Detroit Lions' new defense as versatile as advertised at OTAs

Dave Birkett | Detroit Free Press

The Detroit Lions had their first open practice of the Matt Patricia era on Thursday, their third of eight scheduled organized team activities, and it was the media's first chance to get a glimpse of both Patricia's new defense and how things will be run under the first-year coach.

With the caveat that our vantage point isn't the best, confined to a set of metal bleachers on the far east side of three fields laid next to each other (where much of the action happens on the middle field 50-plus yards away), and that OTAs are non-contact practices where coaches often have specific points of emphasis to work on, here are some initial thoughts:

• First, as promised, the Lions used a mix of odd- and even-man fronts in Thursday's workout. They had four defensive linemen on the field the first time they sent their first-team defense out (in a nickel package), but often played with three linemen and a pass-rushing linebacker near the line of scrimmage.

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Ziggy Ansah barely practiced Thursday, which meant Cornelius Washington and Anthony Zettel were the starting defensive ends with A'Shawn Robinson and Sylvester Williams at defensive tackle.

My first reaction to Thursday's practice is that we'll see a lot of three-linemen looks this year, with Devon Kennard as a stand-up rusher off the edge. Jarrad Davis and Christian Jones would be the early favorites for nickel linebacker reps in that look, though any of those linebackers can blitz or drop into coverage.

• Ansah declined an interview request Thursday and Patricia talked before practice, so there was no opportunity to ask about Ansah's lack of practice reps. Ansah, who has had a host of injury issues the last two seasons, is slated to play on the one-year franchise tag for now, and if he can't get on the field for practice I'm not sure why the Lions would feel compelled to invest big money in him long-term.

I did ask Patricia about Ansah before practice, and he shared his first impressions of the soon-to-be 29-year-old defensive end.

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"Ziggy’s actually probably one of the first guys I met when I got here," Patricia said. "So he’s been great, really hard working, kind of just dialed in, focused. He can be quiet at times, which is fine, but to be honest with you, he’s really into everything right now. He’s really trying to learn at a high pace. Very professional, very much so trying to perfect his craft and what he does and learn to do some of the things that we’re doing that may be a little bit different. But he’s been great."

• Safety Tavon Wilson, returning from a torn bicep, and wide receiver TJ Jones, coming back from January shoulder surgery, didn't practice much either Thursday, and safety Glover Quin continues to miss practice for family reasons. Quin, as I've reported previously, has told the Lions he'll be back for mandatory minicamp next month.

With both Wilson and Quin out of team drills, Quandre Diggs played exclusively at safety and Miles Killebrew took an extensive amount of reps with the first-team defense. Killebrew got beat several teams in seven-on-seven and two-man route drills, and has a ways to go over the next few months to be in the playing group this fall.

It shouldn't surprise anyone if rookie third-round pick Tracy Walker is the fourth safety this year, and given Patricia's love for safeties, he could see more playing time than anticipated.

Given the Lions' current depth at cornerback – Darius Slay, Nevin Lawson and Teez Tabor enter the summer as their top three corners – there's no reason to think Diggs won't stay at safety this fall.

• Linebacker/fullback Nick Bellore practiced exclusively on offense Thursday. He wore a white jersey – the defense was in blue – and did position drills with other running backs, though he's still listed as a linebacker on the roster.

"You’ll see guys all over the place today, in a bunch of, maybe, positions they didn’t play in the past or what theoretically on paper it says that they should play," Patricia said. "But that’s the part of it that’s good right now is we’re not in game-plan mode we’re just kind of in a learning mode and a fundamental mode. So we’re just trying to see how much they can all handle in different spots."

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The Lions, of course, spent a seventh-round pick on fullback Nick Bawden, but the rookie was behind Bellore in the rotation Thursday. Bellore and LeGarrette Blount seemed to be in sync when they were on the field together during run drills, though with no pads it's impossible to draw any conclusions about the run game.

• My colleague, Orion Sang, talked with Ameer Abdullah about taking some reps as a punt returner Wednesday. That's Jamal Agnew's job, of course, but with Abdullah down the depth chart at running back, it doesn't hurt to work there just in case. Abdullah handled kick returns as a rookie in 2015, but he's never fielded punts in the NFL.

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• As for the Lions' practice structure under Patricia, it's a little different, as you'd expect, from what we're used to from Jim Caldwell. Players opened with stretching, which they sometimes did on their own under Caldwell, and closed with a 5-minute cool-down jog around the field. Ansah, Slay and Corey Robinson were held out of the jog, and undrafted rookies Chad Meredith and Al-Rasheed Benton ran in an end zone off to the side on their own.

The pace of practice overall was crisp, with a heavy emphasis on group and individual drills (which could be attributed to OTAs). Patricia spent a lot of his time early Thursday around the offense, and he seemed to pay especially close attention to a blitz-pickup drill with offensive linemen, defensive linemen and linebackers.

There wasn't much standing around. Three full lines, for instance, worked on technique at the same time, whereas under Caldwell the second-team line typically repped after the first-team unit. And there's no doubt that Patricia will put a heavy emphasis on tackling. The Lions did one open-field drill Thursday where linebackers and defensive backs lined up at the 30-yard line and had to close on a wide receiver or running back after he caught a pass and turned upfield 20 yards away.

Also, the music selection under Patricia is decidedly different. No word yet on who picked the playlist, but Thursday's practice included plenty of heavy metal. In recent years, the playlists tended to be more rap-based.

Contact Dave Birkett: dbirkett@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @davebirkett. Download our Lions Xtra app for free on Apple and Android!