DAILYREPORT

🦁 Top Story

The NFL will officially release the 2026 season schedule on Thursday, May 14, and Detroit will host one of the international games being held in Munich, Germany, this year. The full international slate will be announced on Wednesday, May 13, at 9 a.m. ET on NFL Network's "Good Morning Football."

📰 Headlines

• Tim Twentyman answers 10 fan-submitted questions as the Detroit Lions continue to work through the offseason training program, with fresh roster breakdowns posted today.

• Lions defensive lineman Tyleik Arnold expects to be available for training camp, while injury monitoring continues on key defensive personnel heading into 2026.

• Last year the Lions played in five primetime games, down from six in the previous year, and following a 9-8 season in which Detroit missed the playoffs, they could see another decline in 2026 when the full schedule drops.

• Jared Goff has a new offensive coordinator in Drew Petzing and will have a couple new starters upfront along the offensive line—including at center—which adds to the importance of the offseason training practice time this spring.

🎙️ Podcast & Media Picks

Locked On Lions Daily — Available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and YouTube. Matt Dery features insights from league executives on the Lions' draft, including praise for Keith Abney and debate about Blake Miller's long-term fit at tackle, while exploring whether Brad Holmes has done enough to keep Detroit's momentum rolling heading into 2026.

📊 Season Watch

Theme D — Offensive Coordinator Impact

The Detroit Lions announced the hiring of Drew Petzing as offensive coordinator after he spent the previous three seasons as the Arizona Cardinals' offensive coordinator. Over his three seasons with Arizona, the Cardinals ranked second in the NFL in rushing average (4.92) and were ninth in rushing yards. There are schematic elements to his offense that make him a good fit in Detroit, most importantly his commitment to having a solid rushing attack—in 2024, the Cardinals rushed for 2,451 yards and 18 touchdowns with a 5.3 yards per carry average, which was the highest in team history. Petzing was a graduate assistant at Boston College in 2010-11 where he worked with former Lions offensive coordinator and current Chicago Bears head coach Ben Johnson, giving him familiarity with the foundational scheme that made Detroit's offense explosive under Johnson in 2024.

🦁 Lions History & All-Time Greats

Twenty-seven years ago this week, Barry Sanders and the Lions made playoff history.

On January 5, 1992, Hall of Fame running back Barry Sanders of the Detroit Lions carried the football during the Lions' 38-6 victory over the Dallas Cowboys in the 1991 NFC Divisional Playoff Game at the Pontiac Silverdome in Pontiac, Michigan. It was the franchise's most dominant playoff performance in the modern era and, sadly, the last Lions playoff victory fans would witness for 32 years. When he retired, Sanders was ranked second all-time in career rushing yards with 15,269 rushing yards, and his most impressive season was 1997, when he became only the third back to rush for more than 2,000 yards; his 2,053 yards rushing set a single-season record for running backs. At the end of the 1999 season he retired from football, needing only 1,458 yards to equal Walter Payton's 16,726-yard record as the NFL's all-time leading rusher—a "what if" that still haunts Lions Nation.

🔮 What to Watch

• The Lions' preseason opponents and schedule will be announced on May 14, giving fans their first look at the complete 2026 roadmap and determining which opponents will appear on primetime TV.

• Early OTA (organized team activities) sessions continue through May, with the Lions' first official OTA starting May 27—watch for injury updates on Brian Branch, Kerby Joseph, and other defensive secondary players as they ramp up.