Detroit Lions punished after found violating OTA rules

On Friday evening, the Detroit Lions posted a statement announcing that they are forfeiting one of their final OTA sessions after the NFL and NFLPA found they had violated the offseason practice policies.

“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,” the Lions statement read. “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.”

It’s unclear which rules the Lions violated other than the vague “on-field physical contact” statement, but there are pretty strict guidelines for practice at this point in the offseason, which is often referred to as Phase 3.

During Phase 3 of the offseason, teams are limited to no live contact, only knee and elbow pads are permitted, but 7-on-7, 9-on-7 and 11-on-11 drills are allowed.

Detroit only has four allotted practices left, but on Tuesday, Lions coach Dan Campbell said they only planned on using three of them. Veterans have already broken for summer, while the Lions had a detailed plan for the young players who stick around for the final week of OTAs.

“I think that we’ll do an offensive/defensive, a special teams on Tuesday, and then we’re just going to have them work with (Lions Director of Sports Performance) Mike Clark and (Lions Head Strength & Conditioning Josh) Schuler and those guys in the weight room,” Campbell said. “So, a lot of it is, you can’t do full team. You’re going to cut most of the vets loose then we don’t have enough. But we’ll still get good work, fundamentals, individual, you know it’s still a chance to develop.”

At this point, it’s not clear if the Lions will adjust their schedule for next week.