Detroit Lions a mixed bag, but generally positive, in NFLPA report card

In a new venture by the NFLPA, the Detroit Lions graded well in some spots but have room for improvement in others.

The Detroit Lions, in general, are moving in the right direction. Players and assistant coaches want to stay, and around the league the franchise is getting noticed for the right reasons.

On Wednesday, the NFLPA released the results of a first-time player poll. Players were asked to rate their team in some key areas of their well-being and in some ways pure functionality. Union president J.C. Tretter explained the mission.

"1,300 of our players provided information to share with one another about their current club, to not only help them make important career decisions, but also help raise standards across the league."

The broad results aren’t too surprising. The best-run and most successful organizations in the league graded well in many categories, while the expected ones graded badly in some key areas that can correlate directly to players performing their best.

Detroit Lions generally good, with room for improvement, in NFLPA report cards

Overall, the Lions ranked 15th among the league’s 32 teams. Their highest marks came in Team Travel (A) and Strength Coaches (A-), with good marks in Training Staff (B+), Weight Room (B+), Treatment of Families (B) and Locker Room (B).

The Lions landed toward the bottom in Training Room (D+, tied for 24th) and Food Service/Nutrition (D-, 28th).

Here are the notes in the Lions report card.

"The Detroit Lions were ranked 15th overall in the team guide. Most categories reviewed came back with generally positive reviews.The two issues that were highlighted as areas for improvement were first, a feeling that the training room was understaffed, and second, that the food service was significantly lacking.88% of respondents to our survey believe that the club ownership is willing to invest money to upgrade their facilities, ranking 21st in the league."

It’s worth noting this survey was done between March 1 and April 1, 2022. How things have been improved since then is hard to specifically know. But the Lions recently hired the well-regarded Brett Fisher as their new Director of Player Health and Performance, so it appears they are proactively looking to address the areas players were concerned about in the NFLPA polling basically a year ago.