Keep trollin', trollin', trollin'
Though the streams are swollen
Keep them dogies trollin', Volin..
Good info here from a Detroit reporter...
- Stafford drops back on third down and a Patriots defensive end, I believe it was former Michigan State standout Shilique Calhoun, beats left tackle Taylor Decker on a rush. In a real game, Stafford is sacked and the Lions are in fourth-and-long, or maybe takes off scrambling for his life.
- Tom Brady opens with three straight completions for first downs and all of a sudden it's first-and-10 at the 20-yard line with 44 seconds on the clock. Darius Slay wasn't on the field for that series, and the Lions are still without most of their high-priced defensive line. But Brady was a surgeon moving into field-goal range while throwing to the likes of Jakobi Meyers and Braxton Berrios.
- Some good and some bad from a couple of Lions rookie linebackers: Tre Lamar had a nice breakup on a Brady pass to Matt LaCosse early in practice during a tight end/linebacker/safety goal-line passing drill. Two periods later, Jahlani Tavai was left flat-footed trying to cover Brandon Bolden in 1-on-1s.
- I've liked what I've seen from Lions rookie running back Ty Johnson this summer, but Johnson dropped a would-be touchdown pass on the final play of 1-on-1s after he sprinted past Dont'a Hightower.
- Bill Belichick does something kind of strange: All the Patriots rookies wear numbers in the 50s, 60s and 70s at this stage of camp. I asked one of my New England colleagues about the practice and was told Patriots rookies used to not have jersey numbers at all, and this is Belichick's way of making them earn their stripes, sort of like spring training in baseball.