With the second week of preseason on the horizon, teams are entrenched in practice as they look to improve on what they put on tape in their first exhibition games.
For teams like the Detroit Lions, they changed their practice schedule this week, as they’re holding joint practices with the Miami Dolphins, who are their next opponent. Over the last few years, joint practices have become more popular around the league as they allow teams to get a closer look at their starters without having to play them in the preseason.
The Lions took full advantage of their first joint practice against the Dolphins, as Amon-Ra St. Brown embarrassed the Miami defense.
That said, one former Lions defender did not have the same luck in his new team’s joint practices against the New England Patriots. This player got embarrassed by one of the better WRs in the game, and will need to improve quickly if he wants to have a sizable role in 2025.
Stefon Diggs got the best of Jeff Okudah here: pic.twitter.com/RaGbUxaOcH
— VikingzFanPage (@vikingzfanpage) August 13, 2025
Ex-Lions CB Jeff Okudah Gets Torched in Drill by Patriots WR Stefon Diggs
Former Detroit Lions first-round pick Jeff Okudah returned to the NFC North this offseason, as he signed a one-year deal with the Minnesota Vikings after spending last year with the Houston Texans.
On Wednesday, Okudah had the luxury of facing Patriots WR Stefon Diggs in a 1v1 passing drill. The former Lion didn’t look good in his rep against Diggs, who easily got off the line of scrimmage and had Okudah going in another direction. Diggs completed the reception with ease.
As you can imagine, the comments on social media weren’t good either. Some people pointed out that this drill favors the wide receiver more, but seeing Okudah get beaten off the LOS that badly wasn’t a great look.
After playing mostly special teams in his limited appearances with the Texans, Okudah has an opportunity to be one of the Vikings’ top backup cornerbacks in 2025. However, he cannot let himself get beat off the line of scrimmage like that, or the veteran will be easily benched.
It’s been an interesting career for the former No. 3 overall pick, who came out of Ohio State with a ton of hype and buzz, but hasn’t put it together. The former Ohio State standout struggled to stay healthy in his three years in Detroit. The most games he played were in 2022 (15 starts).
Detroit eventually traded Okudah to the Atlanta Falcons in April 2023, where he played one season before joining the Texans last season. We’ll see if the ex-Lion can rebound and live up to his former first-round billing with one of Detroit’s division rivals.