The rain from the Detroit Lions training camp practice Day 7 was gone and Day 8 welcomed 91 degrees of sun and moisture. It was uncomfortable that the muddy pitch made the game a gritty affair, which seemed to suit Matt Patricia just fine.
Theme of the day: Get it right
In a two wide receiver against two corner drills, the defensive backs are asked to cover the goal line as the receivers deploy an array of routes to be opened. This drill puts stress on communication between angles.
When Jeff Okudah and Darryl Roberts met, the receivers crossed and Okudah passed his man, but Roberts did not, resulting in a wide open receiver for the easy score.
Instead of turning out, Okudah called off the next defensive back and wanted to go again, this time along with Justin Coleman. The receivers crossed again, and this time Okudah stayed with his husband, but Coleman passed his man on and it resulted in another wide-open receiver.
Coaches called Okudah over and he talked to her, asking questions right until it was his turn again in the rotation. This time, Okudah read the play, communicated effectively, and was described with a pass break-up.
Okudah will make mistakes, just like any rookie in the league, but his ability to take coaching and make corrections is impressive.
Special teams coach Brayden Coombs also contributed to this theme. The Lions worked quite a bit on points today and when someone made a mistake in blocking, Coombs stopped everything, took an extra 30 seconds to point out necessary changes and made a correction.
At one point, he let the team demonstrate what he was asking of them at three-quarter speed, and the improvement was noticeable.
Having a fixed time to practice, stopping to make this change is not something all coaches take the time to do. Historically, coaches prefer to point out and make changes in the film space, but there is a lot of value in doing it this way.
By taking the time to make the change during the drill – and to make sure it is understood and digested by the players – Coombs tackles the problem and gets better reps on film today instead of tomorrow.
I was incredibly impressed by how Okudah and Coombs treated themselves in the camp. Both make a conscious and determined effort to take the time to get it right.
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