All the talk this offseason has centered around the Detroit Lions and how they suffered crucial losses to their 15-2 team. Out are coordinators Ben Johnson and Aaron Glenn, along with their defensive line coach Terrell Williams.
On the field, they lost Carlton Davis III and Ifeatu Melifonwu in free agency, and they lost a core piece to their offensive line, Frank Ragnow, to retirement. With such valuable pieces to their team gone, how can they remain the Super Bowl-contending team they were the past two seasons?
Well, they still have the biggest piece to that puzzle in head coach Dan Campbell, who’s giving his squad an early preseason test in hopes of maintaining their championship-contending play.
#Lions HC Dan Campbell says it'll be primarily starters on the field for joint practices. "This is really where we get our good work with that first group," he said.
— Eric Woodyard (@E_Woodyard) August 13, 2025
Dan Campbell Giving Lions’ Starters an Early Test
Heading into the joint practice with the Miami Dolphins, Dan Campbell said that the joint practices will consist primarily of starters on the field. By doing so, Campbell is giving the starters their first test of the season.
This is a great opportunity for the starters to not only compete against a solid Dolphins team at game speed, but also work on their on-field chemistry. Since the Lions have new coordinators on both sides, the coaches need to implement their plays and schemes with the starters to determine what works and what doesn’t work.
After these practices, the Lions can look at the film and see which players excel where and what they need to work on. For Lions fans, this is exactly what you want. They need to put in as many hours and preparation as they can before the start of the regular season.
Although it increases the chances of players potentially getting injured, the Lions’ starters must get the reps in if they want to remain competitive in a tough division. So far, Campbell’s plan seems to be working as the Lions dominated the Dolphins in practice today.
Dolphins offense just ran 16 or so plays in the red zone vs. the Lions and didn’t score until the final play (between the second units). Miami’s first-team offense didn’t score in the 7-8 plays vs. Detroit’s first-team defense. It was ugly.
— Colton Pouncy (@colton_pouncy) August 13, 2025
Lions’ D is having a day.
Let’s hope that the extra workload results in the Lions continuing their winning ways.