Gosder Cherilus: Getting it Down from Lomas Brown

The Detroit Lions have turned to an old hand to help tutor the young cub at Lions practice this past Monday. Former Pro-Bowl Lion left tackle Lomas Brown is in town helping out coach Rod Marinelli during these OTA's and is focusing in on rookie first round pick Gosder Cherilus. While it is tough to get a good read on his progress (or lack thereof) practicing in shorts, Brown can somewhat evaluate where Cherilus needs to improve. "I would have to see him in pads, but this is just my opinion in shorts," Lomas points out. "I don't think he's very far. I just think there's fundamental things for him." When your bread and butter is digging in and and coming of the ball with physical play, running around in shorts may not paint the clearest picture when looking at the offensive line. But the speed of the game in the NFL is evident and this may be the initial starting point of Gosder's most glaring area of development. He is going to be faced with speed rushing ends and linebackers and getting out into pass protection will be just as vital as run blocking, his perceived strength. "A lot of times it looks like he's grabbing and he's not punching the guy, but it's all about the timing," Brown continues. He can learn. He'll get that down during training camp. The more reps he gets with it, the better he'll get. So I'm not really concerned with him. I do like what I heard, that he's got a nasty attitude. You can't teach that." Marinelli has always admired Brown from his days as a back-up on the 2002 Super Bowl winning Tampa Bay squad and is very happy to have the 7-time Pro Bowl selection tutoring his offensive lineman. With the emphasis shifting to the power running game this season, the Lions can use all the insight Brown can offer. What may sound like a red flag, it is shorts and very little contact in practice right now. The real test and techniques come from putting on the pads and lining it up. While fans may be moaning and groaning already, and with Millen's record who can blame them, lets get down to bullets flying before we turn the gun on Matt.