Rainy day: Lions head coach Matt Patricia never shies away from an opportunity to practice in inclement weather as a teaching and concentration tool for practice. It rained for nearly the entire practice in Allen Park Wednesday, sometimes in a downpour. Still, the Lions plugged away outside in the wet weather. There were definitely a few more fumbles, dropped balls and slips due to the weather. That's why Patricia does it. It's inevitable at some point in a 16-game schedule the Lions will play in inclement weather. It's better to be prepared for it.
Practice report: Running backs D’Andre Swift and Bo Scarbrough didn't do much at practice as they continue to work their way back from undisclosed injuries. Left guard Joe Dahl didn't practice, either, which gave veteran Oday Aboushi a lot of run with the first-team offense at left guard.
Impressive reps: One player who's really impressed me throughout the first couple weeks of padded practices has been third-year safety Tracy Walker. He was dominant Wednesday in one-on-one pass reps against the tight ends, and that's certainly not a new development. His first rep was against T.J. Hockenson. He was so glued to Hockenson that quarterback Matthew Stafford didn't even attempt to throw the ball. We don't see that often.
Walker forced an incompletion on his next rep against Jesse James. On his third rep he undercut an out route, and picked the ball off with one hand. Walker was Detroit's leading tackler last year (100 tackles), and he should be a big part of the defense in 2020.
Look at the future?: The Lions have been mixing first-round pick Jeff Okudah into the first-team defense throughout the course of training camp, and we've seen those reps increase as we've moved along. In the first offense vs. defense team period on Wednesday, we saw Okudah and veteran Desmond Trufant start opposite each other at the two outside cornerback spots. Is that our first glimpse of the Week 1 starters?
Good couple days: In Sunday's observations, I wrote about a 100-yard pick-six by linebacker Reggie Ragland on Stafford in a 7-on-7 drill. Ragland was making plays again Wednesday in an offense vs. defense team period where the offense was trying to get out of the shadow of its own end zone at the 1-yard line. Running back Wes Hills tried to take a handoff off right tackle, and Ragland was right there to meet him. Had it been a live period, Ragland probably would have recorded a safety on the play.
Kick return: Who's in the mix to return kickoffs this season? The Lions had five players returning kickoffs in practice Wednesday: Jamal Agnew, Jason Huntley, Marvin Hall, Victor Bolden and Ty Johnson. There's a lot of speed and ability in that group, so it will be interesting to see how that competition plays out. Speaking of Huntley, he had a nice touchdown run in a team red-zone period later in practice that showed off his speed and open-field playmaking ability.
Pass protection: Left tackle Taylor Decker has had a terrific start to his training camp, and he's been especially good in the one-on-one reps against the defensive linemen. I've maybe seen him lose one rep in the last week. That was to Trey Flowers, and it was still somewhat debatable. Decker is entering a contract year. The fifth-year left tackle has been an anchor upfront in training camp. He's been consistently really good.
