Lions News

[whatever_gong82]

Detroit Lions to open preseason with joint practices against New York Giants

Dave Birkett

Detroit Free Press



PHOENIX — It won't take the Detroit Lions long to see how they stack up against one of the NFC's top playoff contenders in 2023.

Lions coach Dan Campbell said at the NFL's annual spring meeting Monday that the Lions will hold joint practices with the New York Giants in the first week of the preseason this summer.



The Giants went 9-7-1 in the regular season last year and won a road playoff game against the Minnesota Vikings before falling to the eventual NFC champion Philadelphia Eagles. The Lions beat the Giants in the regular season, 31-18.


Campbell said the Lions and Giants scheduled their joint practices before the NFL made a recommendation last week that teams wait until later in the preseason to hold joint practices for health and safety reasons.




"I know what they said," Campbell said. "Ours is going to be the first preseason game. We had already set it up with the Giants before we talked about all this, but I think you just go about it like any other practice, man. You be smart with what you’re doing and they’re going to suggest what they’re going to suggest, and we listen to it. But it’s not like we don’t have our players’ best interests at heart and we’re reading our own data and we’re trying to figure out the best way to help our guys in recovery and all that. But at the same time, there’s a balance. You want to get really good work and maybe not have to play some of the starters."



The Lions did not take part in joint practices in Campbell's first season with the team in 2021, and visited the Indianapolis Colts for two joint workouts last summer before the second preseason game.



Most starters on both teams sat out that week's game, though the Lions played many starters in their other two exhibition contests.



NFL executive vice president of football operations Troy Vincent said in a conference call Friday the league's health and safety committee recommends joint practices take place before Week 2 or 3 of the preseason.



"Fewer starters year over year are participating in preseason games and we’ve seen that there’s a benefit the beginning of the regular season from an injury perspective to players who reach game intensities at some point in the preseason, and joint practices have proven to be a really useful tool for that," said Jeff Miller, the league's executive vice president of communications and health and safety initiatives. "The data also seems to show that the further back you move the joint practices towards the preseason, the lower the injury rate during those joint practices and the more beneficial impact they have."





Campbell and Giants coach Brian Daboll have been good friends since spending the 2011 season together with the Miami Dolphins.

Daboll shared a funny story last season of his interview with Campbell in 2011, when he said Campbell was sweating and out of breath while demonstrating blocking technique on chairs.


Asked at the NFL combine to share his best Daboll story, Campbell joked that the reigning NFL Coach of the Year has "hobbit feet" that he used to show off by wearing sandals around the facility.




"He’s the best," Campbell said. "Very, very bright. Look, I’m not shocked, to be honest with you. I thought what he did with that team knowing where they were at from a talent level, they shorten those games, they play pretty good defense. Wink (Martindale) ran a real good scheme (on defense), but I thought that their ability to put the ball in the hands of (Saquon) Barkley, they get to a certain point in the game, you’re not getting that ball back. And that’s really a credit to knowing what he had on the roster. I thought they used all three phases. That’s the best Daniel Jones has played, just from afar that I’ve seen. I think he’s been around a lot of really good coaches and he’s learned. It was impressive, man. I think they got a winner over there in him."




The Lions previously hosted the Giants for joint practices in 2018, in Matt Patricia's first year as head coach.


Contact Dave Birkett at dbirkett@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @davebirkett.

[whatever_gong82]

Lions slated to hold joint practices with New York Giants

Justin Rogers

The Detroit News


Phoenix — We're still more than a month away from the NFL releasing its 2023 schedule, but the Detroit Lions are intending to host the New York Giants for a set of joint practices ahead of a yet-to-be announced preseason game at Ford Field.


"We had already set it up with the Giants before we talked about all this, but I think you just go about it like any other practice, man," Lions coach Dan Campbell said Tuesday at the league meetings.


"You be smart with what you’re doing and they’re going to suggest what they’re going to suggest, and we listen to it. But it’s not like we don’t have our players’ best interests at heart and we’re reading our own data and we’re trying to figure out the best way to help our guys in recovery and all that. But at the same time, there’s a balance. You want to get really good work and maybe not have to play some of the starters."


The joint practices are expected to be ahead of both teams' first preseason game this summer. It will be the second time the Lions will have hosted the Giants for joint practices in recent years, having them in Allen Park ahead of the 2018 campaign. Those sessions are memorable because the Lions ended up acquiring two key defenders from the Giants in the following weeks — defensive end Romeo Okwara via waivers and defensive tackle Snacks Harrison via a midseason trade.



Campbell and Giants coach Brian Daboll have a relationship dating back to 2011, when Daboll interviewed Campbell for a spot on the Miami Dolphins' staff.


"(Dolphins coach) Tony (Sparano) said, 'Hey, I got this guy that I think would be good. Why don't we interview him? You take care of the interview,'" Daboll recalled last year, ahead of a game against the Lions in the regular season. "So, I interviewed Dan, and it was a great interview. He's slamming chairs on the ground and hitting walls and going through all these drills. You guys know him; he's a fantastic person, great family. It was an entertaining interview.


