ALLEN PARK, Mich. -- The integration of rookies has officially begun.

The Detroit Lions kicked off their mandatory mini-camp with a Tuesday morning practice and Head Coach Rod Marinelli wasn’t surprised with what he saw from his new rookie class.

“What happens is: all the sudden they’re jolted,” said Marinelli. “We’ve got more in right now (than we did for rookie mini-camp) – we had to add yesterday and the package is growing and now they’re starting to think.

“They’re going to be fine. I like what they’re doing. They have a nice swagger about them as a group in terms of wanting to be special.”

When it comes to bringing together rookies and veterans, Marinelli’s top concern is safety.

“I cover it every meeting,” he said. “I have rules (for) how to have a great practice and safety is No. 1. I hit it right before run-drill everyday – I talk about it again because they get excited and they’ve got to stay off the ground. (If) the ball is loose on the ground, we don’t dive for it.

“If a guy is in a compromising position, I want to hold him up. To be able to practice like I want to practice without pads, there’s got to be an etiquette to it and I’ve just to keep teaching that.”
LEARNING ON THE FIELD
Leigh Bodden isn’t a rookie, but this is his first mandatory mini-camp with the Lions.

“(The first practice) was good,” he said. “We had OTAs a couple weeks ago so that got me familiar with everything. Today was pretty much the same thing as what we did a couple weeks ago and we’re just getting more and more comfortable.”

Bodden has been present at the team’s offseason conditioning program since it began in March, but this mandatory mini-camp and the team’s OTA sessions allow him to learn according to his preference.


Bodden finds that he learns better on the field rather than in a classroom.

“I need to learn while I’m on the field,” he said. “All of the stuff in the classroom, I’m not that type of guy – I like to learn on the field. That gets me more comfortable, when I see things and I make plays.

“I can get more and more comfortable with the defensive calls, the looks that the offense gives and what to do and not what to do in certain coverages. (Learning on the field) is the best part for me.”

With the team unable to work in pads, it may seem they are limited in what they can and cannot work on during this three-day camp.

But even without the ability to create collisions, players are able to address different aspects of their game and additionally – for players like Bodden – they can get even more acclimated with the new team around them.

“You’ve just got to show your own position without the pads and just show the coaches your effort by flying to the ball and things like that,” he said. “When the pads go on (for training camp), everything is second-nature and we’ll be allowed to have a little bit of contact.

“(For now, I can’t work on) my press work – it’s always hard to press without pads, but everything else is good to work on without pads, like the off-man and things like that.”

Pads or no pads, Marinelli expects all players to go full speed during practice, which is an art developed over time for these players.

“You definitely have to get good at (practicing at full speed without pads) because guys are competitors,” said Bodden. “Guys are going to go full speed and sometimes you might have a little collision. But for the most part people are professionals (and) they play smart.”