ALLEN PARK — While the Lions’ secondary appears to be loaded with talent (not sure I’ve ever written that before), it’s mostly a young group with guys like Darius Slay, Bill Bentley, Jonte Green, Chris Greenwood, DeQuan Menzie and Ross Weaver.

Ron Bartell, cornerback entering his ninth NFL season, not only mentors the young guys but he shows them he still has it. He injured his shoulder the second day of camp but was back on Thursday.

Bartell lines up opposite Chris Houston in most of the drills with the first team with Bill Bentley in the slot.

“(Bartell is) a real veteran leader. He got banged up, he’s out here. Yesterday he came out, we told him ‘no contact.’ He was playing, but he made sure he didn’t get into the piles,’’ coach Jim Schwartz

said. “This morning, you saw him in the red zone and compete down there. That’s what he does. 

“He got burned on a play last year, and he came right back and finished the game, making a lot of good plays. He knows how to play the game, forget fast, and he knows how to handle the young players he’s in that room with,’’ Schwartz added.

The 31-year-old Bartell is fighting for that starting spot with Darius Slay (a second-round pick) as probably his key competitor. The preseason games will be key in determining who gets the starting role in the opener and who will back up.

(Photo courtesy of DetroitLions.com)

(Follow @PaulaPasche on Twitter. Order her book,  “100 Things Lions Fans Should Know & Do Before They Die’’ here. It’s also available at bookstores.)