It seems Hard Knocks: Training Camp with the Detroit Lions is starting a tradition that will haunt every penultimate episode to come.
Since 2021, teams have to make their final 53-man roster cuts on the Tuesday following the last preseason game. Since the preseason has been reduced to three games, the news cycle throughout deadline day is filled with spoilers just a few hours before the episode is released.
The Lions’ final preseason game was the final test for players on the bubble and Hard Knocks chose to devote an equal amount of time on screen to notable players and hopefuls on the roster bubble.
Tackle Obinna Eze tells a joke that sparks a laugh from his fellow offensive linemen, and wide receiver Kalil Pimpleton is enthusiastic about getting a private class with a juggling coach. Both segments are dedicated to showing the amicable side of Eze and Pimpleton that makes us want to root for them more. But after getting lost in all the fun, the realization surely sets in for some watching that Eze and Pimpleton were cut on Tuesday — though we won’t find that out as viewers until the season finale, most likely.
Not all players will suffer the dreadful fate of being cut. Malcolm Rodriguez gets the start in the Lions last preseason game in Pittsburgh, a good sign that he earned a spot on the initial 53-man roster. For the moment, Rodriguez will sit low on the depth chart, but he has risen up to the challenge and shined through this entire Hard Knocks drama.
Running back Craig Reynolds is looking to make the Detroit roster for a second year in a row after spending his first two years in Washington and Jacksonville. Reynolds gets a large amount of praise from everyone in this episode, including the coaches when Dan Campbell asks them for their thoughts on the former undrafted free agent. None of them are slow to respond.
“I wouldn’t cut him,” offensive assistant John Morton says. “He’s everything we represent.”
“They just love Reynolds,” offensive line coach Hank Fraley follows up with. “Like protection. All that stuff. They love ’em.”
Assistant head coach/running backs coach Duce Staley gives the final lasting remark: “You get rid of Craig if you want to, now. You might have some linemen come and knock on the door just to talk.”
The coaches believe in him and his teammates want him. It would have been heartbreaking (and definitely awkward) to hear bad news after all this reassurance coming from the team. However, that was never the case as we learned earlier in the day that Reynolds secured a spot on the roster.