Detroit Lions OTAs preview: The key names to watch — for showing up or staying away, and when to freak or not
Detroit Lions OTAs start this week—and yes, everyone will be watching who shows up. But not every absence means what you think… here’s what actually matters (and when to worry)
The Detroit Lions begin off-season training activities on Wednesday, and one of the big things that everyone always talks about when it comes to these things is who is there and who isn’t.
Before it all starts, let’s talk about the attendance part of it all. Here are some things to know:
This is voluntary, and an absence doesn’t mean someone is selfish or holding out or any other horrible thing you can think of
Sometimes it’s really simple. The Lions know a player isn’t going to be there because they’re off doing training elsewhere with someone else. This is not a super crucial part of the season. Teams are not going over plays or really even running plays. This is all drills.
That’s why some guys, like Amon-Ra St. Brown last year, decide to work with a trainer they like to work with, and it’s totally ok with the Lions. Sometimes, guys are coming off injuries and working with the trainers they’ve spent their rehab with.
Yes, some players do hold out. We’ve never seen that happen in Detroit, and we probably never will. If there is any team in the league that takes care of its own players, it’s the Lions.
The attendance that really says something
At this point, the thing you really want to pay the most attention to, and the thing we’re paying the most attention to, is what players coming off injuries show up. If Sam LaPorta and Kerby Joseph are out there on the field doing things at OTAs, that’s cause to feel very good about where they are with their rehab.
On the flip side of that, if they’re not, there’s no reason to freak out and think that it’s all over, because, as we said above, some guys like to work with their trainers. Even if they’re not a mandatory minicamp, you still shouldn’t freak out. When you should freak out a little is when they’re not at training camp or start camp on the PUP list. That means they still need more time, and that is not what you want to see.
Pretty much everyone is already there
The Lions have been doing workouts together for weeks now, and they’ve been putting up pictures the whole time. It appears that most of the team is in the building participating. But there are some players that we haven’t seen in these pictures, and Joseph and LaPorta are some of them. We’ll see what happens on Wednesday.
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