The NFL and the Detroit Lions announced their 2026 regular season schedule last week and today finalized the dates and times of their three preseason games in August.
Detroit opens the preseason in Cincinnati Thursday, Aug. 13 for a 7 p.m. kickoff. They welcome Washington for their only home preseason game Saturday, Aug. 22 at noon. Detroit will end the preseason at Indianapolis Saturday, Aug. 29 for a 1 p.m. kickoff.
This could potentially be a little different preseason than Lions fans are used to seeing in the head coach Dan Campbell era. Campbell said at Annual League Meetings earlier this offseason he doesn't plan on doing any joint practices like Detroit has done the last four seasons.
In 2022, the Lions traveled to Indianapolis to practice with the Colts ahead of their preseason contest. They hosted Jacksonville and the New York Giants at the Meijer Performance Center for joint practices in 2023. In 2024, they traveled to New York to practice with the Giants, and last year they welcomed in both Houston and Miami for practices leading into those preseason games.
"I felt like we got two really good years of it, man, like, we're really getting something out of this. And then as it kind of went on, we got into that third year, whatever that was, or 2024, I don't know, it just felt counterproductive, man," Campbell said.
"It didn't feel like we were getting what I thought we would get out of it and part of me was like, I think we would have gotten more – we'd have gotten an extra practice and we'd have gotten more done had we just gone against ourselves."
Campbell has taken the approach this offseason of focusing on themselves and what they must do to get back to their 2023 and 2024 level of play after a dip last season missing the playoffs for the first time since 2022 with a 9-8 record.
"Let's just keep it about us, let's go to work, set the schedule up and we can hit everything, we don't have to get ready for the next opponent in a joint practice, we go right through it," he said.
Campbell does a ton of situational work throughout the course of training camp practice with first down, third down, red zone, backed up at goal line, four-minute and two-minute situational periods, as well as extensive special teams work and simulated games.
View photos from offseason workouts on Monday, May 18, 2026.
Detroit Lions defensive back Avonte Maddox (29) during offseason workouts at the Meijer Performance Center on May 18, 2026 in Allen Park, Mich. (Jeff Nguyen/Detroit Lions)
Detroit Lions head coach Dan Campbell and Detroit Lions cornerback Rock Ya-Sin (23) during offseason workouts at the Meijer Performance Center on May 18, 2026 in Allen Park, Mich. (Jeff Nguyen/Detroit Lions)
Detroit Lions safety Christian Izien (27) during offseason workouts at the Meijer Performance Center on May 18, 2026 in Allen Park, Mich. (Jeff Nguyen/Detroit Lions)
Detroit Lions linebacker Jimmy Rolder (41) during offseason workouts at the Meijer Performance Center on May 18, 2026 in Allen Park, Mich. (Jeff Nguyen/Detroit Lions)
Detroit Lions defensive lineman Skyler Gill-Howard (50) during offseason workouts at the Meijer Performance Center on May 18, 2026 in Allen Park, Mich. (Jeff Nguyen/Detroit Lions)
Detroit Lions edge rusher Payton Turner (92) during offseason workouts at the Meijer Performance Center on May 18, 2026 in Allen Park, Mich. (Jeff Nguyen/Detroit Lions)
Detroit Lions linebacker Jack Campbell (46) during offseason workouts at the Meijer Performance Center on May 18, 2026 in Allen Park, Mich. (Jeff Nguyen/Detroit Lions)
Detroit Lions edge rusher Ahmed Hassanein (99) during offseason workouts at the Meijer Performance Center on May 18, 2026 in Allen Park, Mich. (Jeff Nguyen/Detroit Lions)
Detroit Lions cornerback Keith Abney II (28) during offseason workouts at the Meijer Performance Center on May 18, 2026 in Allen Park, Mich. (Jeff Nguyen/Detroit Lions)
Detroit Lions cornerback D.J. Reed (4) during offseason workouts at the Meijer Performance Center on May 18, 2026 in Allen Park, Mich. (Jeff Nguyen/Detroit Lions)
Detroit Lions defensive lineman Tyre West (52) during offseason workouts at the Meijer Performance Center on May 18, 2026 in Allen Park, Mich. (Jeff Nguyen/Detroit Lions)
Detroit Lions wide receiver Jackson Meeks (13) during offseason workouts at the Meijer Performance Center on May 18, 2026 in Allen Park, Mich. (Jeff Nguyen/Detroit Lions)
Detroit Lions wide receiver Isaac TeSlaa (18) during offseason workouts at the Meijer Performance Center on May 18, 2026 in Allen Park, Mich. (Jeff Nguyen/Detroit Lions)
Detroit Lions tight end Brock Wright (89) during offseason workouts at the Meijer Performance Center on May 18, 2026 in Allen Park, Mich. (Jeff Nguyen/Detroit Lions)
Detroit Lions tight end Thomas Gordon (82) during offseason workouts at the Meijer Performance Center on May 18, 2026 in Allen Park, Mich. (Jeff Nguyen/Detroit Lions)
Detroit Lions running back Isiah Pacheco (10) during offseason workouts at the Meijer Performance Center on May 18, 2026 in Allen Park, Mich. (Jeff Nguyen/Detroit Lions)
Detroit Lions running back Jacob Saylors (25) during offseason workouts at the Meijer Performance Center on May 18, 2026 in Allen Park, Mich. (Jeff Nguyen/Detroit Lions)
Detroit Lions tight end Miles Kitselman (84) during offseason workouts at the Meijer Performance Center on May 18, 2026 in Allen Park, Mich. (Jeff Nguyen/Detroit Lions)
Detroit Lions wide receiver Tom Kennedy (85) during offseason workouts at the Meijer Performance Center on May 18, 2026 in Allen Park, Mich. (Jeff Nguyen/Detroit Lions)
Detroit Lions wide receiver Jameson Williams (1) during offseason workouts at the Meijer Performance Center on May 18, 2026 in Allen Park, Mich. (Jeff Nguyen/Detroit Lions)
The Lions have treated joint practices over the last four years as an opportunity to get their veteran players quality reps against different looks in a controlled environment. That work leading up to the preseason has allowed Campbell to sit most of his starters during the actual games themselves.
With no joint practices this season, could Detroit's starters get more work in the preseason?
"Maybe we play some of these guys in the preseason more than we have," Campbell said. "That's where they get some of it."
