Detroit Lions training camp: Observations from 'very competitive' scrimmage

The Detroit Lions finished the second week of training camp with their closest effort yet to simulating live game speed in Friday's practice.

Head coach Dan Campbell said Friday's practice would pit the top offensive unit against the top defensive unit, second unit vs. second unit and third unit vs. third unit for the entirety of practice after players went through position drills as a warmup.

"I'd like to put about 35-40 reps on 'em," Campbell said before. "And we'll go. And we'll compete, so we are pretty excited about this day."

It was a simulation of live game snaps with officials running the practice, and the team worked on various situations such as red zone drills, hurry-up offense, driving the length of the field and special teams. This was the Lions' last practice before traveling to New Jersey this weekend to participate in joint practices with the New York Giants ahead of the first preseason game on Thursday.

"This oughta feel like a preseason game, really," Campbell said. "That's really what it should feel like. I mean, this should be competitive, this should be ... they should be hot and they should be scratching and clawing for everything that they're gonna get out of here."

How the offense looked

The starting defense got the better of the offense on the first few plays of the live sessions thanks to a tackle for loss by Emmanuel Moseley and a would-be sack by Alim McNeill, but the offense moved down the field quickly the second time through. The second drive opened from the defense's 45 with a completion to tight end Sam LaPorta on a crosser over the middle, who outran linebacker Jack Campbell, cut upfield, and took it inside the 5-yard line.

"Anytime you go against the ones, it is going to be challenging because we got a great offense from receivers to O-line to running backs to quarterbacks to the head coach to the offensive coordinator — everything is good about them," Moseley said. "I think they challenged us, and there are a few things that we got to get better at."

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They reset the drill back to the 50 and moved downfield again with a big completion to Amon-Ra St. Brown, who faked a cut inside and then sprung outward, leaving linebacker Derrick Barnes in the dust, for a 15-yard gain. After a few David Montgomery runs stuffed by Campbell and Aidan Hutchinson, Goff hit Daurice Fountain, who got open against Carlton Davis III with a post route over the middle, for a 15-yard touchdown.

"Fountain has been good," Davis said.

"I think we are all intrigued with Fountain," Dan Campbell said. "And I said that a few days ago. We need to see more from him. We need to see more. It's gotta show up and he's got to be detailed in what he does. He's got an unbelievable opportunity."

In the red zone portion, Jahmyr Gibbs scored on a screen nearly broken up by Levi Onwuzurike, followed by a touchdown on a slant to St. Brown and a chip-shot field goal by Jake Bates. The offense finished practice with the goal of picking up two first downs, accomplished in three plays.

Another quick note on the offense: Center Frank Ragnow moved people at will Friday, including a pancake block against Brodric Martin on a Gibbs touchdown and moving Kyle Peko completely out of the hole on a Montgomery run up the middle for a big gain. The All-Pro center looks quite healthy.

The Hendon Hooker roller coaster

Hooker was the quarterback with the second team and had an up-and-down scrimmage filled with throws on the run — some accurate and some wild — and a pair of interceptions, including a repeat of a mistake from Wednesday.

On Hooker's first possession, the offense picked up one first down after he hit wide receiver Kaden Davis with an on-the-run throw on a bootleg. James Houston recorded a pressure on first down that would've been a sack or thrown-away ball, followed by a Hooker pass wide and another Houston pressure forcing a pass just too high for Kalif Raymond. The Lions sent out the field goal unit, but Bates (more on him in a bit) missed the 51-yard kick, followed by a 46-yard attempt after a too many men penalty against the defense.

Hooker's second possession against the starting defense only lasted a few plays before running back Jermar Jefferson ripped a 50-yard touchdown run off right tackle after he burnt Brian Branch, who participated in some of the team drills but not all and was at safety next to Kerby Joseph, coming down the field as the last defender. The second time against the starting defense, Hooker took two sacks, from Campbell and Hutchinson.

Hooker had a pair of interceptions against the second defense. The first came inside the red zone when he tried to hit a quick out toward the pylon. But the pass was behind the target, leading to an interception for Khalil Dorsey, who returned it for a big gain.

His next throw was a beauty as he found rookie running back Sione Vaki on a wheel route for a touchdown. Vaki had a step on Jalen Reeves-Maybin and Hooker dropped it over his shoulder for a score. However, two throws later, Hooker's throw was behind wideout Antoine Green and rookie corner Ennis Rakestraw Jr. was there for his third interception of camp.

"It was a very competitive day," Moseley said. "They caught some balls when we was right in position

Jake Bates struggles

Bates has had some issues with accuracy on kicks from most distances greater than an extra point throughout camp and Friday was no different.

He took extra points and field goals that lined up with the team's simulated game sessions and handled all kicking duties while the team practiced the new kickoff rules.

Bates was far from perfect Friday, missing seven kicks from various ranges, including two that hit uprights. He made most of his extra points following touchdowns, missing one off the post, but struggled with his accuracy on field goals from 40 yards or more. He was able to make field goals from 38, 43, 51 and 59 yards, but missed from 51, 46 (three times), 54 and 64 yards, plus the extra point. He was 7-for-14 on field goals and 6-for-7 on extra points.

Hutch makes his presence felt

Hutchinson had one of the best plays of the day when the first-team defense faced the second-team offense. Lining up real wide against right tackle Colby Sorsdal, Hutchinson blew past the second-year lineman with a vicious spin move that put him in Hooker's lap immediately. He was moving so fast through the spin cycle that he couldn't slow down and accidentally hit Hooker as he threw.

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Three plays later, Hutchinson was in the backfield and this time laid off the quarterback on a would-be sack as he and Barnes converged from the edge. Hutchinson was also a factor against the run game, frequently crashing down the line to plug holes on the edge.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Detroit Lions training camp observations: Offense scrimmages defense