Terrion Arnold’s spot isn’t locked up with the Lions, and Dan Campbell just explained why
Detroit Lions may have a bigger position battle than expected. Dan Campbell’s latest comments suggest Terrion Arnold’s starting job isn’t guaranteed, and competition is already heating up.
He literally told us not to read too much into things like this, but it’s hard not to. Detroit Lions head coach Dan Campbell told us at the beginning of OTAs that the Lions would split into two teams and work on different fields, and not to read too much into that.
But then you can clearly see that on one field, you see all the starters or guys you fully expect to be starters, and on the other field, you see the guys who are largely fighting for roster spots and rookies. Terrion Arnold has been on the latter side during the mandatory minicamp.
Dan Campbell explains why Terrion Arnold is working with the second team, how he needs to earn his spot, and what he needs to do to do that
“So the most important thing for him is just making sure that he’s healthy,” Campbell said. “That’s step one, the rehab, which he’s done a good job with. He’s getting better. We feel good about where he’s at in that regard, but that’s the most important thing, because he’s not full speed right now. I mean, he can at least, he’s not in contact, he’s moving pretty good, all that stuff. But, and so, just make sure that you stay on top of that, you’re ready to go for training camp, and then it’s on. It’s just about competing. We got a lot of good guys in that room, and he knows this. He’s got to go earn it now.”
Arnold has been an on-and-off player since the Lions traded up to take him 24th in the 2024 NFL Draft. Early in his rookie season, he had a penchant for back-breaking penalties, but then he cleaned that up, along with cleaning up his play down the stretch.
Then the 2025 season started out not so well at all before he went on a string of strong performances. Then he got hurt and missed the rest of the season.
In 2026, this is a kind of make-or-break year for him, and it starts this summer. He has to stay healthy and get back on that first team and get his starting job back, but he’ll have to compete with Rock Ya-Sin, Khalil Dorsey, Keith Abney, Ennis Rakestraw, and Nick Whiteside to get it. These guys are hungry, and there is blood in the water. This is just another sign that almost nobody is safe right now.
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