This is a big week for the Detroit Lions. Not only will they play their first preseason game of the year on Friday, they will also have their first joint practices this week when the welcome the New York Giants into town ahead of their matchup in the aforementioned preseason game on Friday. 

Joint practices are a lot different than your average practice. There's a lot of live football situations and it's really more of a scrimmage for two straight days. A lot of questions can get answered in that two days. 

We've got five things we're hoping to see the most at joint practices. Let's take a look. 

How will the secondary hold up against another team?

The Lions secondary has been the talk of the town since OTA’s. they’ve been giving the Lions offense some fits. There’s a chance we don’t see the starters from this group a lot during the preseason, so this could be a big test for them here.

How will the Lions secondary play against Daniel Jones and the Lions? Will they give him fits like they have with Goff or will they have a tough time? We could really learn some things about this group this week. 

How will the Lions run stopping game look?

Last year the Lions let the NFL run all over them. They allowed the fourth most rushing yards in 2022. They didn’t seem to do much about fixing it during the offseason. This was my biggest concern about this team. 

This week they welcome in one of the best running backs in the league. How will they fare against him this week? Will they give him trouble like they did late in the season last year or will Barkley have them figured out this time? This is a true test for this element of their game. 

Scuffles

It’s bound to happen. The emotions are high and this is the first time that either team will be around another team with those emotions so high. A lot of guys are fighting for a roster spot or a starting spot and their ready to go to war to get it. 

I doubt anything major will happen, but it is always just a little bit fun to see the emotion take over and see a little shoving going on. 

How will the rookies react?

This will be the first time that the rookies on either team have had a chance to be around another NFL team. You have to believe that there’s going to be some nervousness going on for sure. How will they react? Who will show up and do big things?

The drafted rookies are one thing, but undrafted rookies are a whole other thing. How will guys like Starling Thomas V and Dylan Drumond fare against another NFL team?

Will Goff continue to ball out?

I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but everyone has been talking about how good Jared Goff has looked during the offseason. He has been on fire out there. I have no doubt that he’ll have a very good season once everything gets going, but how will he do against the Giants at the joint practices? 

Will there be some rust to shake off or his going to go out there and continue to perform the way he's been performing? This week could tell us a lot about Goff. 

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