Hendon Hooker had an interesting answer Thursday when asked about the toughest part of his adjustment to playing quarterback in the NFL

"Just turn my brain off when I’m playing," he said. "Just going there, thinking too much, trying to make too many checks and too many corrections and just calling and balling, I think that’s the biggest thing from this spring so far."

Hooker remains a major work in progress, as expected, six practices into his first real set of Detroit Lions organized team activities after missing most of his rookie year while recovering from a college knee injury.

He has a big arm and he's a good athlete, but he has a ways to go to surpass Nate Sudfeld as the second-best quarterback on the Lions roster.

On Thursday, Hooker — the likely backup to starter Jared Goff no matter how quickly he progresses — was inconsistent with his passes and decision making, in part because the game is moving so fast for him.

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He took a would-be sack on his first play of 11-on-11, when he appeared to be late recognizing a blitz. He threw an interception that Steven Gilmore returned for a touchdown two plays later when he airmailed a smoke screen to his intended receiver. And he missed a handful of easy throws on check-downs and shallow crossing routes while taking all of the No. 2 reps in team drills with Sudfeld limited in his recovery from a torn ACL.

"It’s a learning curve so jumping in and really taking real reps, navigating through the offense, through audibles, the checks, it’s a new perspective but I’m enjoying the process," Hooker said.

Not everything Hooker did was bad. He ran for a big gain during team drills when he recognized a breakdown in rush lanes. He led the offense to a would-be field goal try in a situational period late in practice (when he followed up a nice throw to Daurice Fountain for a big gain on third-and-1 with another sack). And Lions coach Dan Campbell said Hooker was coming off one of his best practices of the season, a Wednesday session that was closed to reporters.

"There was some improvement yesterday that we had really been looking for, and you felt a little bit of — there’s some development there that was really good to see," Campbell said.

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Hooker, for his part, seems to be in a good spot mentally.

He realizes he's going to have growing pains in the NFL and seems comfortable with his trajectory, and he said nothing that happened this offseason — including the Lions signing Goff to an extension that cements Goff's place as starter for the foreseeable future — has changed his perspective on being in Detroit.

"I’m just ready whenever my number is called," Hooker said. "Been a good backup to a lot of quarterbacks, so just being there, supportive and continue to be locked in and prepared is what I’m going to do."

More observations from Thursday's practice

There was a brief skirmish between the first-team offense and defense after the first play of 11-on-11 period Thursday, and it happened so fast I can't even tell you what started it. Aidan Hutchinson got a good pass rush on Goff, who completed a bomb to Kalif Raymond, and when I pulled my binoculars down to watch Raymond run behind both Lions safeties, I saw a pileup of people with a few defenders appearing to hold both lines away from each other.

I asked Hutchinson about the shoving match after practice, and he chalked it up to " just trying to change a mindset on a defense."

Asked to describe the mindset the Lions want their defense to have this fall, Hutchinson said, "A little bit of that."

Hooker said he's noticed a more feisty, aggressive brand of ball coming from Aaron Glenn's troops this spring.

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"They’re a lot more aggressive, and I like that," he said. "I like that a lot. I like the competitive nature that we have in practice cause everyone is going extremely hard, trying to better themselves and with everyone doing that, that creates better camaraderie from the whole team getting better."

Who's missing from Lions practice?

The Lions still were without a host of regulars at practice for injury or personal reasons, including Brian Branch, Kerby Joseph, Alex Anzalone, Marcus Davenport, DJ Reader, James Houston, Frank Ragnow, Taylor Decker and Jahmyr Gibbs.

Joseph and Houston spent part of practice working on the side with trainers, Branch was off the foot scooter (but still in a boot) and watching some of practice from the sideline, and Gibbs declined to stop and talk when asked what he was dealing with after practice.

Guard Kevin Zeitler and cornerback Carlton Davis were among the other non-participants Thursday after taking part in last week's open practice, while rookie cornerbacks Terrion Arnold and Ennis Rakestraw saw a ramp-up in workload after dealing with minor injuries.

Throw 'em in the deep end

The Lions had two situational periods at the end of their 11-on-11 work, and Arnold put a quick end to the first when he intercepted a Goff pass intended for Jameson Williams along the left sideline. Kindle Vildor took the first-team cornerback reps opposite Arnold on Thursday, while Rakestraw was limited in practice and spent his time taking slot cornerback reps on the second field during the pre-practice installation period.

Amik Roberton continues to take first-team slot cornerback reps in Branch's absence.

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How did Jared Goff look?

Goff drove the offense into field goal range in his second situational period, which started first-and-10 at his own 30-yard line with 24 seconds left in the first half. Goff completed a 6-yard drag to Amon-Ra St. Brown to start the series, then followed with a long pass to Jameson Williams over the middle.

Goff threw incomplete to Williams on the next play — Williams was open, but there appeared to be some miscommunication between Goff and his receiver — before Michael Badgley and James Turner came on to try 51-yard field goals. Badgley's kick was wide right, while Turner drilled his kick.

Turner also made his first kick from about 52 yards, while Badgley was short.

Just for kicks

Lions special teams coordinator Dave Fipp said last week Badgley worked to improve his range this offseason, and while my first impression is that Turner has the stronger leg, Badgley appeared to be much better with his kickoffs during the Lions' lone special teams period Thursday.

The Lions worked on kicking off to a corner of the field, something Fipp downplayed as a viable strategy with the new kickoff rules last week.

"If you kick the ball away in the left corner, there’s a couple of guys out there that are 50 yards away from the ball laterally and it just takes too long to get over the top of the ball so some of those guys can’t show up," Fipp said. "By the time the returner goes 35 yards, they have to go 50. You can’t get there unless you’re just faster.”

Badgley was more consistent with his ball placement and depth than Turner, though Turner did bury one kick deep in the corner.

Growing pains

Williams dropped the first ball thrown his way in routes-on-air and didn't go hard enough to catch the second when the Lions were working on a pivot route, then reacting to a coach playing the role of defender and either running a comeback to the sideline or a go ball. Still, his speed is such a weapon that he's going to be a crucial part of the offense this year.

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Williams beat Vildor for a long gain down the right sideline on the first play of seven-on-seven and his long catch in the situational period was the type of chunk play that can turn a game. He needs to be more consistent in everything he does to approach his potential, but the Lions don't have anyone else on the roster — and there's no one else still available in free agency — who can impact defenses the way he does as a No. 2 receiver.

Line shufflin'

Dan Skipper took first-team reps at left tackle and Michael Niese took first-team reps at center with Decker and Ragnow out, and Colby Sorsdal and Netane Muti split time at right guard. Sorsdal continues to take second-team reps at right tackle, too, and could push for active spot on the gameday roster this fall because of his versatility.

I did not see Kayode Awosika or rookie Christian Mahogany at Thursday's practice.

One more thing

And a couple quick-hitter observations to end it: Morice Norris had a nice pass breakup in team drills, swiping the ball away from Maurice Alexander as Alexander tried to tuck away a long pass downfield; Mekhi Wingo took mostly defensive tackle reps during pre-practice installation, though general manager Brad Holmes spoke highly of Wingo's ability to play end after the draft; and Isaiah Williams showed some speed turning the corner during team drills when he caught a short pass across the middle that went for a long gain.

Contact Dave Birkett at dbirkett@freepress.com. Follow him on X and Instagram at @davebirkett.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Detroit Lions observations: QB Hendon Hooker has long way to go