularly when in downhill pursuit. His closing speed was impressive on a toss sweep to running back JaMycal Hasty, although the linebacker’s over-the-top physicality near the sidelines during the unpadded practice nearly caused a scuffle, drawing under-his-breath cursing from a nearby Jaguars staffer. — JR
▶ It was a pretty good day for both of Detroit’s kickers. Riley Patterson made all five of his kicks, knocking home efforts from 33, 38, 48 and 53 yards during one practice segment, plus a 39-yarder to cap a 2-minute drill at the end of practice.
Parker Romo, the challenger, was also solid, making the same four kicks, plus a fifth from the mid-50s. He did end up wide right from 55 yards at the end of practice, but he had the misfortune of dealing with strong, gusty winds on the attempt. — JR
▶ Benson, who returned to practice Wednesday after missing nearly two weeks with a right leg injury, had a strong showing early Thursday. He found the end zone on a crossing route in team drills with the first unit and made another tough catch on a low throw later in the team period. — JN
▶ Defensive tackle Levi Onwuzurike continues to impress. Moving up the depth chart and getting some extended work with the second-team defense, he regularly worked his way into the backfield, making life tough for Jaguars backup QB C.J. Beathard.
Another productive member of that defensive line grouping was John Cominsky. Not only did he generate pressure on the pocket, but he showed some high-level IQ on misdirection plays, navigating into the open field to make a stop on a screen, as well as a pass back across the formation. — JR
▶ Drummond also got a few first-team reps Thursday, and he continued to show well with the second unit, including one of the best catches of the day, when he found a soft spot in the middle of the Jaguars defense and hauled in a bullet from Sudfeld. — JN
▶ The two teams worked both sides of some kickoffs. Of note for the Lions, cornerback Starling Thomas V wasn’t involved with first-team reps on either coverage or return duties.
Even more interesting, rookie Jahmyr Gibbs was the first man up as a kickoff returner, ahead of Raymond. — JR
▶ Frank Ragnow had the day off after practicing in full Wednesday, so Graham Glasgow took the first-team reps at center with Halapoulivaati Vaitai working at right guard along with the rest of the starters: Taylor Decker, Jonah Jackson and Penei Sewell.
Sewell did take some reps at left tackle late in practice with Decker getting a break and Matt Nelson sliding in at right tackle. — JN
▶ Practice closed with a situational drive. With the score tied, the offense was given 1:18 and one timeout to drive into field goal range, starting from their own 35-yard line.
The Jaguars’ first-team offense went three-and-out after Aidan Hutchinson drove the right tackle into Lawrence for a sack on first down, before the QB threw behind his receiver for an incompletion on third-and-8.
Detroit’s top offensive grouping responded with a long drive that was kick-started by a 20-yard completion to Marvin Jones. Goff connected on two more third-down conversions to set up Patterson’s 39-yard winner. — JR
jdrogers@detroitnews.com
Twitter: @Justin_Rogers
john.niyo@detroitnews.com
Twitter: @JohnNiyo