Dan Campbell: We've Been In a 'Meat Grinder' for a While

Lions want to have enough gas in the tank for the Ravens.

The Detroit Lions have started their preparations for their Week 7 contest against the Baltimore Ravens. 

Typically, Wednesday is the first practice of the week, aiding teams in their work to prepare for an upcoming opponent. 

For the Lions, who have been playing physical opponents that past couple of weeks, the decision was made to back down and give the roster one more day to recuperate following a tough road victory against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. 

The team will participate in a walk-through Wednesday, with Thursday being the day the roster will ramp up their work out on the practice field. 

"So just changed the schedule up a little bit," said Dan Campbell. "Been going pretty good, been playing physical opponents, got another one coming up, so I wanted to back down. Today, it'll be a lot of mental work and then we'll do a little bit of just getting our heart rate up at the very end. Felt like that's what we need for today and then we're back in rhythm tomorrow." 

Detroit tends to have physical practices, but the mid-week injuries have started to pile up. 

Campbell noted the practice pace or the elevated number of injuries did not factor in the team's decision this week to change up the schedule. 

“With where we’ve been going, we’ve been in a meat grinder here for a while," Campbell explained. "I just felt like this was the right time. We’re responding well and I want them to have enough gas in the tank.” 

Detroit's next opponent, the Baltimore Ravens, present another physical challenge, as defensive coordinator Mike Macdonald is also quite aggressive. 

Currently, the Ravens are tied for the league lead in sacks with 24. Three players have at least four sacks, led by Justin Madubuike with five. Additionally, four separate players have double digit pressures on the season. 

Baltimore's defense presents a multi-faceted attack. In addition to the defensive line's production, safety Kyle Hamilton and linebackers Roquan Smith and Patrick Queen all have recorded multiple sacks this season.