4 things from Lions' final OTA before training camp, including Rodriguez and St. Brown injury updates

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Allen Park — Here are four tidbits of information from Thursday’s OTA walkthrough, the Detroit Lions’ final practice until next month’s training camp.

Timetable for Rodrigo

For those who have been asking about linebacker Malcolm Rodriguez’s recovery timetable, I squeezed in a question to coach Dan Campbell at the end of his morning media session.

“He’s not going to be starting the season,” Campbell said. “Conservatively, November. Yeah, that’s probably the best way to say it. Probably November. Somewhere in there.”

Rodriguez is entering the fourth and final season of his rookie contract. A sixth-round pick in 2022, he immediately emerged as a fan favorite, in part due to being heavily featured on HBO’s documentary series “Hard Knocks.”

A 15-game starter as a rookie, Rodriguez has been in a reserve role for the past two seasons following the addition of Jack Campbell. Rodriguez suffered a torn ACL last December while making a start in place of an injured Alex Anzalone.

Following surgery, the typical recovery for an ACL tear is 9-12 months.

Who is popping pre-pads

Campbell was asked if any players had stood out during the early portions of the offseason program. Initially reluctant to answer — because the team has yet to don full pads — the coach offered up a few names, including a pair of the roster’s young stars.

“I’ve got to be careful with all that again, right?” Campbell said. “Without pads, how real is it? I know this, you start talking about some guys that you see development, guys that we’re counting on, and they’re in a certain place, and you wanted to feel like coming out of spring, they took a step up, knowing that it’s only spring. (Jahmyr) Gibbs, (Jameson Williams) Jamo, those are two guys that really stood out.

“I (also) know this, the addition of (D.J.) Reed, (Avonte) Maddox, that looks good,” Campbell continued. “Glad we got those guys. They’ll fit right in with us.”

A few minutes later, Campbell was asked a question about Ennis Rakestraw’s development, triggering an expansion of the previous response.

“Ennis would be another guy that stood out, by the way,” Campbell said. “And (Sam) LaPorta had a good spring, too.”

Wide receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown echoed his coach’s sentiments about the third-year tight end.

"A guy that I’m really excited for is Sam LaPorta,” St. Brown said. “I feel like his rookie year, obviously everyone knows what he did. And then last year, I feel like he maybe didn’t get the amount of targets that he wanted, and I know, he doesn’t have to say it, but I know how LaPorta feels.

"I know what it’s like when you know you’re a dude and you feel like you can make more plays for the team and help the team win," St. Brown continued. "Not taking anything away from what he did last year, he’s a baller, but I can tell this year, he’s making plays out there every day. I feel like he’s gonna have a big year.”

St. Brown on the mend

St. Brown was in attendance on Thursday but did not participate in the practice. He confirmed that he had a cleanup procedure done this offseason, which has kept him sidelined.

“I had a surgery on my knee after the season, just to clean some stuff up, so been rehabbing that, but should be good to go for training camp,” St. Brown said.

Rapidly rising up the franchise’s all-time leaderboards in several receiving categories. The first-team All-Pro has averaged 108 receptions during his first four seasons, racking up 4,851 receiving yards and 33 touchdowns.

Shouldering the load

With veterans Taylor Decker and Graham Glasgow not present for the final day of OTAs, Dan Skipper met with the media to offer a player's perspective on the recent retirement of center Frank Ragnow.

“It's a tremendous loss,” Skipper said. “You can't minimize that loss. It puts a huge load on everyone else. He shows up every day and is the first one in the film room, knocking down the door, figuring out the game plan, all the weird looks, weird calls that you fall into.

“That's on someone else now,” Skipper continued. “He's not here, so collectively as a unit, whoever is playing center, they've got to do that. Jared (Goff) is going to shoulder some of that load, too, but collectively, we all have to band together, find the weak points and stuff, and get better. At the end of the day, the game is going to go on after I'm gone, long after Frank's gone. We have to shoulder the load, pick it up, and go from there.”

Skipper and Ragnow were teammates at the University of Arkansas, with Skipper hosting Ragnow on his recruiting visit.

On Thursday, with some of the veterans absent, Skipper took first-team reps at right tackle. Also in the starting lineup, filling Ragnow’s spot, was Tate Ratledge. Skipper offered his assessment of the rookie out of Georgia.

“God gave us two ears and one mouth for a reason, and he's done a really good job with that,” Skipper said. “He's coming in and he knows he's not Frank. He's not trying to be Frank. He's not trying to replace Frank. He's trying to be Tate. I'll let him talk about what his methodology is, but from the outside looking in, he's doing a really good job right now.

“…He's grown a lot as a rookie,” Skipper said. “This offense, there's a lot to it. So he's getting throw into it, which is the best way to learn a lot of times. Impressed with him and the things he's doing. He's going to continue to grow and we'll see what happens.”