Detroit Lions minicamp observations: Mike Singletary makes Day 3 visit

Dave Birkett | Detroit Free Press

Show Caption Hide Caption Darius Slay talks improvement at Lions minicamp Detroit Lions cornerback Darius Slay discusses his improvement during Day 2 of Lions minicamp on June 6, 2018, in Allen Park.

One of the best linebackers in NFL history made a surprise visit to Detroit Lions minicamp Thursday, but Mike Singletary wasn't really there for the football.

Singletary, who's presently coaching high school football in suburban Dallas and will take over as coach of the to-be-named Memphis franchise in the new Alliance of American Football next year, stopped by the Lions' Allen Park practice facility Thursday to check out the new video board at the team's outdoor practice field.

More on that later, but since Singletary — one of the fiercest, meanest players of his generation — was on hand Thursday, I figured I'd ask him about the most noticeable change to Lions practices under Matt Patricia: all of the running.

I wrote about Patricia's demanding coaching style in my camp observations Wednesday, how Patricia made players run as punishment for what appeared to be a lack of effort the first two days of minicamp, and he was at it again Thursday.

When a couple offensive linemen ended up on the ground during one period late in practice, an animated Patricia stopped the period and made players run the length of the field and back. It wasn't a sprint, by any means, but it was enough to get players' attention.

Patricia doesn't use running only as a form of a punishment. The Lions also run at the end of every practice, and I'd be surprised if they're not one of the better conditioned teams in the NFL this year.

After the Lions' first open workout of organized team activities, players jogged what appeared to be a light cool down, running around the field in three groups (smalls, mediums and bigs), with the last player in each line sprinting to the front of the jogging pack, and the rest of the line repeating that as it made its way around the field.

On Thursday, the Lions' end-of-practice run was more demanding as players had to run a handful of half-gassers across the width of the field.

"I mean, it’s just practice," Patricia said when asked about all the running. "I’m not really sure what was done before, but we’re just trying to practice."

I've covered the Lions for part of the tenures of Rod Marinelli and Jim Schwartz, and for all of Jim Caldwell's four seasons, and I can't ever remember the team running this much.

That doesn't mean those coaches were right — their lack of playoff success would certainly indicate they weren't — or that Patricia is, it just means that Patricia has taken a different approach to coaching this team.

Patricia's appetite for running doesn't come as a surprise to anyone who spent time around him or the New England Patriots the last few years. Here's what former Michigan standout Pierre Woods, who played for Patricia in New England, told me back in January:

"You run after practice. Everybody runs. You run half-gassers. Because in the National Football League, I’ve heard, before I went in, guys say, 'Man, we really don’t run like you do in college, you don’t do all that.' But I’m pretty sure the Houston Texans run a lot. I’m pretty sure the Detroit Lions run a lot. It was just something that’s done. It's like second nature. I mean, Harold Nash is there in Detroit (as strength coach) so I’m pretty sure Detroit is running now. I’m pretty sure he implemented the same things that he did in New England in Detroit as the strength and conditioning coach there. … They might not like to do it, but it’s something that’s embedded in those coaches that have left New England and went other places and to carry on."

I have yet to hear a Lions player complain about the running this spring (or say anything interesting, for that matter), but Singletary said it's a tactic that he endorses.

"Oh man, this is nice," said Singletary, the San Francisco 49ers head coach in 2008-09. "Remember, my coach was Coach (Mike) Ditka, so yeah, we ran like crazy. I thought he was very nice today."

I can't imagine many players like the running, not after the care Caldwell took to preserve their bodies. So Patricia's managerial style won't be for everyone (and those for whom it's not probably won't last long).

But Singletary, at least, thinks that's part of what's missing in today's NFL.

"I mean, you have to know your guys," he said. "You have to have a great relationship with the strength and conditioning guy, the trainer and making sure that the guys can do. Making sure that you know what the weather is and how hydrated they are and all of those things. So I’m sure he does that, I’m sure he knows that so it’s all good."

More observations from Thursday's final practice at minicamp:

• Singletary said he does not have any sort of relationship with Patricia, and visited practice only as a means to check out the Lions' new video board. The Lions installed a large screen on the north end of their practice field this spring that shows plays on a delayed basis. Patricia said Wednesday both he and players can use the board as a teaching tool during practice.

"It’s really good to be honest with you, from a correction standpoint," Patricia said. "Immediate correction. We see something, you look at something, basically when you’re on the field you can look at it, see what happened, see what went wrong in the play and you can get that instant kind of correction to the player right away. Or from that standpoint, too, the players can go back and watch that. A lot of times, these guys are trying to figure it out for themselves. So they’ll see something and they’ll try to, 'Hey, what happened right there?' And they can look at it and reference it from that standpoint."

• One final Singletary note: The 59-year-old Hall of Famer said he'd like to be a head coach in the NFL again. Singletary last coached in the NFL as a defensive assistant with the Los Angeles Rams in 2016.

"I hope so," he said. "But for me, I’m going to work where I’m playing at. So very excited to be where I am and if that happens, great. If not, I’m going to keep working where I’m at."

• As has been the case all week, tight end Hakeem Valles and wide receiver Dontez Ford did not practice Thursday because of undisclosed injuries, but watched practice from the sideline. Wide receiver Andy Jones missed practice for the third straight day, and Patricia offered no details as to why. Tavon Wilson (biceps) and Joe Dahl (leg) were in red no-contact jerseys, and TJ Jones (shoulder) and Ziggy Ansah (knee) continued to do nothing in team drills.

• Jamal Agnew left practice with what appeared to be a left hamstring injury, though the injury did not appear serious as he stuck around to take part in the half-gassers at the end of practice. With Agnew out, the Lions shuffled their personnel with the first-team secondary. Nevin Lawson saw some time at slot cornerback, as did Quandre Diggs in a three-safety look when Miles Killebrew was on the field as an extra safety. DeShawn Shead also got a few reps at cornerback with the No. 1 defense.

• Shead got beat by Marvin Jones for a long touchdown pass by Matthew Stafford in seven-on-seven drills. Shead is a big cornerback, but he doesn't have great speed. I mentioned in Tuesday's observations that Mike Roberts pulled away from him after one catch across the middle.

• Roberts made a nice catch in another seven-on-seven period over linebacker Jonathan Freeny for a touchdown, though he also had a drop later in practice. And Killebrew had a nice pass breakup in a team drill on a pass intended for Levine Toilolo.

• Wide receiver Teo Redding has been the most impressive of the Lions' offensive rookie free agents, and defensively it was linebacker Chad Meredith who caught my eye Thursday. Meredith is big — he's listed at 6 feet 4 and 255 pounds — and he swatted down a Jake Rudock pass over the middle Thursday.

• With Agnew out, Ameer Abdullah, Kerryon Johnson, Dwayne Washington and Jace Billingsley handled kickoffs during special teams drills (and later Brandon Powell and Redding joined them in a second teams period).

• Last observation of the day: The Lions did a variation of an open-field tackling drill every day at practice this week where the defender lines up about 20 yards from the ball carrier or receiver, and the offensive player gets one cut to get past him. No doubt, that's a point of emphasis this year.

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