ALLEN PARK -- The Detroit Lions opened their week in strange fashion, with players leading practice and head coach Dan Campbell quietly patrolling the sidelines. And while that doesn’t sound too strange, Campbell was the only coach on the field, and he wasn’t leading the show.
Reporters in attendance started piecing things together in the first couple of minutes. The missing yells of defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn, assistant head coach Duce Staley, defensive backs coach Aubrey Pleasant and receivers coach Antwaan Randle El stuck out like a sore thumb. Then there was receiver Tom Kennedy in sweatpants throwing the passes in receiver drills, not to mention injured cornerback Jerry Jacobs calling “hike” to get the cornerbacks moving.
It was a quick session, lasting about an hour. The Lions handled their individual position drills and seven-on-seven work in the shells. Campbell didn’t mention that as the plan for Monday’s practice beforehand. Instead, he said the starters would get some work after most rested during the second preseason game.
“Well, he told us this morning that the players were gonna go out there and run their own practice,” Lions left tackle Taylor Decker said. “’Here’s the team scenarios that we want to get done and you guys are gonna go out there and run the show.’ I think it’s awesome to do. Because honestly, on a game day, we’re out there, we gotta communicate, we have to be accountable to one another.
“So it was good, it was unique. I mean, I’ve never done that before. But it was good work.”
Decker is the longest-tenured member of the team’s roster, so his word resonates when he says something is unique around these parts. He said Campbell’s directives for the day were short and to the point.
“He just told us, he was like ‘this is what the practice -- these are the periods we want to practice and the coaches won’t be out there.’ That’s pretty much it,” Decker said. “Just left it at that. So, OK. Like I said, we come out here and we work every day. It doesn’t matter if the coaches are out here or not. We know what to do and how to do it. Obviously we need coaches. But we shouldn’t need them out here to be able to get good work in. Because we’re professionals. I don’t need a cheerleader to get me to go. Pretty cool. I’ve never seen anything like it, so it was fun to get out here. Frank was mic’d up again for ‘Hard Knocks,’ so he was trying to try rally the troops. It was fun.”
And while the position coaches and coordinators weren’t on the field, the players weren’t heading into this situation blind. Decker said coaches were in meetings, reviewing the film from the exhibition win against the Colts, issuing directives on weightlifting and treatments before heading to the field.
Backup quarterbacks Tim Boyle and David Blough took over playcalling duties on Monday, for those wondering. And while they handled most of that work once stuff got moving, Boyle said the coaches had previously scripted a trick play to get things started.
“Yeah, that was fun today. That was fun. David and I really enjoyed doing that,” Boyle said. “You know, we hear it all the time, and it’s not as easy as it looks. Conceptualizing the play and kinda splitting it out calmly and not doing it too fast is definitely an art. So give all the offensive coordinators around the league a shoutout.
“So as much as the coaches were not out here, they were out here from a schematic standpoint. So it’s kinda fun for them in the meeting room right now, probably get to watch practice and see if they play they scripted hit. Yeah, it was a good ball by Saint (St. Brown) and hopefully more of that to come.”
Related: Taylor Decker raves about open atmosphere at second camp under new regime
Related: QB David Blough heads into crucial preseason finale after up-and-down showing
Decker has previously praised the atmosphere created by the new regime, saying it’s created an environment for quality open communication. The 28-year-old said this player-led practice speaks volumes to that belief, saying it proves the level of trust between coaches and the players, not to mention between teammates.
“They trust us to go out here and work like professionals and not be stupid,” Decker said. “Offensive vs. defensive line, we’re out here in shells, and like we’re not going to cut somebody because the coaches aren’t out here. It’s just a good trust all around. I’ve said it multiple times before throughout camp is there’s just been a good atmosphere established for open communication. I think that builds trust.
“Training camp, a couple days after a game and you come out here and you just try and get some situations in and maybe there’s certain things that maybe you want to look at. Like maybe you want to look at a couple screens or something like that. Come out here and get some good individual work in and a sweat going. Get your body moving because tomorrow is going to be a good work day for us. We’ve had days like this before but just not with us running it.”
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Lions hold rare player-led practice without coaches: ‘We know what to do and how to do it’ - MLive.com
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