Healthy Kalif Raymond excited to see Detroit Lions' approach to new kickoff rules

The Detroit Lions ' most experienced kick returner is healthy and ready for the changes coming to one of his primary domains.

Wide receiver Kalif Raymond is a full participant in training camp after he missed all three postseason games to close the 2023 season, KO'd by a left knee injury in the fourth quarter of the regular-season finale.

"I did (recover well)," Raymond said. "I've been training really, really hard. I had a really strong offseason, put in a lot of work, and now the body is starting to callus over and I started to put some work in."

Raymond, who has served as the team's primary returner since joining as a free agent in 2021, eagerly rejoined a "more mature" wide receiver room that has targets available due to the departure of Josh Reynolds in free agency. He has also returned to handling work in return duties in practice as a part of a rotation.

He will be in the mix to handle returns for the Lions on kickoffs under the new rules established by the NFL this offseason. Under the new rules , teams still will kick off from their own 35-yard line, but the coverage unit will line up in a stationary position at the receiving team's 40-yard line. Return teams must have nine players in the setup zone between the 30- and 35-yard lines, with up to two returners in the landing zone between the goal line and 20-yard line, with touchbacks now coming out to the 30-yard line.

"It's going to be a great opportunity for a lot of kick returners," Raymond said.

Special teams coordinator Dave Fipp said the team is still experimenting with finding the right combinations and solution to the new kickoff rules and will likely tinker throughout the preseason. Since the setup has only existed in the XFL spring league and will look different in the NFL, there are questions that pop up with each possibility.

"I think it's like a lot of things," Fipp said. "The more you learn about something, the more questions you have. And so there's still a lot of unanswered questions."

Fipp will be meticulously studying Thursday's preseason opener Hall between the Chicago Bears and Houston Texans in Canton, Ohio, to see how those teams handle the kickoff for the first time in a game. He also said the scheduled joint practices with the New York Giants on Aug. 5-7 will provide an opportunity to test out different things against a different team.

"It's a little bit different than the other league that was using it two years ago, so it'll be interesting to see," Fipp said. "We are going to get a chance to practice against the Giants and I was just on the phone with their coach the other day and so hopefully we'll get a chance to kind of see some different schemes and throw some different things at each other and learn a little bit more about it."

Raymond is confident that whatever the solution ends up being for the new kickoff, the Lions will have some success due to Fipp's acumen as the special teams coordinator.

"We got a heck of a special teams coach so we're gonna really trust what he says," Raymond said. "I 100% believe he's going to put us in the best position and after that, it's up to us to go play ball."

Building on strong offseason

Raymond's summer work was a combination of rehabilitation from the injury, conditioning to get back into football shape and honing in on details such as route running.

The veteran wide receiver entering his ninth NFL season had the same individual goal as he has had each offseason since entering the league: Don't let last year's weaknesses hold you back in the upcoming season.

"I was working on little details, doing a lot of self-scouting on a lot of things," Raymond said. "There's just ways to be better at every facet of the game. But, I told a lot of the young guys, I was like, whatever it was that held you back last year, don't let it be the same thing in a row. That's how you become an all-around player."

And from his viewpoint, the hunger to get better extends to all of the team's wide receivers as they compete for targets behind Amon-Ra St. Brown.

"The work ethic has been crazy," Raymond said. "We are building on that, just continue to be mature, continue to put in effort and hone in on the details. If we can get those details in, it's gonna be pretty good."

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Healthy Kalif Raymond excited to see Detroit Lions' approach to new kickoff rules