"(He) knew a lot. Obviously, he was very passionate, tough as nails. You could tell he was out of breath in half that interview with the stuff he was doing."


Campbell had equally kind things to say about Daboll ahead of that matchup, which the Lions won, 31-18.



"He's very smart, high energy, he's got a real good personality about him. He can mesh with just about anybody, and he was — man, he was fun to work with," Campbell said. "I think just being able to kind of be around and get a vantage point of different — a little bit of everything — players, coaches, schemes, I think has helped him."


In the first year under Daboll, the Giants experienced one of the NFL's biggest turnarounds, going from 4-13 in 2021 to 9-7-1 and a playoff berth last season. Campbell also led a significant turnaround in his second season with the Lions, going from 3-13-1 in his first year as coach to 9-8 in 2022.


jdrogers@detroitnews.com

[Fraquar]

12,000 yards passing in a 5 year career?
Even if he had an agent he'd have a hard time with that sell of getting paid top dollar.
Only real leverage an agent could play would be the Ravens were "holding him back" intentionally. 🤔

[whatever_gong82]

Detroit Lions eyeing Calais Campbell in free agency: 'We're not the only one who's on him'

Dave Birkett


Detroit Free Press


PHOENIX — The first wave of free agency is over, but the Detroit Lions aren't done adding big-ticket items to their defense yet.


Lions coach Dan Campbell acknowledged at the NFL's annual spring meeting Tuesday the team is interested in signing veteran defensive lineman Calais Campbell.


Campbell, 36, spent the past three seasons with the Baltimore Ravens, totalling 11 sacks in 40 games. The Ravens released Campbell before the start of free agency this month.



"You're talking about a lot of respect for a big man," Campbell said. "Oh my gosh. I just keep watching (film), I'm like, 'Man, there's no way he can feel good.' That body cannot feel good, but it looks like it feels good because he just, he is a force to be reckoned with. And you put him in a closed end (role), you're not running over there. He can rush as the three-technique still on third down. He just, man, he's got length, he's got size, he's still quick, so we'll see. We'll see. We're not the only one who's on him."



Campbell made free agent visits to the Atlanta Falcons and his old team, the Jacksonville Jaguars, last week, and reportedly has visits upcoming with the Lions, New York Jets and Buffalo Bills.


A six-time Pro Bowler with 99 career sacks, Campbell would fill arguably the Lions' biggest need for a pass-rushing interior lineman. He had 5.5 sacks last season for the Ravens, more than every Lion but Aidan Hutchinson (9.5 sacks) and James Houston (eight).




The Lions, who had the NFL's last-ranked defense last season, added three potential starters for their secondary (Cam Sutton, Emanuel Moseley and C.J. Gardner-Johnson) in free agency but have done little to address a front seven that allowed 5.2 yards per carry in 2022.




Campbell said those upgrades in the secondary, plus natural growth by young players like Hutchinson, Houston, Alim McNeill, Malcolm Rodriguez and Derrick Barnes should make the Lions better defensively this fall.



"If you don't do anything else defensively, we're going to be better and we're already working on scheme right now, man," Campbell said. "(Defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn is) back there cooking up all kinds of stuff because you have the flexibility to do some things now because of what we've done in the back end. So that alone, we're going to be better and we haven't even hit the draft yet. It gets me fired up. I love it."



Contact Dave Birkett at dbirkett@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @davebirkett.

[froot loops]

The cap will be at 320 million in 2027. There is no need to worry about paying Goff 50 million. You pay him unless you can improve with someone better.

[whatever_gong82]

Lions coach Dan Campbell acknowledges team is in the mix for Calais Campbell

Justin Rogers

The Detroit News



Phoenix, Ariz. — If there was an obvious roster concern the Detroit Lions have yet to upgrade this offseason, it's been at defensive tackle.


The team was proactive in re-signing its own free agents, namely Isaiah Buggs and John Cominsky, who splits his time between edge and interior alignments, but haven't made any additions to a group that had modest success rushing the passer and played a key role in allowing opponents to average 5.2 yards per carry. But, with plenty of cap space remaining, the team is continuing to explore options on the market, including six-time Pro Bowler Calais Campbell.


Lions coach Dan Campbell acknowledged the team's previously reported interest during a Tuesday morning media session at the league meetings.



"Look, we turn the tape on, man, and I'll tell you what, you talk about a lot of respect for a big man," the coach said. "Oh, my gosh. I just keep watching it and I'm like, there's no way he can feel good, that body can not feel good. But it looks like it feels good because he's just a force to be reckoned with. You put him in a closed end, you're not running over there. He can rush as a 3-technique, still, on third down. Man, he's got length, he's got size, he's still quick. We'll see. We're not the only one who is on him."



