Why Detroit Lions training camp is about to heat up
By Ryan Russell
The Detroit Lions have headed south to practice with the Texans. Let’s take a look into what factors could benefit Detroit with this change of scenery.
The Detroit Lions and Houston Texans will partake in joint practices this afternoon in Houston, Texas. Traveling to Houston offers a few different challenges for joint practices than what we saw with New England last week. Shall we dive on in and take a quick glance?
Let’s take into consideration that the Detroit Lions are the visiting team. We are not in Allen Park with our fanbase. The crowd won’t be watching and hoping for the best when it comes to the Lions. Practice or not, make no mistake, Detroit is the enemy here and the 12th man will not be rooting for them.
The heat will be blistering. Practice in Houston will definitely heat things up. It’s going to be 95 degrees with a real-feel of 105.5 degrees. This is going to offer a few issues with ball security and conditioning. Allen Park isn’t typically this hot. It will present a good opportunity for the Lions to break the mold and practice in different conditions than they are used to, dreaded conditions.
The Texans have a formidable defense led by five-time Pro-Bowl defensive end J.J. Watt. This defense plays fast and can get after the quarterback. As we saw against the Patriots last week, this Detroit Lions offensive front could use some good practice and the Texans will surely provide that.
The Lions will be facing a bit more of a mobile quarterback this week in Houston as well. Texans quarterback Deshaun Watson can move around and make things happen in a way that quarterbacks Tom Brady or Matthew Stafford just can’t do. The Lions are set to take on a few mobile quarterbacks this season, so this should be a good first test of this capacity for this Lions defense.
If Watt and Watson combined with the Texas heat and lack of fan support wasn’t a big enough obstacle, don’t forget that three-time Pro Bowler and two-time All-Pro wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins dons the Texans uniform as well. This man is fast and catches everything. His routes are clean and his game is crisp. This defense will have its work cut out for them in Houston.
Next. The slightly too early Lions All-Decade defense. dark
The Detroit Lions are making the most out of their joint practices in 2019. First against the defending Superbowl Champions, the New England Patriots and now against a Houston Texans team that went 11-5 with a playoff birth in 2018. The Lions have done a good job securing joint practices with two very well rounded teams and that should only help them out when it’s all said and done. As they say, practice makes perfect.