Lions' Campbell explains offseason schedule changes, confirms joint practices with two opponents

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Allen Park — The Detroit Lions are furiously working through a condensed offseason, a setup coach Dan Campbell chose because he felt it was best for his players.

After being selected to participate in the Hall of Fame game this offseason, Campbell made the decision to eliminate the team's three-day mandatory minicamp before the summer break ahead of training camp.

"Yeah, it was a fine line," Campbell said. "I went back and forth. Here's the thing, it was kind of unique, it was a double whammy. For whatever reason, the league year started one (week) later than it normally does. And then, we have the Hall of Fame game. So it's the combination of those, you bleed the offseason into this, and then you bring them back a week early, it just didn't feel right. I didn't feel like it was fair to our players.

"To me, it was like, look, we're going to cut this three days short, so you come in three days early," Campbell said. "That's how we're handling it."

Campbell said the challenge has been compounded by significant changes to the coaching staff this offseason. He said 14 coaches are either new to the team, in new roles, or running a position group for the first time.

"We're just trying to cram in as much of our core that we can, schematically," Campbell said. "… There's a lot of working together, everybody being on the same page, making sure coordinators got what they want, coordinators knowing what I want. This is the best time to do that. We're all working through that, working through the kinks. It's been awesome. It's only been two days, but it's been really good. Guys are in a good spot, good energy, turnout has been awesome."

With no mandatory minicamp, and the Lions playing their first preseason game in late July, Campbell said there will be an urgency to hit the ground running when the team returns to Allen Park.

"It just means we've got to be on it in training camp," Campbell said. "We've got to get a lot of guys ready to play quickly for the Hall of Fame game, and make sure their bodies are ready to go for an early game, because there are going to be a lot of young guys that play a number of reps in that game. But we'll get them right."

Campbell also confirmed the team will conduct joint practices with two preseason opponents, Miami and Houston.

Those are both home matchups. The Lions host the Dolphins on Aug. 16 and the Texans on Aug. 23. Campbell said the Lions will practice with the Dolphins twice and the Texans once.