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'Real football' arrives: Lions practice in pads for first time

Allen Park — When the Detroit Lions veterans reported to training camp on Thursday, Paul Pasqualoni was asked what he knew about his defense. You could boil down the 68-year-old coordinator’s thoughts to “not much.”

Pasqualoni wasn’t being flippant or dismissive toward the question. He just didn’t feel it was fair to comment on the abilities of his players having never watched them perform in pads firsthand.

And as his counterpart on offense, Jim Bob Cooter, explained, some guys perform better when fully suited up.

“Some of the techniques can change, some of the players are better when they put the pads on,” Cooter said.