Author: Paula Pasche

ALLEN PARK >> Devon Kennard had a different outlook on Tuesday when the Detroit Lions held their first joint practice with the New York Giants.

The Lions linebacker played in 52 games over the last four seasons for the Giants, before signing with the Lions as a free agent.

He’s been impressive in training camp so far. That continued on Tuesday against his former teammates.

“It’s been fun, there’s always a competitive nature and that’s what it was today. Going against guys I’m pretty familiar with, but we’re out here working, trying to beat each other and that’s how it should be,’’ Kennard said.

The Lions will play the Giants in the home preseason opener at 7 p.m. on Friday at Ford Field. Prior to that they will practice against the Giants at 9:30 a.m. on Wednesday and 9 a.m. on Thursday. Both are open to fans. Last week Detroit held joint practices against the Oakland Raiders before the preseason opener for each team.

Five thoughts from Kennard:

— He likes the joint practices in back-to-back weeks. “It’s something you can continue to build, there’s nothing like live game action, the intensity of the game and stuff. To be able to have that experience and roll it into another joint practice was good for me personally and good for the team overall,’’ Kennard said.

— Facing the Raiders and Giants offenses in practice should also help the Lions’ defense. “I think it’s pivotal. You get different formations, every team does things a little differently,’’ Kennard said. “As a defensive guy you get to see how you’re going to adjust to different things the offense does. I think it’s good preparation for the season.’’

— The Lions lost 16-10 to the Raiders on Friday with the defensive pass rush and ability to stop the run standing out as areas that need to improve. “I think we did some things well, we have high expectations and we want to play at a higher level and we want to continue to get better,’’ Kennard said.

— Coach Matt Patricia’s impact on the defense has been immediate. “He demands a lot from us, he demands excellence. He’s never satisfied,’’ Kennard said. “If we think we have a good day he’s always pushing us, showing us ways we need and should get better. I think it’s making everybody’s awareness and everybody’s intensity raise every day.’’

— Kennard used a multitude of cliches in answering a question about the team’s physicality and toughness. It’s like the words were coming out of Patricia’s mouth. “We have an opportunity but we have to show it every day. We have to be consistent, that’s what we’re working to build,’’ Kennard said. “We’re still on camp mode. Everyday we’re trying to grind it out. There’s no light at the end of the tunnel, we’re grinding it out, day in and day out.

ALLEN PARK >> The Lions will reduce some concession prices for games at Ford Field this season, starting on Friday night for the preseason home opener against the New York Giants.

Power hour locations will be expanded to more locations. For the first hour after the gates open, the Lions will offer $2 hot dogs, $2 sold, $3 beer and $3 cocktails.

“The first two games are night games so we’re opening up an extra hour early so there will be two hours of very reduced pricing. Then we have strategically place around the building these new silver savings packages which are 20-50 percent of what the price would have been last year,’’ team president Rod Wood said on Tuesday. “We’re trying to adapt what we can do in the building, and still get people in and out of the stands and back to their seats rooting the team on.”

Silver savings packages include a hot dog, soda and chips for $10 or hot dog, beer and chips for $12. Also, multiple locations at Ford Field will serve $5 beer. Silver savings can be found on each concourse and club designated by a football piggy bank icon.

“I’m very pleased with how it came out and hopefully the fans will appreciate it, it’s another way of listening to them and trying to do the best we can to maximize the fan experience,’’ Wood said.

The Atlanta Falcons reduced concession prices last season, sparking an evaluation of how to make that happen at Ford Field.

With one preseason game out of the way, the Lions move on with four days of training camp this week. Three of those sessions will be held with the New York Giants, the Lions’ opponent for their preseason game on Friday night at Ford Field.

The Lions lost at the Oakland Raiders, 16-10, late on Friday. A few rookies stood out, a few veterans did not play and no one apparently was seriously injured. So actually it was a win-win-win situation.

Here are five things to look for this week:

1. The Lions’ practices against the Giants on Wednesday and Thursday at 9 a.m. are open to fans. Tuesday’s joint session is for season ticket holders only. If you’ve never been to Lions training camp, it’s a great opportunity to see what the team goes through each day in practice. The intensity level should pick up with the Giants in town. Of course, there’s face painting, games for kids and food trucks for adults. (I’d highly recommend ice cream from the Treat Dreams truck which makes occasional visits.)

2. Rookie running back Kerryon Johnson provided the highlights in Oakland and looked every bit like Bob Quinn got a deal by drafting him in the second round. However, pump the brakes a bit. “He’s got a long way to go. I was excited to see him have a couple big plays and show off some of his is natural ability, but from an overall standpoint, we’ve a long way to go there,’’ coach Matt Patricia said during a conference call on Saturday night.

3. Matthew Stafford, Theo Riddick and T.J. Lang did not play on Friday. All are veterans who are locks to make the team. Makes sense that Patricia didn’t want them to get injured when the benefit to them would be so small. However, running back Dwayne Washington was also sidelined. As far as we know he is not injured and he certainly needs to have good showings in preseason games to lock up a spot on the 53-man roster. Patricia was not exactly crystal clear when asked about Washington’s absence in a conference call on Saturday night: “The guys that were out that played, played. And the ones that didn’t, did not.’’ Got that? Ameer Abdullah had a good showing with four carries for 16 yards including a one-yard touchdown run. “I think with Ameer, (we saw) some pretty good short space quickness and some opportunity to kind of get some penetration into the defense too, which was really good,’’ Patricia said.

4. Going against the Giants during practice should give the Lions more of a chance to work on their pass rush which was a weak point against the Raiders. Ziggy Ansah, who is back at practice, did not play but that was not the only problem. It’s too early to panic. These guys are still learning, but it’s certainly an area that needs attention. Patricia agrees. “It doesn’t really matter what we’re running from a scheme standpoint, we want to still see the fundamentals and the basics of what we’re trying to do,’’ the coach said after the game. “So, whether it’s the run game or the pass game, we have to do both of those with good technique up front. And we’ll go back and take a look at that and we’ll coach it up, and obviously try to improve it all the way across the board. I’d say both sides really have to be better.”

5. Generally Patricia does not heap too much praise on any of his players. The coach is more down the middle. But he seems to love the coverage play of linebacker Jalen Reeves-Maybin. “I think Jalen, really through training camp, has had an outstanding training camp. He does a lot for us, not only defensively, but also special teams wise. He had a really good game (Friday)night as far as that is concerned and just continues to improve. Got a long way to go, some of those situations where you may have seen him in the coverage part of it with the running backs. It’s just something that in those situations with the clock, the time, and the two-minute part of it, maybe was just circumstantial there. I think he’s trying to get better and I think he’s trying to improve,’’ Patricia said. “We obviously in some of those cases got to have some different run fits and different pass coverages that we have in that we just have to tighten up some of our techniques and things like that.”

EXTRA POINT: First-round pick Frank Ragnow proved he’s the real deal.