Not trying to compare college ball to pro ball, but maybe MCDC should consider pulling back on the # of scrimmages and full contact practices.
Not trying to compare college ball to pro ball, but maybe MCDC should consider pulling back on the # of scrimmages and full contact practices.
13 comments
Yup!
I get the sentiment, but all teams have a set number of padded practices they can have in a season – and it is not many. I think it is less than 15. So, less than 1 a week, plus a bye.
Offseason camp is round the same number. Plus time limits on practices times. Less than 3 hours per day. They are not killing themselves in practice. The union collectively bargained to not do that.
Comparing student athletes not practicing as much as actual professional NFL players doesn’t make sense. It’s these guys actual job. I think they can handle it.
We’re starting to sound like the 49ers players talking about the substation at this point.
The Athletic wrote an article on this late in the year. Since Dan Campbell has become HC the Lions are leading the league in games missed to injury and its not close. In fact 2nd place is closer to 10th place than they were to the Lions IIRC.
Im not a statistician but that seems like too far outside of the normal bell curve to be noise or bad luck. Dan should adjust.
ETA: Source article (buried in the response to the second question in the mailbag. Shoutout Colton Pouncey for being a great beat reporter.)
https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/6898446/2025/12/18/lions-mailbag-playoffs-injuries-dan-campbell/
Warner was saying this when he was on the ARSB podcast. He was saying the 49ers practice hard and a lot (look at their IR) and even he was shocked how hard the Lions go and how early they practice in pads.
Yeah it’s Dan Campbell’s only true meathead trait in my opinion. I totally believed him when he was like, trust me about it with the full contact practices during hard knocks, but it’s not so much that he’s been proven wrong, It’s just that there’s been so many other examples of tough, hard nosed, good, gritty teams out there that consider that level of physicality at practice excessive and unneeded for success
15 and 25 is a lot. I don’t think NFL teams are even allowed to put pads on in practice that many times.
Regardless of whether there’s anything to this in reality, the Lions are getting a reputation as a meat grinder. Vets will turn us away just based on that perception. It’s probably worth making the adjustment.
More contact needed
We barely played starters our last two preseasons and looked rusty as hell to start the season.
As always you all are basing everything off very little knowledge. Shame on mods for allowing this crap. This team has had just as many healthy seasons as injured ones under Dan Campbell.
The cba already limits padded and full contact practices. On top of that half of the injuries they have had over the last 2 years where broken bones. Like Davis braking his jaw during a game or Hutch’s leg and Amik’s arm. The ligaments stuff is from the shoes these guys have been wearing. There where less injuries in the 80s-90s when they had more live practices.