{"id":904961,"date":"2026-05-30T03:48:20","date_gmt":"2026-05-30T03:48:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/904961\/"},"modified":"2026-05-30T03:48:20","modified_gmt":"2026-05-30T03:48:20","slug":"lions-rookie-tackle-soaks-up-every-ota-rep-alongside-detroits-veterans","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/904961\/","title":{"rendered":"Lions rookie tackle soaks up every OTA rep alongside Detroit\u2019s veterans"},"content":{"rendered":"

ALLEN PARK \u2014 On a sunny Friday afternoon following organized team activities (OTAs) at the Detroit Lions<\/a> practice facility, Blake Miller was the last player to come off the field.<\/p>\n

Typically, rookies such as Miller have scheduled media availability arranged by the team\u2019s PR department. However, the former Clemson Tiger found himself circled by reporters eager to gauge his acclimation period with the team.<\/p>\n

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The Lions made some adjustments to their offseason program, doing away with minicamp \u2014 something coach Dan Campbell said was no longer \u201cworth it.\u201d The Lions caught some flack from the NFL with their rookies struggling to make it through the initial practices, something Campbell said the league \u201cdidn\u2019t take too kindly.<\/p>\n

In lieu of the rookie sessions, the Lions opted to change the learning curve, throwing them right into the fire with OTAs alongside their veteran players, which Miller was fond of. He shared the early experience against the defense is \u201cinvaluable\u201d and how much a player could learn from veterans in just one rep.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s so awesome to have those guys, those veteran players out here,\u201d Miller told reporters. \u201cEven just watching them go through (individual drills), sitting there on the iPad, clicking through their film and watching how they do things and learning stuff from them, seeing it out there in person, the speed of it, just having those guys out here is awesome.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd obviously, the knowledge that they can impart in between plays to you and just being able to see them do things. You really get a vision of what it\u2019s supposed to look like.\u201d<\/p>\n

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The Lions selected Miller with the No. 17 overall pick in this year\u2019s NFL draft, and while he\u2019s expected to be a significant piece for their offensive line \u2014 a projected starter by many at right tackle \u2014 he knows he has his work cut out for him. Just like at Clemson, Miller is going to have to earn his way onto the field.<\/p>\n

As part of his transition to the NFL game, which he described as \u201ca lot faster,\u201d Miller\u2019s goal is to work, learn from the veterans around him \u2014 such as Penei Sewell<\/a> and Larry Borom<\/a> \u2014 and be the best version of himself possible.<\/p>\n

Because it\u2019s OTAs, the Lions are not in full pads, a period Campbell affectionately likens to players practicing in pajamas. Without players hitting each other at full speed, it\u2019s hard to get a real read on Miller\u2019s game \u2014 as well as any player\u2019s progression \u2014 other than noticing he is one of the more massive players on the team.<\/p>\n

That said, all is not lost for the rookie tackle. Because in his mind, the work doesn\u2019t change.<\/p>\n

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\u201cYou can still go out there and be fast off the ball. It doesn\u2019t mean you\u2019re going to try and kill people once you\u2019re getting into the fit, but you can be fast too to fit,\u201d Miller explained. \u201cYou can improve your technique. Technique is…that\u2019s a mountain you\u2019re always climbing. No one\u2019s got perfect technique out here and everyone\u2019s trying to move it. So just continuing to hone that familiarity with the playbook.<\/p>\n

\u201cLike I said, looking at Xs and Os can only help you so much getting out there and repping it. Those reps are what build, for me, the best memory and then also too, you kind of learn how people are going to play things a little bit and you get that experience.\u201d<\/p>\n

Latest Detroit Lions news:<\/p>\n

Read the original article on mlive.com<\/a>. Add mlive.com<\/a> as a Preferred Source by clicking here<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"ALLEN PARK \u2014 On a sunny Friday afternoon following organized team activities (OTAs) at the Detroit Lions practice…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":904962,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2071],"tags":[29145,27636,6214,146,113,2506,7,20332,147,6,4266,645,13227],"class_list":["post-904961","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-detroit-lions","tag-blake-miller","tag-clemson-tiger","tag-dan-campbell","tag-detroit","tag-detroit-lions","tag-detroitlions","tag-football","tag-larry-borom","tag-lions","tag-nfl","tag-organized-team-activities","tag-penei-sewell","tag-veteran-players"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/116661485810371220","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/904961","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=904961"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/904961\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/904962"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=904961"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=904961"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=904961"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}