Lions punished for violating OTA contact rules

The Lions apparently bit a few too many of their own kneecaps during organized team activities.

The team violated player work rules regarding on-field physical contact, the Lions announced Friday night. As punishment, the Lions will forfeit Monday’s scheduled OTA practice.

“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,” the team said in a statement. “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.”

The CBA prohibits live contact.

The Lions are the first team this offseason to be punished, but several teams in recent years have had practices deemed too physical.

The Lions had OTA practices on May 21-23 and May 29-31. They had a mandatory minicamp this week and were set to have their final three OTAs next week, but after Friday’s announcement, the Lions are scheduled for practices only on Tuesday and Wednesday to wrap up their offseason program.

At his introductory news conference in 2021, coach Dan Campbell famously said, “We’re gonna kick you in the teeth, and when you punch us back we’re gonna smile at you, and when you knock us down we’re going to get up, and on the way, we’re going to bite a kneecap off.”