Detroit Lions training camp preview: 10 story lines to watch

Football is back.

The Detroit Lions hold their first practice of training camp Thursday, with veterans scheduled to report Wednesday, which means it’s time to size up the story lines that will impact this year’s team.

Here are 10 of the most intriguing to watch a little more than six weeks away from the Lions’ season opener Sept. 8 against the Arizona Cardinals.

Happy campers

After skipping offseason workouts, cornerback Darius Slay and defensive tackle Damon Harrison are planning to report with their teammates Wednesday – but that doesn’t mean their contract situations are settled. Neither Slay nor Harrison has a new deal yet, and until that changes that will be a topic of conversation (and perhaps a point of contention). The Lions need big seasons out of two of their best players in order to reach their defensive potential. Can Slay and Harrison deliver, or will their unhappiness with their contracts eventually lead them out of town?

Money matters

Slay and Harrison aren’t the only Lions looking for new deals. Graham Glasgow and A’Shawn Robinson are entering the final year of their rookie contracts and are candidates for extensions. Glasgow, in particular, is a player the Lions want to lock up long-term. There have been no real negotiations on an extension yet, but Bob Quinn has a history of getting deals he wants done before the start of the regular season.

Center of attention

Glasgow is moving to right guard this season after playing well at left guard and center early in his career. Frank Ragnow will replace Glasgow at center after starting every game at left guard as a rookie. Ragnow was up and down last season, but there was plenty to like and he has a very promising future ahead. The Lions believe a move back to center, where he starred in college, will help him reach his potential. 

Western union

Ragnow – and everyone else – will be operating in a new offense as Darrell Bevell takes over the play-calling duties from Jim Bob Cooter. Bevell is a disciple of the West Coast offense, and he was brought in to get more out of a running game that’s ranked in the bottom half of the league for two straight decades. The Lions put the basics of the offense in this spring, but now is the time to really see it in action.

Staff meeting

Matthew Stafford had a down season in 2018. He failed to reach 4,000 yards passing for the first time since his injury-shortened season of 2010 and spent the final month dealing with a painful back injury. The Lions have touted Bevell’s offense as being “quarterback friendly” and there’s no doubt they expect a bounce-back from Stafford this fall. Stafford hosted his receivers for a summer throwing session in California earlier this month, but camp is still a time to work out kinks with the new offense. If he thrives under Bevell, the Lions could surprise in the NFC North.

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Joint custody

With two sets of joint practices on tap this spring, against the New England Patriots and Houston Texans, we should get a sense of how the Lions stack up talent wise to a couple playoff contenders. The Patriots come to Detroit for three workouts in early August, and the Lions visit Houston for two practices the following week. Given the nature of exhibition games, these are some of the best evaluations the Lions will get all summer.

Flowers bloom

There’s no telling if Trey Flowers, the Lions’ biggest free-agent addition of the offseason, will be on the field when his old team, the Patriots, comes to town. The Lions placed Flowers on the physically unable to perform list on Monday. He’s not expected to miss much time, but he is returning from offseason shoulder surgery and there will be an adjustment period to a new line. 

Rookie roles

T.J. Hockenson has big expectations to meet as the eighth pick in the draft, but he’s not the only rookie the Lions are counting on to contribute this fall. Hockenson should share starting duties at tight end with Jesse James. Second-round pick Jahlani Tavai could have a rotational role at linebacker. And third-round pick Will Harris looks like a sub-package contributor in the secondary. One other rookie to keep an eye on this summer: Sixth-round pick Ty Johnson, who just might carve out a backup role at running back.

Camp battles

The Lions don’t have many starting spots up for grabs, but there are several backup jobs to be won in training camp. C.J. Anderson, Theo Riddick, Zach Zenner and Johnson are vying for probably three job behind Kerryon Johnson at running back. The fourth and fifth receiver spots are anyone’s guess. And this is a make-or-break preseason for Teez Tabor at cornerback.

Running on empty

This is maybe the most important of all the summer story lines. There was a huge adjustment to training camp under Matt Patricia last year, when the physicality and nature of camp wore players down, cost the Lions a Week 1 game against the New York Jets and set the tone for a disappointing season. Will Year 2 under Patricia be any different? Will the coach change his ways? Will returning players be more adaptable? And most importantly, how will it all impact the Lions when they open the regular season with a winnable but dangerous game against the new-look Arizona Cardinals? Check back in six weeks for an answer.

Contact Dave Birkett at dbirkett@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @davebirkett. Read more on the Detroit Lions and sign up for our Lions newsletter.