Speedy Lions.

[Guttpuppy]

Apr 30, 5:35 PM EDT

Harrington Enjoying Lions' New Weapons

ALLEN PARK, Mich. (AP) -- Joey Harrington couldn't hide his grin after the opening of this weekend's minicamp.

"I'm thrilled," said the Detroit Lions quarterback said after Friday morning's practice - his first exposure to first-round draft picks Roy Williams and Kevin Jones. "We addressed two important needs - we needed to run the football and we needed another deep threat."

Harrington got a firsthand glimpse of Williams' speed early in the session.

"I thought I had overthrown a ball, and he just went and got it," he said. "That's when I did a double-take. These guys are young, but when we all get on the same page, this is going to be exciting."

Williams and a healthy Charles Rogers would give the Lions one of the fastest receiving duos in the NFL, while Jones adds speed at running back.

"Just with the naked eye, you can see that we are faster," Lions coach Steve Mariucci said. "We're trying to build for the turf at Ford Field, and you can already see a change."

For Williams and Jones, the speed they were noticing was a little different.

"The tempo is just completely different," Williams said. "At Texas, we walked to the line of scrimmage. Here, we are always running, and the action is so much faster. My head is still spinning."

Jones had the same impression.

"How did it feel? It felt fast," he said. "It's a little overwhelming right now, but I'm getting a lot of work in practice, and I'm going to get all of this down as soon as possible."

Jones a 10.2 100-meter dash at Virginia Tech, is in the strange position of only being the third-fastest player on the offense. Williams ran a 10.08 at Texas, while Rogers won state sprint titles from 100 meters to 400 meters.

"It's going to be unusual for me," Jones said. "I'm used to being the fastest guy on the field, but we'll have fun together."

Rogers didn't want to guess who would win a race between him and his new receiving partner.

"It doesn't matter if Roy's faster or I am," he said. "It just matters that we use that speed to win games."

Rogers, who missed most of his rookie year with a broken collarbone, is happy to be back on the field. He was held out of several drills for precautionary reasons, but thinks he's on course for a healthy season.

"Coach didn't want to take any chances, because we don't have any games until September," he said. "But I'm feeling good, and I'm excited.

"With all the speed we've got now, it's going to be a heck of a show."

[CC]

Damn, they will be exciting to watch.