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Receiver Quinshad Davis has shown surprising improvement during Lions training camp.

(Mike Mulholland | MLive.com)

ALLEN PARK -- Quinshad Davis is an undrafted rookie who was guaranteed just $3,000 when he signed with the Detroit Lions.

So he's definitely not rich. And he's not sure where he's going to be in a month either. Which means like most other rookies, he's been staying at a hotel provided by the team since OTAs rather than lease an apartment or house.

And hotel rooms? Well, they don't exactly have washing machines.

There's a laundry service. But, hey, that costs money.

So Davis needed a cheap way to do his laundry. And given the way he looked during OTAs -- totally lost -- he really needed help with his playbook too.

His solution: Kill two birds with one stone, and hit up Eric Ebron.

"I was at his house three or four days out of the week," he told MLive after a practice this week. "I'd go over to his crib all the time, and I'd be like, 'Yo E, what do I got right here?' Or, 'What am I supposed to do here? How can I get open right here?' I just look for advice from everyone.

"And man, I needed to do laundry anyway. They got us up on that hotel right now, you know?"

Those visits seem to have paid off.

Davis was one of Detroit's worst players during OTAs and minicamp. And he has been one of the team's most improved players in training camp.

He's catapulted himself into the discussion for a spot on the practice squad, and if he continues his ascent, particularly in the exhibitions, could work his way onto the periphery of the 53-man roster.

It remains unlikely he makes the team, given the number of promising receivers the Lions have stockpiled. Marvin Jones, Golden Tate and Anquan Boldin are all assured roster spots, while TJ Jones will almost certainly make the team as well.

That leaves players like Jeremy Kerley, Andre Caldwell, Andre Roberts and better-known rookie Jay Lee fighting for one or possibly two jobs.

But Davis has been excellent working with the reserves in training camp, and offers intriguing size at 6-foot-4 and 215 pounds. A few more pounds, and he could fit right in at tight end.

"I'll keep that in mind, in case we need one," offensive coordinator Jim Bob Cooter said with a laugh.

Davis' size is what intrigues Detroit the most about him. He uses that big body to simply outmuscle defensive backs, none of whom are bigger than him, and he runs well, too.

He made another great play on Friday, adjusting to an underthrown ball and maneuvering his big body in a way that basically boxed out corner Johnson Bademosi, who otherwise had excellent coverage.

Among the reserves, no receiver has been a more consistent deep threat than Davis. Consider the bomb he caught during one-on-ones a couple days ago on a go route from Dan Orlovsky.

Cornerback Keith Lewis had tight coverage, but Davis had a step and 3 inches. So what exactly could he do?

Watch Davis score another touchdown, and that's about it.

"We had just worked on that kind of throw the day before (after practice)," Orlovsky said, "and I wanted to try to throw that kind of ball in live-action. And it worked."

That helps to illustrate exactly why Davis has improved so much just in the past couple of months. It's all the work he's put in outside of practice.

Davis attributes his struggles in OTAs and minicamp not to his inability to pick up the playbook and route tree. This offense is very different than the one he operated out of at North Carolina, and he needed time to understand it.

So he pored over his playbook during the summer. He would spend 30-minute chunks just staring at plays, then run those routes all by himself, over and over and over again.

And when he didn't understand something, he would hit up Ebron or one of his quarterbacks.

"You've got so many different formations, so many different hots, so many different reads," Davis said. "You've got to change and convert your routes sometimes when the defense (gives you a certain look). And it was kind of tough at first because it was so different from college.

"I'm used to being on one side of the ball. Hurry-up tempo, with signs and no huddle. As far as this, we're no-huddle sometimes, but we huddle sometimes and I just got kind of confused. But now, I know where I'm at. Because this is important to me, man, and I don't want anything -- anything -- hindering me from making the team."

When he returned for training camp, he looked like a different player. And heading into Friday's preseason opener against the Pittsburgh Steelers, he'll be one of the most intriguing young players to watch.

"It's hard not to (get better) when you come into system when you're young, that you don't know, and grow and develop very quickly," coach Jim Caldwell said. "He's a guy that (has a) big body and gives you a really good target to throw to. He's got a nice catching radius, and runs well.

"He's learning a lot, but I like what I see."

Caldwell isn't the only one impressed.

"Quinshad's an exciting young player," Cooter said. "I like old Quinshad."

But no one gushed more about Davis than the man who is throwing him the most passes.

"I would say Quinshad -- and I'd put Jay Lee in the conversation too -- they're probably the two best undrafted rookie receivers I've been around," Orlovsky said.

Training camp buzz is as old as training camp itself. This happens every year, to every team, often with multiple players, and who knows what it means for Davis' future with the Lions.

But no matter what happens, it is becoming clear that the big wideout has caught their attention.