Lions say Raiders much better for ‘Hard Knocks’
DETROIT — The Detroit Lions are one of five teams that can be forced to appear on “Hard Knocks” this season, but the team’s brass appears to be doing everything it can to deflect the hit HBO show to another team — specifically Jon Gruden and the Oakland Raiders.
“I think Jon Gruden is an excellent choice for that show,” Lions coach Matt Patricia said. “I think the Oakland Raiders and everything they’ve got going on right now would be fantastic viewing for everybody to watch.”
Patricia, then asked if appearing on the show would be like a weeks-long dentist visit for root canals, briefly sighed before saying: “Yeah,” and that “I definitely think I would get a lot of phone calls from my mom at night if that show was on.”
Lions general manager Bob Quinn said Monday the club is open to taking a quarterback with the No. 8 pick in the draft if it deems someone worthy — even with veteran Matthew Stafford on the roster.
Lions general manager Bob Quinn said if the franchise is playing the “Hard Knocks” team that season, someone in their scouting department actually watches and DVRs the show to try to learn what they can about scheme and personnel. Quinn said he knows other NFL teams do it, including the Super Bowl champion New England Patriots.
“So, it’s real. Is it going to be a matter of a win and loss, I’m not sure,” Quinn said. “But we take the stuff that we do behind our doors pretty privately and pretty securely, so that’s something that is definitely a factor.”
Quinn later said, “Nobody wants to do it. Except Oakland.”
The Lions, Raiders, San Francisco 49ers, New York Giants and Washington Redskins are the five teams that cannot say no to “Hard Knocks” in 2019.
The Raiders did not immediately respond to a request for comment by ESPN on Monday night.
Information from ESPN’s Paul Gutierrez was used in this report.