Detroit Lions Practice In England With Bent Goal Posts

By Cory Buck | Oct 22, 2014

The Detroit Lions held their first practice in England on Wednesday, where the rugby field held bent goal posts. Mandatory Credit: Tim Fuller-USA TODAY Sports /

The Detroit Lions held their first practice in England on Wednesday, where the rugby field held bent goal posts.

In preparation for their overseas NFL regular season game against the Atlanta Falcons, the Detroit Lions took to Pennyhill Park, where England’s national rugby team practices, for their first practice session on Wednesday morning. The field sported some memorable landmarks, especially for kicker Matt Prater, who practiced with bent uprights for the field goal posts.

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M Live Sports reports that the uprights for the goal posts were bent in practice, per the pictures in the article. Of course if the Lions had been playing with bent uprights to this point in the season, they might be undefeated, given the way their kickers performed before Prater’s arrival.

While the uprights were certainly a fun side note, the field itself appears sleek and orderly as is to be expected on an NFL surface. While this surface is a synthetic blend, it didn’t appear to hamper the Lions practice any, at least for those practicing.

Calvin Johnson and Ezekiel Ansah were among the notable non-participants at Wednesday’s practice. Johnson is still recovering from an ankle injury, but told M Live that he was feeling better.

“I’m getting better, I’ll tell you that much,” Johnson said. “Moving around a lot more, so I’m feeling good.”

Ansah meanwhile is still dealing with a toe issue that slowed him in the team’s Week 7 win over the New Orleans Saints. Ansah played in that game, so it’s safe to expect he’ll play against the Falcons. Johnson, on the other hand, seems a less safe bet to do the same.

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