The Detroit Lions welcomed a few special guests to their training camp practices this week.
The New England Patriots joined the Lions for three practice sessions ahead of the teams’ preseason clash Thursday night at Ford Field. While in different conferences, New England and Detroit are awfully familiar with each other. The Lions feature a slew of ex-Patriots, including Trey Flowers, Danny Amendola and head coach Matt Patricia.
Aside from the handful of reunions, the trio of joint practices provided the Pats and Lions to kick up the competition level in early August. Veteran defensive lineman Mike Daniels, who’s set to enter his first season in Detroit, was grateful for the opportunity and felt his team made the most of it.
“You definitely learn from each other and when you watch how they practice — a lot of guys who may not have known the proper tempo to a practice, they got to see it first-hand,” Daniels said Wednesday on NFL Network. “The Patriots came out here and they practice hard. They get after it, and so do we. Our young guys, they responded the right way. It’s what you expect and it was really good. It was fun to be part of that and we only got better. We only got better, and if you have to scrimmage a team, you definitely want it to be the New England Patriots.”
Daniels also had a chance to chop it up with Tom Brady, who offered the former Green Bay Packers star some kind words upon his relocation.
“Tom, he’s definitely one of the greatest to ever do it and arguably the greatest when you look at six Super Bowl rings, nine appearances,” Daniels said. “To be able to talk to him after practice, no game or anything like that, you know, we’re all out here to get better — it was a good exchange, man. Plus, he’s a Big 10 guy. He knows the state of Michigan. He said, ‘You know, you’re in the right place, and I’m happy for you.’ So that was cool.”
The Patriots and Lions are slated to kick off at 7:30 p.m. ET.
