Tag: Allen Park

Detroit Lions are considering moving their team headquarters

The Lions are considering moving their team headquarters from the longtime home in Allen Park

More than 20 years ago, the Detroit Lions spent $34 million dollars to build their current headquarters. Located in Allen Park, Michigan, the current facility has a weight room, film rooms, locker rooms, two full-length outdoor practice fields, an indoor field and more.

On Tuesday, team president Rod Wood spoke to the media. He said, “We’re considering whether we’re going to continue to stay there and put more money into the facility, or be better off looking at locations elsewhere in Metro Detroit, where we’d have more space for the team and training camp for the fans.”

As of now, the facility will remain and Wood reiterated that by saying, “…we’re going to stay where we are…” but that’s only for the short term. Moving to a bigger and better facility or staying in Allen Park is one of the goals for Rod Wood this year. He mentioned that he “won’t hit that goal this year” but it’s a “near-term thing that needs to be decided.”

Over the years, the Lions have upgraded both Ford Field and their team headquarters in Allen Park. From new turf to the kitchens, things are looking up for a Lions organization that for decades has settled for mediocre. That no longer seems to be the case. It certainly feels like as the team continues to hunt for their first division championship since 1993, they’ll look to upgrade their facilities for not just only their players and staff but for their fans.

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Lions will practice on Wednesday, confident in safety protocols in place in Allen Park

Detroit Lions coach Matt Patricia confirmed at his morning press conference that the team will practice on Wednesday, and they are confident in the safety protocols in place in Allen Park despite Jarrad Davis being placed on the reserve/COVID-19 list yesterday.

Detroit Lions coach Matt Patricia confirmed at his morning press conference that the team will practice on Wednesday, and they are confident in the safety protocols in place in Allen Park despite Jarrad Davis being placed on the reserve/COVID-19 list yesterday.

Patricia confirmed that Davis was indeed the first Lions’ player who needed to be placed on the reserve/COVID-19 list since the regular season began and walked reporters through the timeline on what happened after they were alerted to Davis’ situation.

“(We) go look at the contact tracing, we have an interview process that we go through,” Patricia said. “We kind of just completely make sure that we understand the situation that we’re talking about, whatever that is, and then we run everything through the League. And we have great conversations with them as far as what are the risk factors and what does that look like, and then from there we go forward with what we think’s best for the team.”

Mark Maske of the Washington Post reported that the Lions were one of several teams this morning that had “no new positive test results”, and while Patricia continues to keep players COVID-19 results in-house — following NFL/NFLPA guidelines — he did note that: “Nobody would not be able to practice because of (Jarrad Davis)” on Wednesday.

So this appears to be an isolated situation surrounding Davis and the Lions feel confident they’re are keeping their players safe with the current protocols they have in place — which are continually being updated based on new information from the league.

This weekend’s game with the Minnesota Vikings does not appear to be in jeopardy at this time.

Watch: Alterations being made to Lions facility for reopening

Watch how the Detroit Lions are updating and preparing their facilities for fall football in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Neither coaches nor players are allowed in the Detroit Lions Allen Park training facility at this stage but the organization is updating and preparing their buildings for fall football in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.

On Wednesday, the Lions began introducing key staff members back into the facility and Kevin Anderson, the Lions Chief of Staff, explained that the Lions organization has developed two teams to execute the precautionary actions the team is making.

The “infectious response team” is in charge of medical decisions and screening protocols, while the “return to work committee” is in charge of building upgrades to maintain a safe environment.

In addition to the video below, Anderson went into more detail on the physical changes being made to the building and some of the challenges that are still in front of them to fully reopen the building, in an interview with Tim Twentyman, the Lions in-house senior writer.

You can watch the entire 2-minute video in the clip below:

Which players will be most impacted by NFL’s coronavirus policies?

In an effort to maintain safety among teams and draft prospects, the NFL has canceled all pre-draft visits to team facilities and colleges.

The President of the United States has declared a national emergency due to the coronavirus outbreak. Countless sporting events have been put on hold or canceled. NFL teams, including the Detroit Lions, have suspended travel for coaches and personnel staff.

And now, in an effort to continue safety efforts among teams and draft prospects, the NFL has canceled all pre-draft visits to team facilities and colleges.

While the league is being proactive in limiting physical interactions in the name of safety, their decision to not alter the current 2020 NFL calendar, could have a different type of negative impact.

On Wednesday of next week, the existing plan is to open the league’s new year and free agency period. This would also keep the 2020 NFL Draft schedule in place as well as the spring mini-camps and summer plans.

While maintaining this current schedule and safety standards appears workable on the surface — teams/agents can negotiate contracts over the phone — travel is still an essential part of free agency, as NFL contracts require medical checks to be completed.

Teams can, and probably will send private transportation to gather top-tier players in order to get their contracts done. But, will they be inclined to pay for private transportation for second and third-tier players? What about the fourth tier? At some point, teams will have tough spending decisions to make and it could cost these players opportunities.

Additionally, by maintaining the current schedule/safety plan prohibiting teams and prospects from interacting at pro days and facility visits, the second, third, and fourth-tier prospects will once again be the ones who feel the biggest impact.

These visits are where teams cultivate relationships and are often the difference between an undrafted player getting a shot in the NFL or potentially needing to look for a new line of work.

At the end of the day, the safety of individuals needs to continue to be a priority and to their credit, the NFL and their organizations are taking measures to ensure that it is. But if things continue down this path and the NFL schedule begins on time, there will be a significant amount of non-high profile players that will be a severe disadvantage.