Inside Allen Park: Jared Goff Razor Sharp Monday

Despite the Detroit Lions having a game this Friday at Ford Field, against the Atlanta Falcons in the preseason opener, the team will use the majority of this week to continue its work at training camp.

"It's still about us, and we're really not even going to worry about Atlanta until the day before," Dan Campbell said. "And, it'll be more of a jog-through mode. Here's what Atlanta does. We rep our guys. But, everything up until the day before the game is about Detroit versus Detroit. So, we still -- we're in camp. We got to get better at what we do, and still compete against each other."

On a day that featured increase humidity and weather concerns that forced the team to cancel fans being able to attend, the team practiced for approximately 90 minutes.

After 60 minutes, the rain fell to break up some of the humidity, but the team did not participate in many seven-on-seven or 11-on-11 drills.

A significant amount of work was done on special teams, and even produced some friendly ribbing, when a rookie was matched up with a long-snapper during one of the final drills before practice concluded.

Here are observations from Day 11 of Lions training camp.

Attendance

On Monday, center Ryan McCollum returned to practice.

It was observed that seven players were not practicing, including Josh Johnson, D'Andre Swift, Quintez Cephus, Julian Okwara, Ifeatu Melifonwu, Taylor Decker and Levi Onwuzurike.

Cornerback Jeff Okudah made his return to the practice field. Campbell explained to reporters, prior to practice, that he had no concerns about the young safety at this point of training camp.

Glover Quin and Barry Sanders were in attendance to observe practice, along with NFL Network's Shaun O'Hara.

Sanders had a lengthy conversation with Lions general manager Brad Holmes on the sidelines.

Observations

1.) Quarterback Jared Goff was razor sharp all afternoon. His tosses were crisp and on target. Early at practice, he was connecting with several of the receivers on the roster. Only wideout Kalif Raymond had a ball bounce off of his shoulder for an incompletion, on his first dozen tosses of the afternoon.

2.) During the one team period with the starting offense, Goff found DJ Chark for a reception, in which the talented wideout made a finger-tip grab on a laser pass.

The previous play, Goff found Amon-Ra St. Brown on a deep pass. It appeared the plan was for the team to toss the ball deeper on Monday. Detroit's signal-caller was also working with T.J. Hockenson during the portion of practice devoted to special teams.

3.) Cornerback Amani Oruwariye has not seemed like his typical self at practice. The offense targeted him regularly, and he was the defensive back Chark beat. For the caliber of player that Oruwariye is, the last two practices at Allen Park do not appear to have been his best.

4.) Chase Lucas was ribbed at the end of practice by the coaching staff when long-snapper Scott Daly was able to reach him during a special teams drill. Others were able to elude their defenders easily, while the rookie could not best Daly. Lucas laughed it off when the coaching staff ribbed him, saying a player of his caliber should not be getting tackled by a long snapper.

5.) The starting cornerbacks were Will Harris and Amani Oruwariye on first-team defense. It will be interesting to observe the snap counts this Friday between Harris and Okudah, whom are both battling for a job starting opposite of the team's best defensive back.

6.) Tracy Walker was the best defensive player on the field during one-on-one drills, as he was able to win four of his reps against Derrick Deese, Devin Funchess and Hockenson. Craig Reynolds also shined, as he bested Alex Anzalone and Derrick Barnes.

7.) Four players have now retired this offseason. After it was announced that offensive lineman Zein Obeid retired, Campbell was asked about the elevated number of players on the roster retiring from the league while on his watch.

He replied, "I know why you're asking, because it is obvious. But, I just feel like it's -- everybody's different and, look, it's not for everybody. It's not. Not everything's easy about it, and it's not just about football. So, look, I wish him the best of luck, and he's a great kid. He's a grinder, and he worked. So, man, on with the next endeavor."

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