Detroit Lions head coach Dan Campbell Detroit Lions head coach Dan Campbell (Photo by Getty Images)
The Detroit Lions have been punished by the NFL following a mistake made during their recent OTAs.

The team was forced to skip Monday’s practice because they facilitated on-field contact during the week of May 27.

They announced as much on Saturday, admitting they had been admonished by the league.

“On Friday evening the organization was made aware by the NFL and NFLPA that Organized Team Activities (OTA) practices held the week of May 27 violated player work rules pertaining to on-field physical contact pursuant to the Collective Bargaining Agreement,” they posted to social media.

“As a result, the team’s OTA practice scheduled for Monday, June 10 has been forfeited. We take very seriously the rules set forth within the NFL’s Offseason Program and have worked to conduct our practices accordingly. We will continue to be vigilant with our practices moving forward.”

 

The Detroit Lions Return To Practice On Tuesday

The collective bargaining agreement between the NFL and the NFLPA prohibits live contact and tackling during OTAs. As a result, the NFC North champs have had to give up a day of practice.

They return to the field this Tuesday.

Players and staff will return to offseason break after wrapping up and return for training camp late next month.

The Detroit Lions ended the recent 2023 NFL season with a 12-5 record and made it as far as the NFC Championship Game, where they lost to the San Francisco 49ers 34-31 after appearing to be well on their way to the Super Bowl in the early going.

Detroit Lions Exec John Dorsey Has Been Prank-Calling Other Teams During The NFL Draft For Years, And There’s Video Evidence To Prove It

Indianapolis Colts draft room receiving call from Detroit Lions executive John Dorsey.Indianapolis Colts Draft Room (Photo via @_MLFootball Twitter)
A viral video shows Detroit Lions executive John Dorsey having some fun at the NFL Draft by…prank calling other teams for no particular reason.

Dorsey is in his fourth season with the Detroit Lions, where he serves as a senior personnel executive under general manager Brad Holmes. Dorsey was previously the GM of the Kansas City Chiefs and Cleveland Browns.

An old video of Dorsey prank-calling opposing GMs during the 2021 NFL Draft has resurfaced. It shows Dorsey calling Indianapolis Colts GM Chris Ballard and then-Arizona Cardinals GM Steve Keim, apparently for the sake of teasing and distracting them while they’re at work?

As you can see, Ballard is a good sport about it. He even reveals that it’s an annual tradition of Dorsey’s to prank call him during the draft:

Dorsey worked in the Green Bay Packers’ organization from 1991 to 2012, helping the team win two Super Bowls (in the 1996 and 2010 seasons) during that period.

In Kansas City, he drafted future franchise cornerstones like Patrick Mahomes, Travis Kelce, Tyreek Hill and Chris Jones. He lasted two seasons as Cleveland’s GM before landing with the Detroit Lions in 2021.

The 2024 NFL Draft ran in Detroit from Apr. 25 to 27. According to the Associated Press, over 775,000 fans attended the draft festivities, shattering the attendance record set in Nashville five years earlier (600,000 fans) by a wide margin.

Detroit Lions Enter 2024 With Sky-High Expectations

2023 was a special year of progress for the Detroit Lions organization. They won their first division title in 30 years and their first postseason game since 1991. Dan Campbell’s squad went all the way to the NFC Championship Game, where they dropped a heartbreaker to the San Francisco 49ers.

Making the postseason was one thing, but the Detroit Lions have much higher expectations heading into 2024. The target is squarely on the backs of Detroit and San Francisco in the NFC, and it’ll be interesting to see how the Lions respond to the mounting expectations this season.