Joint practices between the Detroit Lions and Indianapolis Colts have been a big hit for both squads. Being able to work directly against different guys than the players normally see in practice also offers the coaching staff an unusual chance to evaluate their players in different conditions.
As a result of the intensity and alacrity of the joint sessions the last two days, many Lions starters won’t play in Saturday’s preseason contest at Lucas Oil Field. The Lions starters on both sides of the ball saw considerable action against the Colts in the last two days of practice, and that will likely suffice for those who are established based on what head coach Dan Campbell said.
“There’ll be a number of these guys that will not play in this game,” Campbell said Thursday. “A number of our starters, because they’re getting kind of the bulk of the reps, and – but there’ll be a number of guys that have gotten the load here that will still play in this game.”
The Lions starters on both sides of the ball played the first series of the preseason opener last Friday. The first-team offense mowed through the Atlanta defense, but the Falcons own offense returned the favor against Detroit’s defensive starters.
Campbell elaborated that the joint practice work was likely enough to challenge many of the starters.
“Certainly, we’ve got a lot of battles still going on, but that would be the plan with this. That’s probably kind of like the structure of, you get two really good days of work and now you don’t really feel like you need to go to the game with them.”
Positions where the starting nod is still up for grabs could see some “starters” play. Those are almost exclusively on defense with the starting lineup on offense pretty well set already. Linebacker, slot CB and safety next to Tracy Walker are the primary competitive starting positions at this point in the leadup to the season.
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