ALLEN PARK -- The Detroit Lions have their first off day of training camp today, but the beat never sleeps. So now seems like as good a time as any for our first mailbag of camp. As always, thanks to everyone who sent in questions. There were so many good ones I couldn’t get to, but we’ll be back next week, and the one after that, and the one after, well, you get the idea. Future questions can be tweeted here or emailed to kmeinke@mlive.com.

All right, all right, all right. Let’s roll.

Q: Who/what has been the biggest surprise so far? Good or bad -- @Durkee971

A: You mean besides Matt Prater going four straight practices without hitting a reporter with a football? I still find it funny (interesting? ironic? telling?) that of all the directions he could kick on the two practice fields in Allen Park, he chooses the goal posts that are right in front of the only bleachers from which the Lions let reporters watch practice. Interesting!

Anyway. The biggest surprise of camp has to be the addition of Mike Daniels, right? Because there weren’t many people who expected him to be available in the first place. The price tag was high for Green Bay, sure, but so was his level of play. He did miss six games last year with a foot injury, I get it, but that guy remains a sledge hammer in the middle. I remember Matt Patricia getting asked about Kenny Clark before a game with Green Bay last year, and going out of his way to talk about how much of a problem Daniels was too, especially for his strength. A Lions offensive lineman told me last year that Daniels was among his toughest matchups all season.

Then Green Bay releases him a week into camp? And the Lions are able to land him? Over a dozen other teams?

Don’t underestimate this. It’s a big swing -- a division rival losing a good player, and the Lions landing him, and doing so at a position that was already a strength. Snacks Harrison was the best run defender in the league last year, according to ProFootballFocus, and the Lions went from 30th to 10th in run defense in just nine games with him in the fold. In the immortal words of Keith Jackson, woah nelly!

But hey, among interior defenders, A’Shawn Robinson was fifth against the run. Da’Shawn Hand was seventh against the pass, by the way. And wouldn’t you know it, Daniels was eighth. You only need one hand to count the number of teams with a better interior on paper, and that doesn’t even account for that Trey Flowers guy Detroit added on the edge. Woah nelly, indeed.

A smart football man told me years ago you don’t need to be good everywhere to be good. You just have to be really good somewhere. You have to create a mismatch. And Detroit’s defensive line sure as hell looks likes it’s going to be a matchup problem.

Of course, Daniels has practiced just once with Detroit, and barely at that. Flowers, Harrison and Robinson still haven’t made appearances, while Hand left Sunday’s practice with an injury (and sure didn’t seem right to me coming off the field on Saturday, but that’s just speculation). And Austin Bryant, this year’s fourth-round pick, also left Sunday’s practice. He was holding his right shoulder, which has already been surgically repaired. So if you’re asking for a negative surprise, all the injuries on that defensive line stand out. Detroit finished Sunday’s practice with just four guys there. It lists 14 on the roster. Yeah, not exactly what you’re looking for.

Q: What are the biggest differences between Patricia’s training camp in year one, to training camp in year 2 -- @FakeCaldwell

A: To the naked eye, practices look pretty similar to last year’s camp. In other words, they’re tough, and they’re long. The Lions have been on the field about 2.5 hours for three of their practices. The lone exception was the first day of pads, when they went about two hours. For comparison, Jim Caldwell practices usually ran around 1 hour, 45 minutes, with some clocking in at a crispy 90 minutes. You could probably count on one hand the number of Caldwell practices that went longer than two hours, and I don’t ever recall it happening back to back. So, yeah. They’re still working hard under Patricia.

But behind the scenes and away from the field, yeah, there are differences.

Basically, the schedule is a lot cleaner. Meeting times make more sense, and start on time more often. One of the most common complaints I heard last year was about the last-second changes to the schedule. Sometimes players didn’t know when they would practice as late as the night before.

This year, it seems while the Lions are still holding a demanding camp, everything is more streamlined and better run. And I think a huge part of that too is players knowing more about what to expect.

“I mean, I don’t know anything about being an NFL head coach, but that obviously was his first year," left tackle Taylor Decker said. "And in his second year, we all know him better. Everybody knows the expectations of what’s expected of 'em, and we’re coming out here every day trying to fulfill it.”

I think there was some culture shock last year from players used to a more laid-back approach by the previous regime. Patricia took them out of their comfort zones, and after about six decades of interrupted losing, give or take, the case can certainly be made that players needed to be shaken out of their comfort zones.

I do think Patricia made mistakes along the way too, and that fueled the drama in the locker room, but first-year coaches make mistakes. It’s the NFL. This stuff’s hard. It’s about learning from your mistakes, and I have to say, talking to a few players I trust off the record has me believing Patricia has changed in some meaningful ways.

“Coming out of the season, we did extensive evaluations on all aspects of (our program),” Patricia said. “Training camp was definitely one of those. I don’t know if there will be anything major from a standpoint that you’ll notice. A lot of little things, maybe order of meetings, a different change in some of the daily routine. As far as the on-field stuff, and the structure, nothing really major for us from that end of it.”

