Observations: Goff Makes One-Handed Reception, St. Brown Delivers

Observations of Day 3 of Detroit Lions minicamp.

The Detroit Lions spent much of their team portion on Day 3 of minicamp in situational drills. 

Despite the offensive woes featured throughout minicamp, Amon-Ra St. Brown is clearly Detroit's No. 1 receiver and the team's most reliable wide receiver target.  

His competitiveness was also clearly on display. He fired the football as hard as he could, after he scored a touchdown on the second occasion that the first-team offense took the field. 

The third-year wideout was listed by Dan Campbell as a player that has stood out during minicamp this week. 

"Saint is as steady as they come," Campbell said before practice. "I mean, you just, you'd be shocked if he had a bad day."

Detroit's first-team offense was able to put the football in the end zone on its first drive of the afternoon. 

On first-and-9 from the 9-yard line with 1:07 on the clock, Goff connected with Jameson Williams in the end zone. Williams attempted to spin the football to celebrate, but was unable to get the necessary spin needed to make the celebration impressive. 

Participation

Safety C.J. Gardner-Johnson returned to practice on the final day of minicamp, after one day missed. 

Those not practicing included Trinity Benson, Khalil Dorsey, Maurice Alexander, Malcolm Rodriguez, Connor Galvin, Hendon Hooker, Levi Onwuzurike, James Mitchell, Kayode Awosika, Chase Lucas and David Montgomery.

Those limited included Tracy Walker, Emmanuel Moseley, Jerry Jacobs, John Cominsky, Taylor Decker, Frank Ragnow and Halapoulivaati Vaitai. 

Lions principal owner Sheila Hamp was present at practice, speaking with Rod Wood at the beginning of practice. 

By the end of practice, Detroit's principal owner was sitting atop the practice hill Matt Patricia wanted installed during his tenure in Motown.  

Also in attendance was Pro Football Hall of Fame receiver Calvin Johnson, who expressed he is finally able to place his often injured hands into his pocket. 

After practice, Hooker was seen tossing footballs to Benson. 

At least rookie QB Hendon Hooker still invites WR Trinity Benson to throw pic.twitter.com/qjjoFpzpIr

— DetroitSportsPodcast (@DetroitPodcast) June 8, 2023

Jared Goff makes one-handed grab, picks on cornerback Will Harris

During a drill in which offensive players were tossing the football, Goff made a solid one-handed grab, showcasing exemplary hand-eye coordination. 

Tight end Shane Zylstra featured the best arm of those tossing the football, as he regularly zipped the football with solid accuracy. 

In key moments, Goff looked to the receivers being covered by Will Harris, who saw a significant amount of reps on the first-team defense. 

The veteran signal-caller was able to connect with Josh Reynolds on multiple occasions to secure first downs. Reynolds, Detroit's No. 3 wideout, was able to get to the sidelines quickly and use his body to get in front of Harris. 

Jameson Williams inconsistent 

The "Jameson Williams Experience" was on display again at the team's practice facility. 

Early in practice, on the eighth play of the day, Williams dropped a football on second-and-10 from the 20-yard line, with 1:22 remaining. The situation saw the Lions trailing, 30-21, with three timeouts available. The offense had been able to move the football, with Reynolds and St. Brown each earning first downs. 

On the next opportunity, Williams stayed with the play, and found himself open in the end zone to make a grab and help out Goff, who was scrambling to his left. 

Offensive lineman scores touchdown

On the fourth offensive series, with the second-team offense on the field, a fun lateral gave an offensive lineman a moment to shine. 

On second-and-6 near the red zone, Tom Kennedy lateraled to Jermar Jefferson, who then lateraled the football to offensive lineman Matt Nelson, who took the football into the end zone. 

Certainly, the defense would have been able to stop the touchdown, but without pads, it provided a lighter moment at practice. 

CB Saivion Smith getting in on trash talk

After returning from neck surgery, Smith had choice words for Williams, after he lingered on the ground in the end zone following an incompletion on third down. 

Smith had a solid minicamp practice, routinely getting in on the play, even when matched up against the 2022 No. 12 overall pick. 

Parker Romo edges out Riley Patterson again in kicking competition

Romo barely beat out Patterson in the kicking competition on Day 3. Both kickers started their days missing field goals at the end of drives. 

With both kickers 0-for-1, the kicking competition commenced from various distances. 

Patterson made his first kick, before missing left on his second try. After two more makes, the young placekicker missed his fifth, eighth and tenth kicks. 

During the competition, Patterson went six-for-10 and six-for-11 overall. He was successful on his fourth kick, which was after Campbell blew the whistle to try and ice the kicker. 

Romo made his first three kicks before missing on his fourth try. He was impacted by Campbell blowing the whistle, and was iced by his coach. Romo also missed on his fifth and eighth kicks. 

Needing to connect after Patterson missed his 10th attempt, the ex-XFL kicker was able to bank his final try off the right upright, and in between the uprights, to win the competition by making seven-of 10 kicks and finishing seven-for-11 overall. 

Badgley has been the winner by default all throughout the offseason. He, in fact, has earned a bye into training camp, presumably to take on the winner of the OTA battles.