Takeaways From Latest Detroit Lions 'Inside the Den' Camp Episode

With the Detroit Lions season right around the corner, the latest installment of their production 'Inside the Den' picked up following the NFL Draft with “and so it begins,” words Dan Campbell said during his season opening press conference at training camp.

The episode featured the build up to preseason game one, with the final few minutes of the episode going through the contest.

A full dive into the Jared Goff backstory

After a few quotes from the press conference, Jared Goff is featured in his drive to training camp. It goes farther back in his career, highlighting his time at Marin Catholic High School. This included clips from Goff’s time playing baseball at the Oakland Colosseum, along with clips and interviews from his senior year of high school, when he took the Wildcats to the California State Championship.

Goff’s backstory in wearing 16 was revealed, as the quarterback’s dad told him “you have to wear 16, Joe Montana wore it,” and Goff has yet to relinquish it for his 24 years in football since that conversation at seven years old.

Goff revealed he did not even know who Montana was at the time, which is ironic, as the now-Lions signal caller was receiving comparisons to the legend his senior year of high school.

His time at Cal was introduced as how the losing got to him, and with the era that he was in, transferring was not an option. He would have missed a season, and he wanted a degree from the prestigious university, alongside loving the staff. In the long run, Goff mentioned it prepared him for adversity.

Goff’s charitable side is shown in his FATE Draft Night, where high school seniors get their NFL Draft-style moment as a college or trade school “selects” them.

After this, training camp begins. Goff, while mic’d up, walks around while warning his teammates that he has a microphone on. Drew Petzing is very complimentary of his quarterback, including a few quips where Petzing mentions the goal is for Goff to keep his tackles to a minimum.

This entire segment engages the fan into knowing more about the star quarterback. Anyone who watched gets a dive into Goff, who’s name has turned into a Detroit chant popular at any type of sporting event. Now, the fans see the backstory and the man behind the helmet and jersey.

Veteran safety Chuck Clark will have a massive role

Jameson Williams is one of the primary players highlighted during the camp section, including the receiver mentioning his goal of not having a drop. A few more of the mic’d up segments include Chuck Clark, Penei Sewell, and Alim McNeill’s time carrying a microphone.

Penei Sewell’s reaction to a Jameson Williams deep shot is one of the top highlights, with the normally reserved lineman commenting “oh my God, Jamo,” followed by running around and laughing his way up the field to celebrate with the star receiver.

Campbell is quick to compliment his team’s effort, saying “we need alphas, man,” crediting Amon-Ra St. Brown as an alpha in that practice.

All of the players featured had their mic’d up moments and are among the leaders and alphas expected to play a massive role in Detroit’s season. Clark is the most surprising of the group, considering that all other “alphas” are longtime Detroit players.

This shows the trust that the staff has in Clark to step up while Kerby Joseph and Brian Branch each recover from lower body injuries. Clark might be the newest to Detroit, but the longtime NFL veteran being a leader is no surprise.

Skyler Gill-Howard has the respect of the locker room

After Campbell breaks down the training camp, preseason week one takes up the final seven minutes, including a set of motivational speeches by Chuck Clark and rookie Skyler Gill-Howard.

Gill-Howard having a motivational speech is surprising, at first glance. It also speaks to the respect that the Texas Tech product has earned. During his time in college, he was a captain at nearly all of his stops. In high school, Gill-Howard was a captain since his sophomore season. He is a natural born leader.

The few times Gill-Howard was not a captain, he had special awards for his leadership waiting for him. When Gill-Howard spoke at the NFL Combine, he was a player that stood out for his story, ability to face adversity, and leadership.

There is a reason Gill-Howard was a starter and captain on a Northern Illinois team that upset Notre Dame years back. He breathes belief into teams and is a pure “presence” player.

This, alongside a preseason game that saw the sixth-rounder record multiple pressures and hustle plays, has him looking extremely close to being locked in to a 53-man roster spot.

Preseason standouts

Ahmed Hassanein’s sack celebration is featured, alongside his sideline comments and excitement of getting to sack Bengals star quarterback Joe Burrow. Hassanein’s second sack was featured, with his media scrum showcasing his one day, one play at a time mentality.

Hassanein was the player that gained the most in the first preseason contest, and his attitude is one that has Detroit fans bought in to last year’s sixth-round pick.

Keith Abney II’s fumble recovery is also one of the primary featured plays. Blake Miller’s comments to the media are featured, with the tackle complimentary of how nice it was to be out there and get good reps in. Both Abney and Miller are expected to compete for starting roles on the team, potentially as early as week one for Motown.

Undrafted rookie quarterback Luke Altmyer’s touchdown and two-point conversion get featured, with compliments on the quarterback’s poise.

Altmyer had to step up in a big way for Detroit, as the unexpected retirement of Teddy Bridgewater meant a fast signing of Joshua Dobbs, but Dobbs only had been a Lion for 72 hours before the preseason game kicked off. Now, Altmyer may be relied upon as the backup for Detroit.

The final score for the Bengals and Lions are called out, before making mention of Saturday's matchup against the Washington Commanders being the only home game in the preseason for Detroit this season.

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