LATROBE, Pa. -- The Detroit Lions joined Pittsburgh for a second joint practice on Wednesday. Here are some notes:

* The Lions rested Ameer Abdullah during team drills against Pittsburgh, which gave them a chance to audition guys for their No. 2 rusher role. Theo Riddick got the bulk of the first-team reps on Tuesday, while Zach Zenner got them on Wednesday. In fact, the offense opened team drills by handing him the ball four straight times. Zenner's vision looks great, though I still think Stevan Ridley is the more athletic option of those two.

It still looks like a three-way battle for rushing duties behind Abdullah, and I have no idea who is ahead. (Though I like Ridley the most at this point.)

* Taylor Decker lost his one-on-ones Tuesday, but he really improved as the practice wore on and he adjusted to the speed of Pittsburgh's 3-4 outside rushers. And a day later, he was Detroit's only offensive lineman to win his first battle against the Steelers. He did so convincingly, too, trashing linebacker Arthur Moats. (Riley Reiff, Travis Swanson and Laken Tomlinson all lost their Round 1 battles, while I had Larry Warford tying Stephon Tuitt.)

* I watched the second round less closely, thought did see Warford get beat and yell something I'm not allowed to repeat in front of polite company. But I would add, he's been tremendous the past few days. Along with Reiff, he's been Detroit's best offensive lineman -- though Decker continues to string together better practices. There's a lot to be encouraged by what the rookie did here this week.

* With Darius Slay sitting out practice due to what Jim Caldwell called a "medical condition," I found it interesting that it was veteran Darren Walls -- and not Alex Carter -- who replaced him. Carter, a third-round pick last season, seems to be losing that battle for the top outside reserve job.

* Jay Lee is going to have a chance to win one of those final receiver jobs, especially if he can prove his worth on special teams. He hasn't always been as good as you'd expect there -- coaches seem to really stress pad level with him -- but today was a much better effort. During gunner drills, he beat two guys almost unimpeded to the marker.

Johnson Bademosi, Crezdon Butler and Adairius Barnes also had really good reps during the drill.

* Another receiver, Andre Roberts, is helping his roster chances with some nice work on return duties -- he broke a big one during the mock game on Saturday -- but he added a little offensive flair today, hauling in an awesome one-handed catch. And a fun note: He nearly took out former MLive reporter Justin Rogers in the process. (Sadly, he couldn't finish the job. Maybe next time!)

* Another day, another highlight for Cole Wick. This time, the rookie hauled in a great one-handed catch. Like I keep saying: This guy has just terrific hands. If he doesn't make the team, it won't be because he can't catch the football.

* Safety Rafael Bush returned to the team just one day after the birth of his daughter. It made for a long day -- he arrived just in time for pre-practice meetings -- but he was rewarded for it. He picked off Ben Roethlisberger, nearly added another one and also had a nice pass breakup. He's put a lot of distance between himself and everyone else for the strong safety job.

* Matthew Stafford didn't have his sharpest day, completing just 10-of-19 passes during team drills. His favorite target, though, won't surprise you: Marvin Jones. That includes three straight completions during a red-zone drive, which helped set up a touchdown pass to Golden Tate. It was the sharpest moment of the day for the offense.

* Don't look now, but it seems Jake Rudock is figuring some things out heading into the exhibition opener (where he's expected to see a lot of time). The rookie out of Michigan looked overwhelmed by the scheme and his reads during some early portions of the offseason, and was still struggling at the start of camp. But he's progressing through his reads much better now, and it's showing. He's had a few good days of practice, and completed his first six attempts during team drills on Wednesday before scuffling to a 3-for-9 stretch during the hurry-up offense drills. I'll have more on him in a later post.

* Steelers coach Mike Tomlin praised the teams' composure after Day 1 -- he actually referred to reporters asking about fights as "ambulance chasers" -- but he might have spoken too soon. Some extracurriculars broke out between Detroit's defense and Pittsburgh's offense, and Josh Bynes, a former AFC East rival during his time with Baltimore, was at the center of it. No punches were thrown, though, and the scuffle died off before it got serious.

On the other field, Detroit tight end Adam Fuehne also got into it with the Steelers. He caught a touchdown pass from Dan Orlovsky, but also got cracked by safety Jordan Dangerfield as he crossed the goal line, something he clearly wasn't expecting in the no-tackling practice. He got up, shoved Dangerfield, but cooler heads eventually prevailed.