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Lions 2026 Opponent Dealing With Crisis That Could Rip Team Apart

Will New York Giants fall apart before playing Detroit Lions in 2026?
New York Giants quarterback Jaxson Dart (6) speaks at a press conference during organized team activities
New York Giants quarterback Jaxson Dart (6) speaks at a press conference during organized team activities | John Jones-Imagn Images

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The Detroit Lions will face the New York Giants on Monday Night Football this upcoming NFL season.

After hiring John Harbaugh this offseason, there are elevated expectations for the NFC East squad. But a decision made by quarterback Jaxson Dart could cause significant strife in the Giants' locker room this season.

The second-year quarterback made the decision to attend a campaign rally for President of the Unites States Donald Trump. He also was the presenting speaker, causing many to react viscerally across the sporting landscape.

Giants linebacker Abdul Carter took to social media to share some concerns.

"Thought this (expletive) was AI," the former No. 3 overall pick posted to his social media account that has nearly 60,000 followers. "What we doing, man?"

In the NFL, locker rooms can fall apart quickly, given the number of different personalities and players that come from a multitude of backgrounds.

No topic can divide quicker than politics, and Dart may have opened up a can of worms that will make it difficult to unite a locker room.

Detroit plays on primetime four times this season, including against the Giants in Week 16.

Additional Lions Insider Analysis: Will Bargain Hunting in Free Agency Burn Detroit Lions?

Teddy Bridgewater Act

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis has officially signed Senate Bill 178 into law, allowing Florida public school coaches to be able to spend as much as $15,000 of their own money to assist student-athletes.

The law, which is now known as the "The Teddy Bridgewater Act," stems from the assistance the current Lions backup quarterback provided his team, when he coached high school football in Florida.

Bridgewater was suspended for assisting, while serving as their head coach, his former Miami Northwestern football team by paying for food and transportation costs with his own money.

“He got into this situation where he was paying for meals and rides for some of his players who were underprivileged, and he was using his personal funds to do this,” DeSantis explained to reporters before the law became official. “These were people that he was mentoring and that somehow got him suspended because of the way the rules were written.”

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John Maakaron
JOHN MAAKARON

John Maakaron has covered Detroit Sports since 2013. Brings a vast array of experience covering the Detroit Tigers, Detroit Lions, Michigan Wolverines, Michigan State Spartans, Detroit Mercy Titans, and Oakland University Golden Grizzlies. John brings a wealth of sports broadcast experience. In 2013, John had the vision to establish the Detroit Sports Podcast Network. Has recorded over 3000 podcasts analyzing Detroit Sports. In 2019, Sports Illustrated Media Group, a historical sports media outlet, partnered with Detroit Sports Podcast to provide daily Lions content for their growing and expanding digital media outlet. Our Lions content can also be read in the newspaper at The Oakland  Passionate about Detroit Sports and it is reflected in his coverage of the local teams!