ALLEN PARK — The Detroit Lions were forced to forfeit one of their final OTA sessions before the summer break due to an on-field physical contact violation that violates the league’s collective bargaining agreement.
“On Friday night, the organization was notified by the NFL and NFLPA that a team activity practice conducted during the week of May 27 violated players’ work rules regarding on-field physical contact under the Collective Bargaining Agreement,” the team said in a prepared statement.
“As a result, the team’s over-the-counter (OTA) practice scheduled for Monday, June 10 has been canceled. We take the rules set forth in the NFL’s offseason program very seriously and have endeavored to conduct practice in accordance with them. We will continue to exercise the utmost caution in our practices.”
Related: As the Lions approach the summer break, the message is clear: “I want to do it all.”
Related: Dungeon of Doom: Notable players and concerns from the Detroit Lions’ offseason program
Most of the Lions players, by the way, returned home for the summer after a mandatory minicamp session in Allen Park last week. Monday’s canceled session and next week’s practice are scheduled to include most of the rookies and young players as the Lions look to get them fully prepared before returning to training camp at the end of next month.
The NFL reports that under the latest collective bargaining agreement, OTAs involving live contact are not permitted, but believes it would not be “at all unusual for teams to lose practices or be fined.”
“Remember what you’re playing for,” Campbell said in a message to the Lions on Thursday. “Everybody, ‘What do you want? What do you want this year? How do you want to be when you’re sitting here in February? Where is your heart? So think about that and work backwards from there.'”
“You know what I want. I want it all.”
