A second-round pick out of Florida, Tabor will compete for time in the Lions secondary this fall

Dave Birkett | Detroit Free Press

Kirthmon F. Dozier, Detroit Free Press

Marvin Jones may be the fastest wide receiver the Detroit Lions have, and Teez Tabor had no trouble staying with him on a deep route at practice Tuesday.

Tabor, a second-round pick out of Florida who dropped in the draft because of concerns about his speed, picked off his first pass of the spring during the Lions' eighth of 10 Organized Team Activity workouts.

Tabor out-positioned Jones along the left sideline to intercept a deep pass from quarterback Matthew Stafford during 11-on-11 drills.

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"I just been trying to get my hands on a couple balls, just trying as hard as I can," Tabor said. "Still some things I got to work on though, but that was a good play."

Tabor was a two-year starter at Florida and one of the most productive cornerbacks in college football.

He had four interceptions each of the last two seasons, with three returned for touchdowns, and finished his three-year Florida career with 33 pass breakups, the sixth most in program history.

Tabor, who's played mostly with the second-team defense behind starters Darius Slay and Nevin Lawson, said Jones is one of the players who's given him the biggest challenge in his first month as a Lion.

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Detroit Lions' organized team activities: June 6

"Man, he’s good. Like, he's really good," Tabor said. "Just going against him, one of the best. Fast, big, can run good routes. I had one good play against him but he had about 15 against me."

Lions cornerbacks coach Tony Oden said Tabor has proven to be "super intelligent" in their short time together, but said it's too early to know what sort of role he'll have as a rookie this fall.

"The only thing that he’s done today and the rest of them have done today is earn the opportunity to compete tomorrow," Oden said. "And then we let the chips fall where they may at that point."

Contact Dave Birkett: dbirkett@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @davebirkett.