Every day during training camp, Lions beat writer Dave Birkett takes you inside practice at Allen Park with notes, quotes and observations of interest.

• A few familiar faces returned to the practice field Monday morning for the Lions. Ernie Sims was back after missing a week with a bruised right knee. The plan was for him to take things easy, but he was out there dotting teammates. He collared Mike Furrey around the neck on one pass and popped Tatum Bell in the flat on another. "Got a little stress out of me," he said. Sims will not play in Thursday's preseason opener against the Giants.

• Guard Edwin Mulitalo won't play Thursday, either, but he came off the PUP list and was back practicing lightly Monday. Brian Kelly (knee), Manny Ramirez (knee) and Artose Pinner (neck) also returned from injuries, while Cory Redding (groin), Buster Davis (concussion) and Langston Moore (shoulder) continue to be sidelined. The Lions also put linebacker Teddy Lehman on injured reserve-minor Monday with a strained hamstring. They'll pay Lehman an injury settlement and will not be able to re-sign him until six weeks after an agreed-upon date.

• Kelly broke up one pass to Roy Williams and intercepted another Monday. It's not going out on a limb or anything, but the Lions have improved their secondary enough that they should tally the most picks of the Matt Millen era this year. They had 17 last season and 19 in 2005. The post-1970 franchise record of 25, set in 2000, could be in jeopardy, too.

• Jordon Dizon had the hit of the day playing second-team middle linebacker. Dizon read a run perfectly and met Kevin Smith head-on as he came through a hole. Smith won the collision, but Dizon was not trying to make a tackle. He got a pat on the helmet from defensive coordinator Joe Barry for the play.

• Dizon's development in the middle — as I blogged yesterday, he's receiving some worthy praise — does not take the Lions out of the Takeo Spikes sweepstakes. The team is still waiting for Spikes to decide when and where he wants to play this year. Spikes is a veteran who would play strong-side linebacker in Detroit and could easily adjust to the Tampa 2 defense. Don't expect any movement until at least after the first weekend of exhibition games.

• Change your plans if you wanted to see the Lions practice tomorrow. Their Tuesday workout has been moved inside and is closed to the public.