Phoenix — We’re still more than a month away from the NFL releasing its 2023 schedule, but the Detroit Lions are intending to host the New York Giants for a set of joint practices ahead of a yet-to-be announced preseason game at Ford Field.
“We had already set it up with the Giants before we talked about all this, but I think you just go about it like any other practice, man,” Lions coach Dan Campbell said Tuesday at the league meetings.
“You be smart with what you’re doing and they’re going to suggest what they’re going to suggest, and we listen to it. But it’s not like we don’t have our players’ best interests at heart and we’re reading our own data and we’re trying to figure out the best way to help our guys in recovery and all that. But at the same time, there’s a balance. You want to get really good work and maybe not have to play some of the starters.”
The joint practices are expected to be ahead of both teams’ first preseason game this summer. It will be the second time the Lions will have hosted the Giants for joint practices in recent years, having them in Allen Park ahead of the 2018 campaign. Those sessions are memorable because the Lions ended up acquiring two key defenders from the Giants in the following weeks — defensive end Romeo Okwara via waivers and defensive tackle Snacks Harrison via a midseason trade.
Campbell and Giants coach Brian Daboll have a relationship dating back to 2011, when Daboll interviewed Campbell for a spot on the Miami Dolphins’ staff.
“(Dolphins coach) Tony (Sparano) said, ‘Hey, I got this guy that I think would be good. Why don’t we interview him? You take care of the interview,'” Daboll recalled last year, ahead of a game against the Lions in the regular season. “So, I interviewed Dan, and it was a great interview. He’s slamming chairs on the ground and hitting walls and going through all these drills. You guys know him; he’s a fantastic person, great family. It was an entertaining interview.
“(He) knew a lot. Obviously, he was very passionate, tough as nails. You could tell he was out of breath in half that interview with the stuff he was doing.”
Campbell had equally kind things to say about Daboll ahead of that matchup, which the Lions won, 31-18.
“He’s very smart, high energy, he’s got a real good personality about him. He can mesh with just about anybody, and he was — man, he was fun to work with,” Campbell said. “I think just being able to kind of be around and get a vantage point of different — a little bit of everything — players, coaches, schemes, I think has helped him.”
In the first year under Daboll, the Giants experienced one of the NFL’s biggest turnarounds, going from 4-13 in 2021 to 9-7-1 and a playoff berth last season. Campbell also led a significant turnaround in his second season with the Lions, going from 3-13-1 in his first year as coach to 9-8 in 2022.
jdrogers@detroitnews.com
Twitter: @Justin_Rogers