Detroit Lions Rookie WR Not Spotted During Tuesday Practice

The Detroit Lions took to the field for the first time, in front of reporters, in preparation for their Week 1 contest against the Green Bay Packers.

Rookie wideout Isaac TeSlaa, who is expected to have a strong inaugural campaign, was not spotted during the portion of practice that was open to the media.

After a strong training camp, the team made the decision to part ways with veteran wideout Tim Patrick, who was traded to the Jacksonville Jaguars, in exchange for a sixth-round draft pick.

Wide receivers coach Scottie Montgomery was asked Tuesday, prior to practice, what was it about the third-round pick that made him burst onto the scene and so quickly.

"You know one thing, he's resilient. It's a tough room," said Montgomery. "I'll say that like started with me. So, as soon as you come in as a rookie, especially at that position, there's sometimes some lofty expectations that are put on you. But, we take those off really quickly when you come into the room, because of the people that we have in the room. And not only the guys that I've coached with, the guys that I'm currently coaching now. So, the one thing we saw every day is, no matter what we did to him, to make him understand that's not good enough. That's not good enough.

"He kept correcting it and he continues to pass the next test, right. And it was -- he has just a tremendous amount of humility," Montgomery added. "Without being humiliated even, like he just came in and did his job."

Detroit's coaching staff has praised TeSlaa for learning from mistakes, and for being able to adapt quickly, when he is asked to correct something picked up from film.

"What we would see is he would take it from the meeting room to the walk through, to the individual drills, to the practice," Montgomery said. "And when he failed in practice, he very rarely failed again. So, that let us know, first of all, he cares, but it let us know that he's in his playbook. When you're in your playbook, you're going to get the respect of the people in the room.

"When your mental errors are low, you get the respect of the players, the people in the room. A lot of other people on the outside, they see playmaking and they think that's it. Well, you got to be in the right spot, especially now, when the lights are truly on."

Other players not spotted included linebacker Trevor Nowaske and running back Sione Vaki.

The team's first official injury report will be released later this week on Wednesday afternoon.

Briefly

Running back Jacob Saylors, who had a successful training camp, changed his number from No. 48 to No. 25.

The former United Football League running back is currently on the Lions' practice squad.