Q: With Riddick cut, who is another potential surprising veteran cut? -- @Tri_Bucher

A: Two veterans come to mind. One is Jalen Reeves-Maybin. He’s tried to pack on weight, but at 233 pounds, he’s still the smallest of the nine linebackers Detroit has in camp. Which is a problem when you play in a system that favors bigger linebackers. Jarrad Davis, Devon Kennard, Jahlani Tavai and Christian Jones -- the four linebackers projected to play this season -- all weigh at least 12 pounds more than Reeves-Maybin. I just don’t see how he fits into this defense, other than in subpackages. He’s going to have to win a job on special teams -- which, hey, he just might do, because he was really good at them last year. Still, he’s firmly on the bubble.

The other veteran on that bubble is Teez Tabor. I think he’s on the right side of it right now, after turning a really nice spring into a solid start to training camp. He’s probably closer to the starting lineup than he is to getting cut at this point, although I still like Rashaan Melvin for that CB2 job right now. But Tabor has shown me something this offseason. He’s saying and doing all the right things. He’s making plays, even when matched up against Kenny Golladay in training camp. Yes, the speed is still a concern, but I think he’s shown enough that Detroit won’t pull the plug just yet.

Q: If we would have gotten “Hard Knocks”; which player would have gotten the HBO star treatment only to be cut after episode 3 and ultimately ruining your life? -- @TedR14

A: Easy. Matt Patricia’s ATV. That thing has an all-black chrome look to it, straight out of the new Batman movies or something. It’s sweet. I would pony up for a pay-per-view of how/why the Lions found that thing, because honestly, it looked like Patricia hated every second he was on that golf cart the first two days, and now it looks like he’s having a ball. The hot mics would have caught some colorful language, I’m sure.

Q: What did you do for your summer holidays and how great was it? Please keep to 1000 words or less. -- @ToddGreenspoon

A: Proud to report I have become the first person in the history of the planet to go Michigan-Texas-Qatar-Serbia-Montenegro-Serbia-Bosnia-Croatia-Norway-Germany-Michigan in a single summer. On my second or third day in Belgrade, I was walking to the city lake because it was hotter than a Matt Patricia training camp. I stopped at this small coffee stand on the way for an espresso, and the barista was super friendly.

“Where you from?” he asked in a thick accent, and I told him.

“Oh,” he replied. “Eminem! Detroit Lions! Matthew Stafford!”

I’ve come to realize foreigners mostly know Detroit for cars and Eminem, so that part didn’t surprise me, although the Lions thing did because American football is not big overseas and the Lions especially so. And if people do know the Lions, it’s for Barry Sanders.

“So you like the Lions, huh?” I said.

“Stafford, great quarterback," he said. "Karl Golladay on fantasy team. Blount though, just wap-wap-wap into other players.”

Not a bad 2018 analysis, actually. I proceeded to tell him what I do for a living, and this cat literally left his job at the cafe to take me to the bar next door for a drink. He bought me three shots of rakija, then went back to work.

It was like 2 p.m.

I guess what I’m trying to say is, long live Serbia.

Q: Somebody reported yesterday that the Lions ran a modified version of the Oklahoma drill, which was banned by the NFL in March. In which ways was it modified? -- @CraZDiamond

A: Yes, the NFL outlawed the Oklahoma drills this offseason. And yes, the Lions still ran their version of it when the pads came on over the weekend. I don’t know what the letter of the rule states, but I suppose the Lions can get away with it because they run a modified version of the famed drill. Instead of lining up players across from each other, they begin the drill by laying helmet to helmet on the ground. Then they spring to their feet at the sound of the whistle and collide. It’s violent, sure, but there’s less force of impact because they’re coming from the ground. They also don’t tackle to the ground.

It probably shouldn’t surprise anyone the Lions are still running the drill. Bill Belichick is a noted fan of it, once telling ESPN that it answers three questions: “Who is a man? Who’s tough? Who’s going to hit somebody?” And sure enough, Patricia remembered to pack the drill when he moved to Detroit last year.

“Give them something just a little bit different, make them react, and then see if they instantly get into that position again, obviously in the safer environment where there’s not that much space where you’re going to have this huge collision," Patricia said last year.

Q: Is there a number 2 QB battle ongoing? Or is Savage already designated? -- @RHelineva

A: It’s Tom Savage’s job to lose. I’ve been covering this team since 2013, and I’ve never seen a backup with a better arm. Of course, there’s a reason he’s stuck competing for a backup job in Detroit. I’m not saying he’s an All-Pro or anything. But his arm is strong, and he has some starting experience in the NFL. He’s the guy over David Fales unless something bizarre happens.

Q: Where did you get your cat? -- @HammerFox2

A: Almost four years ago to the day, actually, I was going to a drive-in movie at the Ford in Dearborn. (Pro tip, fellas: The drive-in theater makes for a great date.) We were early and had time to kill, so we went to pick up some snacks and then dropped by the shelter next door. And the rest, as they say, is history.

Another pro tip, fellas: Check out Friends For Animals of Metro Detroit, located at 16121 Reckinger Rd. in Dearborn. Save a life. It’ll change yours.

Q: How many pets till your cat is satisfied? -- @LanceCaporossi

A: