Lions observations: Kenny Golladay takes first-team reps, Tate to slot

The Detroit Lions are about to find out if Kenny Golladay is ready for a bigger role on offense.

Golladay, who caught two touchdown passes with the second-team offense in Sunday's exhibition opener against the Indianapolis Colts, worked exclusively with the first-team offense for the first time in training camp today.

Golladay joined Marvin Jones and Golden Tate on the field in three-receiver sets, playing primarily on the outside.

Tate played out of the slot in three-receiver packages with the first-team offense, and TJ Jones, who took No. 1 reps at slot receiver most of training camp, played with the second-team offense as an outside receiver (with Jace Billingsley in the slot).

"He’s one of those guys that we’re just trying to make certain that we give him a little bit of experience at a little bit of everything to kind of see where he fits," Lions coach Jim Caldwell said of Golladay. "We have an idea, but you really don’t know until you get him a chance to really kind of delve into one spot or the other, so we’re trying to cross-train him a little bit. But he has the speed and has the length and those kind of things you look for for good matchups on the outside."

A third-round pick out of Northern Illinois, Golladay caught three passes for a team-high 53 yards against the Colts and had touchdown catches of 15 and 23 yards.

More:Kenny Golladay experiment a true test for Bob Quinn's Lions

Today, I don't recall Golladay making a catch or being targeted in team drills (though it's possible he did as I did not chart the first few plays of the first period).

In a red-zone drill late in practice, Golladay was on the field for five snaps with the No. 1 offense and had man coverage on multiple snaps. Matthew Stafford threw complete to Marvin Jones on his first pass, then after a running play Stafford targeted Darren Fells and Tate on passes before running for a score.

Golladay, who, at 6 feet 4, is the Lions' biggest receiver, is expected to contribute as a red-zone threat this fall, and caught both of his touchdowns on contested passes against the Colts.

More observations from today's practice:

• Golladay wasn't the only depth chart mover today. The Lions also juggled personnel some on their offensive line, giving Graham Glasgow second-team snaps at center and Joe Dahl work at center with the third-team. Undrafted rookie Leo Koloamatangi, who had worked primarily as the No. 2 center, took third-team reps at left guard, the first time I can recall seeing him work inside in camp.

• Eric Ebron was one of a handful of players who missed practice today. Ebron's absence was a disappointment after he appeared to be trending in the right direction when he returned briefly to practice last week. Fellow tight ends Cole Wick, Tim Wright and Khari Lee also were out, leaving Fells and rookie Michael Roberts to work atop the rotation.

More:Ball security an issue for Michael Roberts, must 'get it corrected'

• The Lions were in shells Wednesday, which meant some one-on-one pass-rush work. Anthony Zettel worked at left end (after playing right end most of camp) in place of the injured Kerry Hyder, and Cornelius Washington was at right end. Zettel didn't have any success against Rick Wagner, who's dominated just about everyone he's gone up against this summer, but he did overpower Storm Norton on his second rep.

More:Lions' defensive will have to work harder to create pressure on QBs

• Haloti Ngata had the most dominant rush of the period, when he used perfect handwork to blow past Travis Swanson. And Greg Robinson continued his strong play of late, winning both of his reps against Armonty Bryant and Jeremiah Valoaga.

More:Greg Robinson has 'solid' debut at left tackle for Lions

• Bryant did rebound to win his second rep with ease, blowing past Cyrus Kouandjio at left tackle.

• Johnson Bademosi made the play of the day, making an over-the-shoulder interception in one-on-ones on a deep Stafford pass to Jared Abbrederis. Bademosi, who made a similar pick early in camp, also what appeared to be an interception in red-zone drills. Bademosi made a nice juggling catch on the play, and I thought he got both feet in, but one official ruled him out of bounds.

• Nevin Lawson broke up a pass on a deep shot to Golladay in the same period, and rookie Teez Tabor had his usual struggles against Abbrederis.

• Thursday's practice is the Lions' final one of training camp, so we'll have another healthy dose of observations for probably the last time this summer.

Contact Dave Birkett: dbirkett@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @davebirkett. Download our Lions Xtra app for free on Apple and Android!