Stop Freaking Out: What Lions Fans Are Missing About These OTA Injuries
Detroit Lions fans are already freaking out over OTA “injuries,” but what’s actually happening here isn’t what it looks like—and why it really doesn’t matter right now.
On Friday, Detroit Lions head coach Dan Campbell announced that while injured players Kerby Joseph, Sam LaPorta, and Brian Branch were in the building, they would not be taking part in practices. This caused some Lions fans to freak out, and you saw comments like this:
What are OTAs, and why is it not a big deal that the Lions are holding out a few guys?
Let’s start by talking about what OTAs are. Because while I’m sure there are a lot of people who don’t know, there are probably a lot who don’t, and that’s ok.
Organized Team Activities are an offseason program where teams get together for meetings and on-field work, but with strict limits on contact and intensity. They’re also 100% voluntary. Meaning that players can totally miss this part of the offseason, and the team is not going to flip.
The reason is that you’re basically doing nothing during this time. You’re running drills and then installing a little bit of stuff on the field in a walkthrough capacity, doing some 7-on-7 work at half speed, and you’re watching film. You’re absolutely not allowed to have any physical contact at this point. There’s no blocking, there’s no tackling, there’s no pass rushing.
With that said, I’ll let Dan Campbell take it the next step of the way.
“That’s not the priority, and it’s not worth all that anyway, “Campbell said. “…The most important thing is continue to let them improve, rehab, all that, that’ll take precedence, right now. So they’re in meetings, you know, they’re getting the mental side of this, and just take it day to day.”
Beyond that, he called it a pajama party and refused to hype anyone during this time of the year. It’s really that unserious of a time period. The mandatory minicamp is a bit more serious, but even that is just a week long. Things really don’t matter a ton until late July when training camp starts.
If all three of these guys start camp on the PUP list or something like that, then it’s ok to freak out. As for now, you’re freaking out about guys jogging routes and not really getting covered at full speed.
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