Lions offseason schedule: It's minicamp week!

The end of the Detroit Lions' 2013 offseason training program has arrived. This week, the Lions are going to hold a three-day minicamp to close out this particular portion of the offseason. It began in mid-April with general workouts, continued over the last few weeks with OTAs and is now set to come to a close with this week's mandatory minicamp, which will be held on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday.

What exactly does a minicamp entail? As Jim Schwartz said last week, minicamps are essentially an "extension" of OTAs. More time is allowed for on-field training, but generally speaking, not a whole lot is different. Here's what Schwartz said last week when he was asked about what he hopes to accomplish during this week's minicamp:

"Honestly, minicamp is just an extension of our OTAs. It's really no different. You know, we have 10 OTA days and we have three minicamp practices. Really, it's just 13 practices. So, the rules, everything else, the players can be here a little longer. We can meet a little bit longer, but we really can't do anything on the field that's different. So, you'll see a lot of the same. We just like to get most of our installation done before we get to training camp and if we can get the players comfortable with the scheme when they get to training camp, it can be about physical talent and competition and not so much about trying to learn the playbook."

This minicamp will include the Lions' final practices until everybody returns at the end of July to begin training camp, which is the next phase of the preparation process for the upcoming season. Players and coaches will get some time off before training camp opens, but it's back to work at the end of July.