The New York Giants are in town in advance of Friday’s preseason matchup in Ford Field with the Detroit Lions. But before the game comes, the two teams will battle one another in two joint practice sessions.
The idea of practicing and competing against the Giants is something that really excites Lions head coach Dan Campbell. He’s a huge proponent of joint practices, for a variety of reasons.
Campbell laid out a few of them before a recent training camp practice.
“Yeah, well, first of all, it’s what you think it’s going to be, as far as the intensity goes up and the level of competition. It’s a different – it’s a fresh look at somebody else and I love that because camp – you’ve got to be careful,” Campbell said Saturday. “You get into the same routine, the rut, the mundane and you don’t really ever go. You’re just spinning your wheels, so this will be good for us.”
The Lions have had joint practices in the past, including a trip to Indianapolis for some spirited sessions with the Colts last summer. The Giants visited Allen Park back in 2019, too.
Campbell continued trumpeting the merits of joint practices,
“So, it validated that, but I think also – I loved what we did, but there was a couple of things that – maybe a couple of more team periods here and there, or maybe we come together more, that was one of the things – I would love to, at the very end, we’re all on one field and so, our offense is watching our defense and then we switch it. So, we’ll do some of that at the very end of both days, which I like.
And I think it’s important that your teammates see what’s going on, on the other side of the ball. And then just a couple of little clean-up things, like last year, we were the – we get out there to them and we start the one-on-one periods with the backs and linebackers and we’re all the way down at one end of the field and then, ‘Oh we can’t – we’re throwing into them, we’ve got to bring them –’ making sure everything is set up perfectly. It’s not – I’m all about chaos (laughs), but not like that. We’re organized, player safety, we’ve got people back and it’s – and we get really good work, keep them healthy, keep them up, I would say that.”
Tuesday and Wednesday practices are open to the public. The teams will do a walkthrough on Thursday before squaring off in Ford Field at 7 p.m. on Friday. Joint practices at the Lions training facility will continue next week with the Jacksonville Jaguars coming to town.