Wednesday Notes: Training Camp Eve Edition

by Sean Yuille on Jul 23, 2008 2:55 AM EDT in Notes

Lions players report to Allen Park today to signal the beginning of training camp. It doesn't officially start until tomorrow morning when the Lions have their first practice, but to compare it to Christmas, the presents are under the tree waiting to be unwrapped. Once the pads start popping, we'll know football is finally back.
Four players may start training camp on the physically unable to perform (PUP) list. Those players are tight end Dan Campbell, linebacker Ernie Sims, safety Daniel Bullocks, and wide receiver Shaun McDonald, who are all dealing with injuries.

The reason for a player being on the PUP list is because he doesn't count against the active roster. If he's injured and can't practice, then the Lions (or any team) can use his absence as a way to bring in another player to occupy the void. Once the player is healthy enough to get back on the football field, he is simply taken off the PUP list and that's that. The whole deal with the PUP list gets much more complicated once the season rolls around as the rules change a bit, but for now we won't worry about that.
The Lions will not sign a fourth quarterback for training camp. Why? Well, Lions coaches want Dan Orlovsky and Drew Stanton to get as many reps as possible, and Detroit wants to fill up roster spots at other positions.
Mike O'Hara took a look at some issues the Lions will face when training camp begins. The last one he mentioned is that Detroit is having trouble selling tickets, meaning that blackouts are a real possibility for home games this season. There were a few home games last year that were nearly blacked out, but the Lions always ended up getting all of their tickets sold one way or another. This year, though, could prove to be much different as it is already evident that tickets aren't selling.

If the Lions don't have a sellout at some point this season, not only would it mean that the game would be blacked out locally, but it would be the first non-sellout since Ford Field opened in 2002. Maybe that will send a message to William Clay Ford that it's time for some changes.
Dan Orlovsky is ready to battle Drew Stanton for the right to be Jon Kitna's backup.
Yahoo! Sports' Michael Silver ranked all 32 NFL owners, and William Clay Ford came in at 24th. That is way, way too high as WCF is one of the worst owners in the league. I mean, seriously, the man has kept Matt Millen around for this long. He should be near the bottom of this list if not at the very bottom.
The Sporting News continued to rank NFL players based on position, and the latest list was for defensive backs. Leigh Bodden, a corner the Lions acquired in the Shaun Rogers deal, was 18th on the list.
Former Lion Lomas Brown is excited to work with rookie offensive tackle Gosder Cherilus during training camp.

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Caleb Campbell

I just saw this on NFL.com: the army has changed their policy and Caleb Campbell is no longer eligible to play for the Lions. Go figure. Anyone know what happens with this pick? Is it lost or do we receive something back?

by LVLionfan on Jul 23, 2008 6:09 PM EDT 0 recs