Your Lions Preseason Schedule Is Here and Dan Campbell Might Actually Play Some Starters
The Lions dropped their preseason schedule this week alongside the regular season slate, and there are a few things worth noting beyond the usual suspects showing up on the calendar.
First, the opponents. Cincinnati, Washington, and Indianapolis. Geographic neighbors, which means minimal travel and maximum practice time at Allen Park. Smart.
Second, Dan Campbell already put it out there that he’s not doing joint practices this year. Which means these three games might actually matter more than the typical preseason snoozefest we’ve grown accustomed to.
Campbell Hints at More Starter Reps
“Maybe we play some of these guys in the preseason more than we have, that’s where they get some of it,” Campbell said during the annual league meetings. Translation: you might see Jared Goff take snaps past the first quarter for once.
That’s interesting. Campbell has been cautious with his starters in August, which made sense when this roster was still figuring itself out. But with a more established core and no joint practices to lean on, maybe we actually get to see the first-string offense work against real competition before Week 1.
The Full Schedule
Here’s how it breaks down:
Preseason Week 1: at Bengals — Thursday, Aug. 13 — 7 p.m. ET
Preseason Week 2: vs. Commanders — Saturday, Aug. 22 — 12 p.m. ET
Preseason Week 3: at Colts — Saturday, Aug. 29 — 3 p.m. ET
One home game at Ford Field against Washington. Two road trips that are basically bus rides compared to what this franchise used to endure in the preseason. Remember when we’d send the team to Japan for exhibition games? Different times.
All three games will be on the Detroit Lions TV Network, so you can catch them locally without having to hunt down some sketchy streaming site that definitely doesn’t have viruses.
Are you actually excited to watch preseason football now that Campbell might let the real players play, or are you still scarred from decades of meaningless August? Let me know below.
Finally! I’ve been wanting to see what this offense can really do before the season matters. Campbell not doing joint practices and actually letting Goff get reps past the first quarter? That’s the kind of stuff that makes me believe this team is different now. Can’t wait for August.
I get what Campbell is saying, but preseason starters still feel risky to me. Yeah the schedule is close to home which is smart, but I need to see him actually follow through before I’m convinced this changes anything. Talk is cheap until we get there.
You know what, the fact that they’re thinking strategically about the preseason instead of just going through the motions tells you everything about how this regime operates. Way different from the chaos we used to see. I’m not saying it guarantees anything but this is smart football.