Campbell, 36, was released by the Baltimore Ravens earlier this month in a cap-savings move for that franchise, although the team expressed public interest in potentially re-adding him to the roster later in the offseason. In the meantime, he's had — or is reportedly scheduled to have — visits with Atlanta, Jacksonville, Buffalo and the New York Jets, in addition to Detroit.


Despite his advanced age relative to the profession, Campbell has continued to produce at a high level. Last season in Baltimore, he logged 550 defensive snaps in 14 games, finishing the year with 36 tackles, 5.5 sacks and 35 quarterback pressures.



Detroit's three primary interior linemen from last season, Buggs, Alim McNeil and Benito Jones combined for 3.5 sacks in 2022. The team prioritized re-signing Buggs after a breakout season last year, and there's a belief he can contribute more than he did last year, but general manager Brad Holmes also stated this week he'd like to see the young veteran's workload reduced after Buggs saw more than 750 snaps last year, more than doubling his playing time from the previous three seasons.


"Buggs is a very talented player," Holmes said. "The real thing with Buggs is that I think he'll be even better if everything works out in terms of — he had to play a lot of snaps last year, more snaps than we would have liked for him to play. But due to the circumstance he just had to.



"But, I thought he played really, really well," Holmes continued. "He's still a young guy that's got a lot of talent and I believe that he really embraced our culture when he got here and he was a guy that wanted to be back and we wanted him back. I think that we're gonna get a better version of Buggs."

jdrogers@detroitnews.com

[Fraquar]

Calais Campbell isn't an interior lineman, never, ever was.
He's been a DE in a 3-4, and the Lions play a 4-3.
Won't argue for a second his value as a wily veteran.
Don't think for one second he's going to fill either of the two voids at DT.
And FFS lets not yo-yo back to a 3-4 again.
-------
What the Lions really need at this point in time is another Kyle Vanden Bosch.

[Fraquar]

Lions have their LT for the next 10+ years already on the team.
If they draft Skoronski it's to either play RT (which isn't vacant) or G.
He better be a fucking beast if you draft G at #18.
Either that or this is literally the weakest draft we've ever seen.

[The King]

Paris Johnson played some guard at The Hairless Nut School of Thieves. He could play inside until he replaces Decker.

[Whitley]

Lions have their LT for the next 10+ years already on the team.
If they draft Skoronski it's to either play RT (which isn't vacant) or G.
He better be a fucking beast if you draft G at #18.
Either that or this is literally the weakest draft we've ever seen.

Well Skoronski rates as #6 overall prospect (by nfl.com) and clearly the #1 OL (Skoronski comes in at 6.73 <7+ is Pro Bowl level talent> Broderick Jones is next at 6.44). Skornski's comparison is Zack Martin.

And from that profile is this quote:

Sources Tell Us
“He’s a Pro Bowler at guard but just an average tackle if a team keeps him there.” -- Executive for NFC team

I am perfectly comfortable with him being picked at #6. His draft would make the Lions O-Line one of the top 2-3 in the league. And MAYBE #1 when considering depth.

[The King]

Honestly, it’s such a great feeling to have a good roster with a lot of depth. We could take like 10 guys at #6 and I would be fine with it. We truly can just go BPA and don’t have a lot of major needs. Having 5 picks in the top 81 helps, too. I’m sure we don’t make all those picks. Holmes has shown he will move around. I expect him to do the same this year.

[Whitley]

Honestly, it’s such a great feeling to have a good roster with a lot of depth. We could take like 10 guys at #6 and I would be fine with it. We truly can just go BPA and don’t have a lot of major needs. Having 5 picks in the top 81 helps, too. I’m sure we don’t make all those picks. Holmes has shown he will move around. I expect him to do the same this year.

Yeah. This is yer get to be off for all 3 draft days. Looking forward to it.

[Fraquar]

Well Skoronski rates as #6 overall prospect (by nfl.com) and clearly the #1 OL (Skoronski comes in at 6.73 <7+ is Pro Bowl level talent> Broderick Jones is next at 6.44). Skornski's comparison is Zack Martin.

And from that profile is this quote:

Sources Tell Us
“He’s a Pro Bowler at guard but just an average tackle if a team keeps him there.” -- Executive for NFC team

I am perfectly comfortable with him being picked at #6. His draft would make the Lions O-Line one of the top 2-3 in the league. And MAYBE #1 when considering depth.

Yet if you keep giving up 450+ points a year - it doesn't matter how good your offense is. Come crunch time the better teams slow down your offense and run roughshod over your defense - because they are balanced.

[Fraquar]

Paris Johnson played some guard at The Hairless Nut School of Thieves. He could play inside until he replaces Decker.

So you are going to draft an OT, to play G, until the LT leaves so the RT moves to LT so he can finally move to RT? In the 1st Rd? If that isn't the definition of insanity I don't know what is.
Nothing against the guy, but shit if all you have is a swing O-lineman from day 1 in a Draft at #18 - and you still haven't addressed one of the worst defenses in the league? WTF are you building?

[froot loops]

They have been drafting defense and signing free agents almost exclusively on defense, you act like they haven't done anything.