Observations from Lions minicamp: It's starting to click for Teez Tabor

Just when it looked safe to write off Teez Tabor after a rough 2018, the cornerback is making waves again.

Tabor has worked primarily with the Detroit Lions' starting defense this spring while Darius Slay has stayed away from the team in hopes of landing a new contract, and the 2017 second-round pick has shown signs of jump-starting his sputtering career.

Tabor had an impressive first day of Lions minicamp Tuesday, intercepting a Matthew Stafford pass in a seven-on-seven drill early in practice and showing the catch-up speed — seriously — to knock down a deep shot to Andy Jones later.

Now, it must be noted that the Lions are without their top two receivers, Marvin Jones and Kenny Golladay, as they rehab from injuries, so Tabor isn't covering top-flight NFL receivers.

But taking the you-can-only-cover-who's-in-front-of-you approach, he's made the most of his opportunities.

Tabor declined an interview request as he walked off the field Tuesday, saying coaches told him not to talk to reporters, but Lions coach Matt Patricia had only good things to say about the 23-year-old before practice.

"He's just done a great job of coming in and trying to learn the game, understanding he has a lot to learn," Patricia said. "He’s still a young player, and he’s really attacked that from an aspect of going at it with a fresh set of eyes. On the field, I think he’s really trying to improve his technique, and he’s really trying to play patient. It’s a good opportunity for us right now in a non-contact sort of mentality where you can really work on footwork and you can work on the fundamental skills of what we need to do out there and just focus on the attention to detail to that."

Tabor still has some work to do to make the 53-man roster this fall.

"The next step will be carrying that over when we do finally get pads on and implementing the physical part of the technique also," Patricia said.

Slay, Justin Coleman and Rashaan Melvin project as the Lions' starting cornerbacks this fall, return man Jamal Agnew and fifth-round pick Amani Oruwariye are among others in the mix for backup jobs, and Tabor might not provide the same special-teams value as other backups in the secondary.

But if he plays in the preseason like he did Tuesday, Tabor might finally realize some of the potential the Lions saw coming out of college.

More observations from Day 1 of Lions minicamp:

• It was more of the same in the attendance department Tuesday as Slay and defensive tackle Damon Harrison remain away from the Lions in contract disputes and Jones (knee), Golladay, Trey Flowers (shoulder), Tommylee Lewis, Nick Bawden (knee) and Austin Bryant (pectoral) highlight the rehab group.

• I know a lot has been made of the Lions using more two tight end sets this year, but the way they're rolling personnel onto the field in practice, I wouldn't be surprised to see the Lions play with three tight ends on the field at times this fall. And I don't just mean in goal-line or short-yardage situations.

The Lions have some big bodies at the tight end position in Jesse James (6-7, 261), T.J. Hockenson (6-5, 251), Michael Roberts (6-5, 265) and Logan Thomas (6-6, 250), and all of those players have the ability to detach from the line of scrimmage and create mismatches based on personnel. Obviously, Jones and Golladay will be important parts of the passing game when they return, but the size the Lions can throw at teams in the red area should be fun to watch.

• Rookie linebacker Jahlani Tavai got a lot of work with the first-team defense Tuesday, and the Lions are making good on their word to play him all over the field. Tavai can line up on or off the ball as a linebacker, in the middle or on the edge. He's still this team's No. 4 linebacker, but I imagine he'll play in a package or two early in the year.

• Former professional lacrosse player Tom Kennedy has long odds to make the initial 53-man roster, but man is he quick. Kennedy's shiftiness and burst are especially on display when he fields punts. He did lose a fumble in one 11-on-11 drill later in practice, though the play was bang-bang enough that it might have been reviewed for a catch in a real game. But two plays later, he appeared to make a nice grab on a low ball in traffic. He'll be one to watch all summer.

• The Lions have officials in town for minicamp and there were a lot of flags on the field Tuesday. Most of the penalties I saw were on the defensive backs for holding or pass interference, but there was at least one illegal shift, too. Plenty of rustiness to shake off this of year. 

• The Lions had a "young guns" period at the end of practice to get some of their rookies and first- and second-year players extra work. Mike Ford is a name I didn't mention in the cornerback mix earlier, but I wouldn't rule him out, either. The Lions initially viewed Ford as a potential safety, and he got some safety run Tuesday.

• I've made the case that Slay and Harrison don't really need to be in practice this spring. They're veterans who shouldn't miss a beat when they step on the field for training camp. I still believe that, but you could make the case they would benefit from the conditioning work, too.

Case in point: Lions players ran half-gassers at the end of practice Tuesday, sprinting the width of the field. Defensive tackle A'Shawn Robinson was noticeable in that he was last in the group of bigs (offensive and defensive linemen), a half field or so behind the rest of the group. It was a long practice, Robinson won't run that much in a game and who knows if he was dealing with cramping or something else, but at least on Tuesday he didn't look as well conditioned as some of his teammates.

• Final thing: In Week 1 of OTAs, the Lions spent a lot of time working on red-zone situations. In Week 3, they turned their attention to early downs. In minicamp this week, Patricia said the focus will be on third-down work.

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Contact Dave Birkett at dbirkett@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @davebirkett. Read more on the Detroit Lions and sign up for our Lions newsletter.