Lions HC Dan Campbell sends warning to players who can't protect the ball

The NFL season has arrived after the Los Angeles Chargers and Detroit Lions met in the Hall of Fame Game on Thursday night.

From a fan perspective, the game is a great appetizer for the real thing, which is the regular season that starts in September.

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But for a coach and the players, preseason should be treated like a regular season game. If the Hall of Fame Game were a regular season game, then the Lions would have a lot of work to do.

The Lions fumble on the opening kick of that game turned out to be a spoiler for how the team would handle the rest of the game.

The Chargers got the 34-7 win, with help from five turnovers from the Lions. Lions head coach Dan Campbell did not mince words on his team's ability to protect the football in their opening preseason loss.

RELATED: Dan Campbell shares insane amount of interviews he took to fill coaching staff

"You're wearing Lions gear, you've got to take care of the ball, or it's going to be hard to keep you around," Campbell told the media after the game.

There's a new standard when it comes to football in Detroit. The Lions have won the NFC North in back-to-back seasons, and the goal remains the same: Win the Super Bowl. It's an ugly start to the preseason, but no one is losing faith in this team just yet.

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