The Detroit Lions had a players-led practice on Monday, and head coach Dan Campbell succinctly explained why.
Ahead of what promises to be a physical night practice on Tuesday night, the Detroit Lions had a lighter session on Monday. Head coach Dan Campbell was also the only coach seen on the field.
But he was on the periphery of the work being done, described as “just an observer”.
Dan Campbell was the only coach at Lions practice today and was just an observer. No coaches on the field, players led practice for about a hour. Looked like players got some good situation work in and had some fun too.
— Tim Twentyman (@ttwentyman) August 22, 2022
It was certainly a unique way to run practice, which no veteran Lions’ player had ever done in their careers and it’s fair to assume most NFL teams don’t or wouldn’t do it.
But it was certainly meaningful. Left tackle Taylor Decker talked about it.
"They trust us to go out here and work like professionals and not be stupid,” “Offensive vs. defensive line, we’re out here in shells, and like we’re not going to cut somebody because the coaches aren’t out here. It’s just a good trust all around. I’ve said it multiple times before throughout camp there’s just been a good atmosphere established for open communication. I think that builds trust.”"
Dan Campbell explains Lions’ players-run practice
Albert Breer of Sports Illustrated and The MMQB communicated with Campbell via text after Monday’s practice and offered a simple explanation for the players-run practice.
"It’s their team,” Campbell said via text. “I want them to have ownership in it.”"
There’s no way former Lions head coach Matt Patricia would have ever allowed a practice to be run by players. He was way too much of a control freak, or an attempted control freak as he tried to be the Motor City version of Bill Belichick. As the longest-tenured Lion, Decker’s comments about trust and communication say it all.
The idea to have players run a practice would only realistically come from a former NFL player. Once again Campbell being a former player, and having a staff full of former players of some accomplishment, really shone through here.