Detroit Lions Training camp notes: Day one

It’s official. The Detroit Lions are back to work as they opened their 2015 training camp on Monday. This signifies that we as football fans are on the doorstep of the 2015 season. With the preseason less than ten days away, there was already some big storylines to follow. Monday added a few more to keep an eye on.

Haloti Ngata Injured

This was easily the most groan worthy happening of the day. The Oakland Press”s Paula Pasche was the first to report that Ngata had been placed on the Non-Football injury list. After the loss of Ndamukong Suh, this was not the news that Lions fans wanted to hear. The good news is that it appears to be a hamstring injury that will keep him out for only a week or so. You have to wonder if he’ll be ready for next weeks Preseason game against the New York Jets.

Calvin was just being Calvin

As you can see, Calvin Johnson was in Megatron form day one. Embarrassing Darius Slay here on this beautiful stop route, Calvin showed that at least for today, he’s all healed up. Lions fans will definitely be on the look out for more stuff like this during camp. Also in true Calvin Johnson fashion, he wouldn’t leave until everyone that brought something to be signed got themselves an autograph. Per Kyle Meinke of MLive, it took him 35 minutes.

Waddle and Bell showing progress

LaAdrian Waddle and Joique Bell have opened up camp on the PUP list. Missing these two leaves a hole in the roster at both their positions. The interesting part is that Lions fans will get an early taste of how Ameer Abdullah will look as starter. The hard part is the Lions have a weak spot on their renovated offensive line. There is some good news here though. While Bell and Waddle did not participate in camp activities, they were up and running around and working on their movements. This is a good sign as it shows that both are closer to returning to the line up.

Alex Carter Injured

Detroit Lions rookie cornerback Alex Carter was also missing today. It turns out that has an ankle injury. unfortunately not much else is known about this injury. All we know at this point is that it happened last week and there is no timetable for his return. Keep an eye on this one.

Eric Ebron had a good day

This is nice to see. Granted it’s only the first day of camp and nothing is decided here, it’s still encouraging to see Ebron getting some praise today. It was also nice to see that there were no reports about how many times Eric Ebron dropped a pass. Eric Ebron must continue to put in this type of hard work and continue to ignore the Jimmy Graham comparisons. 2015 could be a break out year for the young tight end.

Be sure to stay tuned to SideLion Report all year-long for camp/practice news and game analysis. 2015 should be a fun one for Detroit Lions fans.

Mike Payton is an Editor at SideLion Report. He is from Holland, Michigan by way of Warren, Michigan. He considers himself to be obsessed with the Detroit Lions. Mike’s work has been featured on ESPN Radio, Fox Sports Radio, CBS Sports Radio and si.com. Mike is also a recurring guest on It is what is with Sean Baligian on ESPN 96.1. Follow Mike Payton on Twitter @Lionmike26

Next: Is Eric Ebron the next Jimmy Graham?