Hank Fraley wants Lions' O-line to rediscover mean streak: "Put some fear in the defense"​

In the eyes of Hank Fraley, there was good and bad for the offensive line in the Lions' first practice in pads. Progress is never linear this time of year, but overall, "I love the direction we're headed," Fraley said.

"We’re not there yet with the consistency of our play," Detroit's O-line coach said Tuesday on 97.1 The Ticket, "but the communication’s there and I love where we’re at with our intensity."

The Lions are trying to leave last year in the rearview. The offensive line slipped, and the team tumbled to last in the NFC North. After practice on Tuesday, second-year guard Tate Ratledge reflected on the changes in the trenches and said, "I think the attitude as a whole, the physical attitude, the mindset in the meeting room and on the field is different this year, I’d say it’s a lot better."

After ruling the NFC North for two seasons, the Lions lost their identity last year as a bruising, downhill football team. They're man enough to admit it, and mad to get it back. It starts in the trenches on offense. The Lions spent $25 million on a new center in Cade Mays, invested a first-round pick in a new right tackle in Blake Miller and shifted star Penei Sewell to left tackle.

Fraley has been asking his players, "What type of team, what type of O-line do we want to become?"

"Our identity takes shape (based on) what we put on the field and what we put on that tape. I think the best offensive lines out there are the ones that when people walk off the field, that other team’s like, 'Man, I do not want to play those guys again. We got beat up,'" Fraley said. "So we need to come out here and not just say it, but be physical."

Fraley constantly encourages his guys to finish plays, to get downfield and seek out the pile. All those extra shots at the opponent add up, on the body and the mind.

"I joke with these guys all the time, because everybody’s worried about getting fined in this league, 'Screw it, you make a lot of money. Send it to charity, we’ll figure it out, we’ll get it reduced, but put some fear in the defense,'" Fraley said. "When you’re around a pile, like, 'Ohhhh man, here comes Penei.' And Penei does it. You watch his tape. You want to see how a good player become great, it's the effort he plays with. And if we play with that effort we’re going to be pretty good."

New OC Drew Petzing presided over one of the best rushing attacks in the NFL over his first two seasons as OC of the Cardinals. It slipped last year amid an onslaught of injuries, but Arizona's violence and versatility on the ground under Petzing is one of the biggest reasons -- maybe the single biggest -- why Campbell gave him the reins of the offense in Detroit.

Through two practices in pads, Petzing likes what he's seen -- and heard -- from the big boys up front.

"Been really pleased with the attitude, the effort, the physicality," he said Thursday. "There’s some execution and technique things that we’re going to continue to clean up, but that’s the starting point. If the physicality isn’t there, the toughness isn’t there, the other part doesn’t matter. I think we’ve seen that in two days, and the other stuff — those details — will come as we get through the rest of camp."

Attitude and physicality can be hard to quantify, especially the former. Petzing measures them with his ears as much as his eyes: "Some of it is subjective, you could say, like when you stand on a field or you stand behind a line of scrimmage, you can hear it. You can feel it. I think everybody can, even in the stands, it just sounds and feels a little different."

Petzing also echoed Fraley about looking for "the extra effort, the finish -- things that maybe weren’t there when things aren’t going well or when you don’t have that attitude that need to be there at all times."

"And that’s always my challenge," he said, "to point that out when it’s good, but also to say, 'Hey, this isn’t our standard. And we need better or we need more, this is why, this is why it’s important, this is how it helps us win.' That’s where I hang my hat."

The Lions ran the ball at times last year, but not as insistently as they had in the past. The yards too often came in spurts, rather than a steady stream. They were held to 70 rushing yards or fewer in three straight games down the stretch. They hadn't been held under 100 in any three-game stretch under Dan Campbell before that.

Naturally, one of Campbell's three aims in training camp is to reestablish the Detroit's dominance on the ground.

"That’s a big emphasis," said Ratledge. "We have to be able to run the ball. Being able to run the ball opens up everything else in the offense, and being able to run the ball against somebody’s will is demoralizing to another team. So that’s our goal, to get back to that."