ALLEN PARK -- Another benefit of hiring a new coach? The Detroit Lions can get to work early.

Detroit announced Monday that players will begin reporting on April 9 for the conditioning program. Yes, that's a week from today.

Teams that didn't change coaches must wait until April 16 to begin work.

The Lions will hit the football field April 24-26 for a voluntary minicamp, then return for mandatory minicamp on June 5-7. The first batch of Organized Team Activities is May 21-22 and May 24, followed by another round on May 30-31. The final round is June 11-12 and June 14.

At that point, the Lions will break for the summer. No dates for training camp have been announced, but the club can reconvene as early as 15 days before the first preseason game. The schedule is due out within the next couple weeks.

New coach Matt Patricia said last week at the owners meetings he's looking forward to getting his players together for the first time in 2018, and expects to deliver a message about the sort of team he hopes to run.

"I mean, that's probably something I think about a lot, and have for a long time," Patricia said. "I think (the message is) just kind of going to be who I am and what I think the team should be. I think it's important for them to understand who I am as a person, and how I feel about this game, and how passionate I am about this game. How much I believe in the relationship part of this game. This is family.

"Hopefully all that will be conveyed through my conversation with them the first time I get a chance to talk to them. But also I want them to understand what I'm looking for from a team when we turn on the film, making sure that we're playing smart football, tough football, fundamentally sound football. Those are all very important things to me that you build on and you start from."