Thanks for checking in on a regular basis, but I'm off on a little vacation before next NFL season begins. This blog won't be updated again until mid-July, shortly before the Lions report for training camp. Here's a few thoughts to leave you with over the summer:

• If Las Vegas knows best, don't expect a big turnaround from the Lions this year. According to sports-odds.com, the Lions have 13-2 odds to win the NFC North. The Packers and Vikings (8-5) are co-favorites, with the Bears checking in third (11-4).

• Consolation prize: The Lions could start off hot again. Their schedule is favorable early, and they're one-point favorites (according to sportsbook.com) Week 1 at Atlanta. I don't have to remind you how the Lions won at Oakland in Week 1 last year, beat a North team at home in Week 2 (Minnesota; this year's Week 2 opponent is Green Bay), and started 6-2 but finished 7-9. Just saying ...

• We're still waiting for the legal system to play itself out in safety Kalvin Pearson's April assault case, but it's interesting to note that Pearson was playing some nickel cornerback in OTAs in early June. Pearson said he played nickel corner his first two years in the NFL and feels comfortable at that position now. Travis Fisher is the No. 1 nickel back, but Pearson's versatility (he took No. 1 reps when Fisher was out June 9) makes me think he'll make the team despite his legal woes.

• The Lions put first-round pick Gosder Cherilus next to veteran left tackle Jeff Backus in the locker room for a reason. Cherilus said he's already started picking the brains of Backus and right guard Stephen Peterman (who's on Cherilus' left). Cherilus is a physical specimen, a lean 315-pounder with big hands and a bigger mean streak. I saw him at the Champs Sports Bowl last year, playing out of position at left tackle, and wasn't overly impressed. But he looks more at home on the right side now, though he had some expected growing pains during OTAs. How much he improves over the next two months could be key to the Lions' season. George Foster is around for insurance purposes. He'd be the favorite to start at right tackle now. But if Cherilus makes big strides the Lions can sever ties with Foster (Jonathan Scott is likely to make the team as a backup swing tackle) and use that roster spot on a youngster like seventh-round linebacker Caleb Campbell.

• If you have a fantasy draft sometime this summer, don't be afraid to take Calvin Johnson, Roy Williams, Jon Kitna or running back Kevin Smith. In that order. Johnson's going to have a big year. He'll be a touchdown machine. Williams is in a contract season and should approach 80 catches. Kitna won't lose his job this year unless the Lions start 2-10 and want to see what they have in Dan Orlovsky and Drew Stanton. And Smith will end up taking the bulk of the carries. He's a No. 3 fantasy back for now, though.

Former Lions offensive tackle Lomas Brown said Tuesday he hopes to work with first-round pick Gosder Cherilus later this summer, something Lions coach Rod Marinelli sounds interested in making happen.

Marinelli said he'll visit next week with Brown, a seven-time Pro Bowler who helped tutor Jets tackle D'Brickashaw Ferguson last summer. Brown was a skilled NFL pass blocker, the least refined area of Cherilus' game.

"He's a special guy now," Marinelli said of Brown, who played on Tampa Bay's Super Bowl XXXVII championship team for which Marinelli coached. "It was his 15th or 16th year in the league, he was a backup player, he was the best scout-team (player) I've ever seen. Ever in my career. I've never seen a guy run a scout team like that in my life."

Marinelli said Brown devoured film of the offensive tackles Tampa's defensive ends would play against in that week's game and worked tirelessly to mimic their moves in practice.

"He'd give them exactly the look," Marinelli said. "He studied that guy, OK, this is how the guy's going to set you, bam, get him set here. It was phenomenal work. And then you see a professional football player, a guy that's got a chance for the Hall of Fame, and then you see him work in practice. That's professional football. That's what I like. I do. I admire that. It was special. He's always been a special guy to me."

A little follow up on my story today on Cory Redding.

As everyone knows, Redding had something of a disappointing season last year. He set a career high with 78 tackles, but went 14 games without a sack and wasn't the playmaking force the Lions expected after signing him to a seven-year, $49-million deal last July. Part of the reason Redding disappointed was a bum right shoulder that hampered his play much of the season.

Redding said he had "a significant tear in the rotator-cuff area" and underwent surgery after the season. He's back taking part in OTAs (organized team activities) now, but won't be full strength until training camp opens in July.

"I feel good," Redding said. "I'm still rehabbing, still building my strength. The flexibility's 100 percent but it's all about getting my strength back and not going out there and letting some young guy put his facemask in my shoulder and set me back for a month."

Redding said there's no chance he starts camp on the Physically Unable to Perform list, even for precautionary reasons, though the Lions will do everything in their power to keep perhaps the biggest key to their defense healthy. If Redding plays like he did two years, when he had eight sacks in little over half a season at the under-tackle position, the defense could be special. If he plays like he did last year, when his first sack came Dec. 23, the line will struggle to get adequate pressure on opposing quarterbacks. In the Tampa 2 defense, that's the single biggest factor to success, and something the Lions saw first hand last year.

"We had time (last year) where we were sensational in our four-man rush and there's time it disappeared," Lions coach Rod Marinelli said. "You got to have that consistency. ... It's hard, but that's part of the deal. If you're saying, 'Man, we can't rush these guys. We have to blitz,' now you have problems. To me, you have problems. Eventually that stuff catches up with you because they get paid, too."

With for-now starters George Foster and Tatum Bell not in attendance, rookies Gosder Cherilus and Kevin Smith took most of the first-team reps at right tackle and running back, respectively, during Thursday's OTA workout. Foster and Bell were No. 1 on the depth chart during last week's minicamp, and while jobs won't change hands between now and July, many believe it's just a matter of time before Foster and Bell fall to second string. Cherilus, the Lions' No. 1 pick, is a natural right tackle with big paws and a bigger mean streak, and Smith has been as impressive as any rookie in digesting the playbook.

"He's looking good," defensive tackle Cory Redding said of Cherilus. "Strong, got a good attitude, short fuse. I like that. He's a rookie but he's shown flashes of greatness, it's just right now he's in that learning curve."

Lions coach Rod Marinelli said attendance at Thursday's workout was abnormal. Along with Foster and Bell, receiver Roy Williams, linebacker Ernie Sims and tackle Jonathan Scott were among the no-shows and tailback Brian Calhoun spent part of the afternoon riding a stationary bike. OTAs, as always, are voluntary but highly encouraged, and the Lions have had good turnout so far. In fact, attendance was perfect at the first OTA open to the media earlier this month.

"We had a couple guys miss today and I know where they're at," Marinelli said. "I'll leave it at that. I put all of my attention on the men that are here, every ounce of energy that I got for the guys that are here and trying to get as much work as we can do."