LIONS FORFEIT PRACTICE ON MONDAY AFTER VIOLATING PLAYER WORK RULES PERTAINING TO ON-FIELD PHYSICAL CONTACT
The Detroit Lions admitted on Friday evening that they violated player work rules pertaining to on-field physical contact pursuant to the 2020 Collective Bargaining Agreement and are now forfeiting their practice on Monday.
A statement released by the team read: “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. 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.”
According to reports, the Lions’ organized team activities got a little too physical last week. Detroit had to forfeit their OTA practice scheduled for Monday as a result and will therefore miss one day of on-field work this week. As per the collective bargaining agreement, teams are allowed up to 10 organized team activities practices. Detroit will now work with just 9.
Organized team activities with live contact are prohibited as per the collective bargaining agreement. No contact or pads are allowed during this portion of the offseason program. That also includes no blocking, no tackling etc. Teams losing practices or being fined altogether is not entirely uncommon.
The NFL fined the Jacksonville Jaguars, San Francisco 49ers, and the Dallas Cowboys a total of $400,000 for organized team activities violations in 2021. The league also fined head coaches Urban Meyer, Kyle Shanahan, and Mike McCarthy an additional $200,000 total. The Cowboys were ordered to forfeit one OTA practice during the first week of the 2022 offseason, and the Jaguars were ordered to forfeit two during the first week of 2022.
The league also penalized the Dallas Cowboys, Chicago Bears, and Washington Commanders for violating non-contact rules the following year. Washington lost two organized team activity practices for 2023 and head coach Ron Rivera was fined $100,000. The Bears were stripped of one practice while the Cowboys also lost one 2023 OTA practice. The league also fined head coach Mike McCarthy.
Last offseason, the league docked the New England Patriots two days of organized team activities after the team violated offseason rules. The franchise’s violations centered around team meetings instead of on-field violations, however, as the NFLPA filed a complaint alleging that New England had kept its players at the facility for more than the CBA-approved four-hour period. Under the collective bargaining agreement, players can be at the team facility for no more than four hours per day. Patriots’ head coach Bill Belichick was also fined $50,000 for the violation.
While missing one day of practice shouldn’t derail the Lions’ preparation for the 2024 season, it’s certainly an inconvenience the team wouldn’t want repeated. Detroit conducted OTA workouts from May 21-23 and May 29-31 and were preparing for the third phase of the offseason program next week. Instead of resuming from Monday through Wednesday, the Lions will now return to on-field practice on Tuesday.
-Maher Abucheri
Twitter: @pabloikonyero
Photo: All-Pro Reels. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic license.