ALLEN PARK, Mich. -- Martha Ford was out in the heat Thursday afternoon watching her team, the Detroit Lions, practice.
Close to the end, though, it appeared to be too much for the 90-year-old Ford. She needed help from the field off to the side and was brought water to help cool down. She sat for a while on an orange cooler before having a golf cart come to take her inside the team’s practice facility.
The temperatures topped 90 degrees during practice and it was around 92 at 4 p.m., when practice ended.
Ford appeared to be fine as she rode the golf cart inside the team’s facility and was talking with various people. The Lions public relations staff said after practice that Ford was fine.
It was one of the more notable things that happened during a run-heavy practice on a sweltering day in Michigan. Here’s what else stood out:
1. Matthew Stafford threw his first interception of camp: At least, it was the first interception I’ve seen him throw. It came during a final play scenario inside the red zone. Stafford had plenty of time and missed a pretty open Anquan Boldin in the front of the end zone. He cycled back to Boldin and tried to connect with him in the back of the end zone, but the ball was tipped, then intercepted by Glover Quin.
In the same drill, the second unit under Dan Orlovsky had an open receiver, but Orlovsky’s pass hit Cole Wick in the left hand and bounced off. The third team, quarterbacked by Jake Rudock, also had a shot to score. He completed a pass to Quinshad Davis on the goal line, but Davis fell inches short of scoring.
2. Geoff Schwartz has been having a pretty good camp: It’s always good for offensive linemen when they don’t particularly get noticed during team drills and do well in individual drills. That seems to be what’s happening with veteran Geoff Schwartz. Other than Riley Reiff, he’s been one of the Lions’ most consistent players in camp, albeit on the second team.
“I feel a lot better than I have in previous years at this time of year, health-wise,” Schwartz said. “That helps, obviously. I’m just going through the process of training camp.”
Schwartz said his left leg is feeling much better during this camp. He broke his left leg in both 2014 and 2015.
3. Dwayne Washington is fast: He hasn’t done much to stand out during camp, which isn’t great for the rookie running back but is better than what happened when he arrived in Allen Park and had trouble hanging on to the football. He’s been better in recent days and had a couple of shifty moves during 11-on-11 work running with the third team. He’s definitely in a competition for a roster spot, but the raw gifts are there if he can secure the ball.
“He has ability, but he’s young and he’s learning,” Lions coach Jim Caldwell said. “So he’s got a ways to go, but we’ve got something to work with there.”
4. The Lions could have a tough decision to make at the No. 5 receiver spot: Barring injury, the top three receiver spots are set with Golden Tate, Marvin Jones and Anquan Boldin. TJ Jones appears to have a good hold on the No. 4 spot. If the Lions keep five receivers, though, that last spot is pretty open. Jeremy Kerley likely would be the guy if the team keeps another slot receiver. If the team chooses to go young, it could be a hard decision between Jay Lee and Quinshad Davis -- Lee has more speed while Davis seems to catch everything thrown at him. And if the Lions want another veteran, Andre Caldwell probably will be the man to beat. That could end up being one of the more intriguing areas to watch over the next month.
5. This and that: During the special-teams part of practice, Lions cornerback Darius Slay spent some time joking with fans, even having one toss him a football to sign really quickly. Then he went out and continued to play well, as he’s done for most of camp. … When the Lions went to a sixth offensive lineman, it was Cornelius Lucas who got the call with the No. 1 unit. He’s in a tough battle to make the roster with Michael Ola and others. … Graham Glasgow got some work with the second-team offensive line Thursday ahead of Gabe Ikard.
