We recently listed the three most important things about mandatory minicamps. One of those factors bit the Lions on Friday night.
Detroit lost its final OTA session for having too much contact during offseason work.
Of course, any contact is too much contact. But pretty much every team has at least some prohibited contact during offseason workouts.
Why else would teams like the Rams have players in red no-contact jerseys during OTAs? In the offseason, every jersey is a red jersey. In theory.
So there’s no way it’s only the Lions. The question becomes whether the NFL and the NFL Players Association are aggressively policing the situation. They apparently aren’t, or there would be more punishments.
Typically, the league and/or the union get involved when a player complains or when reports emerge of a scuffle during offseason work. As to the Lions, the fact that linebacker Jalen Reeves-Maybin also serves as the new NFLPA president raises the possibility that he blew the whistle. Which he absolutely should do, if the rules are being broken.
But they’re surely being broken everywhere. Do you think the Chargers haven’t been attacking every OTA day with an enthusiasm unknown to mankind? Elsewhere, teams with inexperienced head coaches might not be sufficiently restraining fringe players who need to make an impression if they’re going to have any chance at graduating from the 90-man roster to the 53.
While the Lions have only themselves to blame for the situation, it’s fair for them to be miffed about the inherent unfairness of the situation. There’s no way they’re alone when it comes to going to far in offseason workouts. It’ll be interesting to see whether new NFLPA executive director Lloyd Howell decides to treat the Detroit situation not as the end, but as the beginning.