Dan Campbell explains why the Lions were the only team in the NFL that didn’t do a rookie minicamp this year
Detroit Lions were the only NFL team to skip rookie minicamp this year, and Dan Campbell’s reasoning shows exactly how differently they’re handling this offseason compared to the rest of the league.
The Detroit Lions are doing things a lot differently than usual this offseason. No joint practices, no Brad Holmes showing up at the league meetings, and no rookie minicamp.
That last one was a bit of a surprise because all 31 of the league’s other teams did it. The Lions were the only team that took that time off. So why? Lions head coach Dan Campbell explained on Friday.
Why the Lions did not hold a rookie minicamp
“They’re not ready, they’re not ready for football, not really, even on a limited basis.” Campbell said. “You get them acclimated, you get them on the field, at least it’s your kind of first chance to do those things, and you can bring in some other guys, some veteran guys, some tryout guys and you may find somebody you like, so you get a little bit of that, but it’s, it’s not worth it anymore the straw that broke the camels back last year was it was the first walk through, we had guys all over the ground so the league didn’t take too kindly to that and it’s not worth it. It’s just not worth it. So let’s get them ready, let’s physically get them ready to they can get with the rest of the guys and look like football players a little bit.”
If you think about it, he’s right. It’s not really worth it. We’re talking about three days in which the rookies come into Allen Park and run around a little bit and get used to being in the building and around the coaching staff. Wouldn’t it be better to just do that with the rest of the team? I mean, is there a better way to get acclimated to being a part of the team than actually coming in and immediately being a part of the team?
The one pushback I have is that this does take away from some of those tryouts that veteran players and some extra UDFA guys could have had, where maybe you find someone who can help, but the Lions could try this at their mandatory mini-camp in June. But they’ve probably missed out on some decent UDFA going this route. Still, none of those guys were going to drastically change the face of this franchise anyway. So it’s not a huge loss.
You have to wonder what the Lions do next in terms of canceling things that don’t serve them.
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