Lions Preseason Schedule Drops: Three Games, Zero Joint Practices, Maximum Campbell
The Lions dropped their preseason schedule dates and times on Tuesday, May 19, and honestly, it looks about as standard as you’d expect. Three games, a couple regional opponents to keep the travel reasonable, and Dan Campbell already making it clear he’s not messing around with joint practices this year.
Here’s what we’re working with. The preseason kicks off with a trip to Cincinnati to face the Bengals on Thursday, August 13 at 7 p.m. Then Detroit gets one home game against the Washington Commanders on Saturday, August 22 at 12 p.m. The finale takes them down to Indianapolis to close things out against the Colts on Saturday, August 29 at 3 p.m.
Campbell already told us during the league meetings that joint practices are off the table this year. Which means these three games might actually matter more than the usual preseason snoozefests we’ve grown accustomed to.
Campbell Hints at More Starter Action
Without joint practices to get meaningful reps, Campbell suggested he might lean on these preseason games more than he has in the past. “Maybe we play some of these guys in the preseason more than we have, that’s where they get some of it,” he said during the annual league meetings.
Translation: we might actually see starters for more than two series in August. For a fan base that’s been trained to expect vanilla gameplans and backup quarterbacks by the second quarter, this could be genuinely refreshing.
All three games will be on the Detroit Lions TV Network, so you can find your local channel and settle in for what might be the most meaningful preseason action we’ve seen in years.
Are you actually excited about preseason games now, or is Campbell just setting us up for disappointment in a whole new way? Drop your take below.
Okay I’m actually really into this. Campbell not doing joint practices and saying he’ll get starters real reps in August makes total sense. We need to see how these guys perform when it actually matters instead of just going through the motions in training camp drills.
I like the theory here but I’ll believe we see meaningful starter snaps when I actually see it happen. Coaches say a lot of stuff in May that changes by August when they’re worried about injuries. Hope Campbell sticks to it though.
You know what, this reminds me of how things used to be run when coaches actually had to prove stuff in the preseason instead of hiding everything. Campbell’s different from a lot of these guys we’ve had, he’s got some old school to him and I respect that.
Finally someone not wasting time with all these pointless joint practices. This is the move and it shows Campbell knows what he’s doing. Can’t wait to actually see our guys compete in real games.