`The Detroit Lions have been remarkably healthy through the first four days of training camp, and that luck appeared to continue through Saturday’s practice.
Outside of the tough news that kicker Michael Badgley is out for the year
the Lions continue to have just two players absent at practice: rookie guard Christian Mahogany, who has been out with an illness, and defensive tackle DJ Reader, who remains on the Physically Unable to Perform list, as expected. The Lions got even better news on Saturday, as two important players appeared to get clearance for team drills. Running back Jahmyr Gibbs and defensive end Marcus Davenport both got their first 11-on-11 action of training camp on Saturday.
Gibbs is expected to take a big step in his second NFL season after posting 945 rushing yards and 10 rushing touchdowns in his rookie year.
The Lions’ focus for him in Year 2 appears to be route running. We’ve seen Gibbs take individual reps with receivers early in camp, and he has also been putting extra work with Amon-Ra St. Brown to hammer out details with his releases and footwork.
“He’s kind of a ton better at that too, you can see he’s been working on it,” quarterback Jared Goff said. “He really has.
His hands and his route running has improved pretty significantly, and I know we plan to use him in a lot of ways.” As for Davenport, it’s the culmination of a long road of recovery from his ankle injury that required tightrope surgery in November.
This offseason, the Lions handed Davenport a one-year, $6.5 million contract with $3 million guaranteed in an effort to build their pass rush opposite Aidan Hutchinson. Back in 2021, Davenport produced 9.0 sacks in just 11 games, but has since been battling injuries.
“He’s a big, long, athletic guy with a lot of position flexibility,” defensive line coach Terrell Williams said of Davenport.
“He has a history of playing very, very physical in this league. I mean, we’ve got two really big defensive ends with him and Hutch, two long, athletic dudes. That’s really what we’re expecting from him is to play how he looks.
We’re excited about that.” The only player who appears to still be limited is Brian Branch. Branch returned to practice after an excused day off, but he is still being held out of everything beyond walkthroughs and individual drills after having offseason cleanup surgery. “
Health-wise, I feel like I’m ahead of schedule,” Branch said.
“Just trying to remain eager to get back out there. I miss playing with these guys. That’s just my mindset right now.” That said, Branch was hopeful that he’d be out there as a full participant next week. “Hopefully. I’m trying to get back out there with full pads. Hopefully towards the end of next week,” Branch said.