4 players already tumbling down the depth chart at Detroit Lions training camp
Saturday was the sixth day of Detroit Lions training camp practice, and the second day in pads. The news was great on one big injury front, as C.J. Gardner-Johnson returned in a limited capacity after it looked like he suffered a significant right leg injury last Monday.
It's obviously still early in camp, especially with only two days of practice in pads for the Lions. Thus it's easy to overreact to who is or isn't seeing reps with "the 1s" (starters), or "the 2s (second-string), as a sign of how they're performing or what the coaches are seeing (or not seeing). Sometimes, it's just a matter of wanting to see how someone does with prominent reps, since they've earned those looks. It's not necessarily a knock on someone, as much as an acknowledgment of what someone else is doing to get noticed.
That said, a combination of being outperformed or just not standing out can lead to someone falling down the depth chart during the early stages of training camp. Then the question becomes if they can get back on track or not. We absolutely know the Lions coaching staff will have no acknowledgement for anything other than what a player has earned, or on the flip side what they haven't quite earned compared to others.
With that, here are four Lions players who are falling down the Lions depth chart early in training camp.