The rookies, quarterbacks and players rehabbing injuries have been in Allen Park for a few days now, but training camp really gets underway when the veterans report Saturday and practice kicks off at the Meijer Performance Center Sunday morning.
Detroit enters 2025 as one of the favorites to represent the NFC in the Super Bowl in February, but first the foundation must be laid and that begins with training camp over the next month.
Here are five things I’ll be looking out for when camp kicks off this week:
The Lions were blessed with unusually long consistency on head coach Dan Campbell’s staff the last three seasons.
That changed this offseason with Ben Johnson and Aaron Glenn earning head coaching gigs in Chicago and New York (Jets), respectively. So for the first time since 2022, Campbell is having to break in two new coordinators, as well as navigate a number of other new additions and responsibility shifts within his coaching staff.
“Probably more up to speed defensively,” Campbell said back in June during OTAs. “It’s just about everybody getting on the same page with how defensive coordinator Kelvin Sheppard wants to do things. We’re cooking pretty good right now. I like where we’re at.
“Offensively, same thing there. It’s about what offensive coordinator John Morton really wants. We’ve tweaked a few things here and there – how he sees it, how he wants things run, how he wants to isolate certain players. A lot of the focal points were Jameson Williams and Jahmyr Gibbs, Sam LaPorta among others, and then getting the offense in. I thought we did that. I thought we really honed in on their versatility and all things they can do.”
The spring was about implementation of scheme. Now the competition ramps up during camp and we get to see Morton and Sheppard’s units square off as they get ready for Detroit’s first preseason game fast approaching July 31.
How different will the offense and defense look? Will it even be noticeable to fans? Can the offense continue to be one of the most explosive and versatile units in the NFL? Will the defense take a big leap forward under Sheppard’s guidance? The one constant in the equation is Campbell, and he has a history of pushing the right buttons among his coaching staff and getting the absolute most from them.
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