INDIANAPOLIS -- The Detroit Lions held their first of two joint practices with the Colts on Thursday morning. Here are some notes from the workout.

-- First things first, these joint practices have a decidedly different feel to them than last year's workouts with the Steelers. Rather than a college stadium tucked in the mountain countryside, Detroit is at the Colts' practice facility in North Indianapolis. And rather than a few thousand fans hollering at their every move, there were just a few season-ticket holders and other special guests on hand. In other words, the energy has been far less raucous than what Detroit experienced last year.

-- With that said, the competition was still fierce. During team drills, safety Alex Carter grabbed Colts receiver Chester Rogers and threw him to the turf. During red-zone work, rookie linebacker Jarrad Davis cracked tailback Robert Turbin in one of the most violent collisions of the workout. And during one-on-ones, defensive tackle Haloti Ngata dumped Deyshawn Bond right on his ass with a powerful bull rush.

--The tempo of the practice was outstanding, with very little time wasted between drills and plays. The first-team offense and first-team defense worked simultaneously on different fields against the Colts, which made it tough to follow all the action. I chose to watch the offense more closely than the defense, although the defense clearly made life difficult for QB Scott Tolzien (who replaced the injured Andrew Luck). Darius Slay was especially good, tipping the ball to himself for one interception along the left sideline, then grabbing another off a tipped ball over the middle.

-- Detroit cycled through its defensive backs quickly during the workout, which put Teez Tabor on the field for quite a few reps against Indy's top offense, including star receiver T.Y. Hilton. That's a scary thought, given how much the rookie corner has struggled against reserves in Lions camp, but he really showed something today. On one play, he let Hilton get behind him deep after biting hard on a pump fake, but recovered nicely and was able to strip the ball. It was hard to say whether the play was a PBU or forced fumble, but either way, it was a nice show of that ball-hawking he was so famous for at Florida. And he did it again moments later, when he anticipated Hilton's break on an out route and jumped it for a PBU. It was a great bounce-back performance from a guy who is trying to ride out the ups and downs of his first training camp.

-- As for the offense, Matthew Stafford was his usual bad self. (For those not hip to the lingo these days, that means he's been really good). He completed 14 of 20 passes that I saw, and I think I saw them all. But he was also victimized by a couple drops and some gnarly pressure. Otherwise, he was largely on target.

-- Stafford connected with TJ Jones for four completions, more than anybody else. Those two really have established a nice rhythm in camp, and I think Jones' roster spot is getting safer by the day. He continues to take all the No. 3 receiver reps with the first unit. And when Detroit wanted to get a look at some bubble receivers with the first unit on Thursday, it was Jared Abbrederis and Jace Billingsley -- not Jones -- who was out there. He's not a lock yet, but he sure seems to be playing his way onto the roster.

-- Just behind Jones were Darren Fells (three catches) and Tim Wright (two catches), which is really intriguing. It's clear Detroit wants to expand it use of the tight end this season. They are rolling with a lot of two-tight end looks, and aren't afraid to throw them the ball, even with Ebron out. Fells looks like so much more than a blocker, while Wright has gotten a ton of run since re-joining the club earlier this week. As I wrote in my early roster predicion, I wouldn't be surprised at all to see the Lions carry as many as four tight ends to open the season.

-- Other players to catch passes from Stafford: Marvin Jones (two), Golden Tate (one), Ameer Abdullah (one) and Jace Bilingsley (one). Tate might have caught just one pass, but it was a beauty. He's not exactly known for the deep ball, but he played one perfectly, slowing just a bit at the end of the route so that he could use his body to shiled the defender, and then fully extend his arms to make the catch.

-- As mentioned, there were a few drops, including a couple apiece from Kenny Golladay and Dwayne Washington, and another from TJ Jones. Washington just isn't that great as a pass-catcher out of the backfield. But as for Golladay, he did bounce back from a poor start to make a few nice catches, including a toe-tapper along the right sideline on a pass from Jake Rudock.

-- In one-on-one drills, Detroit's offensive and defensive lines both looked like they got beat by Indianapolis. Haloti Ngata, Anthony Zettel and Travis Swanson all had good reps, but others struggled, including Greg Robinson. But I thought Robinson looked good in team drills as well, which is progress.

-- Coach Jim Caldwell downplayed the Rick Wagner afterward, so it shouldn't be anything serious -- but then again, Caldwell said the same jazz about Eric Ebron and we haven't seen him since Day 1. At any rate, Detroit is struggling big time to get its top offensive line together. Greg Robinson is the top left tackle, but has battled his own injuries and wasn't very good against Indy. And T.J. Lang has yet to practice on back to back days since the pads came on because of his surpically repaired hip. Lang and Wagner should be good to go for the opener, which is a month from today, but their practice absences make it hard to develop any kind of chemistry up front.

-- With Wagner and Lang out (along with tackles Cornelius Lucas and Corey Robinson), Detroit's top offensive line against Indy was Greg Robinson, Graham Glasgow, Travis Swanson, Joe Dahl and Storm Norton. Other active players to sit out the practice included tight end Eric Ebron, defensive tackle Jordan Hill, running back Mike James, linebacker Nick Bellore and safety Rolan Milligan. Defensive end Cornelius Washington also briefly left practice before later returning.