Giants will enter Lions den for practice

Pat Shurmur and Matt Patricia were the top two candidates for the Giants when they were conducting a search for their next head coach. Patricia landed in Detroit and Shurmur was hired by the Giants. This week, the coaches bring their teams together for a few days of joint workouts leading up to Friday night’s preseason game at Ford Field in Detroit.

The Giants practice Sunday and Monday at their own facility and then fly to Detroit on Monday afternoon. They will practice Tuesday and Wednesday with the Lions in Allen Park, Detroit’s training facility in suburban Wayne County, Mich. Thus, it will be a five-day stay out of town for the Giants as they break the monotony or training camp and work against a different team, which always ups the ante a bit as far as competition in individual drills and team periods.

“My experience against practicing against one another is both teams need to be smart,’’ Shurmur said. “Both teams need to understand the tempo of every drill. We’re out there competing, but this certainly isn’t the first time teams have practiced against one another.’’

This can only work if both head coaches are of the same mind when it comes to the physical nature of the practices — a meeting of the minds that failed years back with Tom Coughlin and Herm Edwards when the Giants and Jets endured a brawl-filled joint practice day. Shurmur, when he was the offensive coordinator for the Eagles, twice participated in joint workouts with the Patriots, where Pa- tricia was the defensive coordinator.

The preseason opener, a 20-10 loss to the Browns, did not bring much clarity to the competition for the starting free safety spot. Curtis Riley, listed as the starter on the depth chart, did not play because of a strained hamstring. Darian Thompson was forced out with a hamstring issue. Andrew Adams and Michael Thomas received extensive snaps.

“In terms of the clarity, no,’’ Shurmur said. “There were guys that were out there performing well, but in terms of saying ‘This is the guy,’ I would say no.’’

The Giants lost a player in their preseason opener, as defensive tackle Kristjan Sokoli came away with a torn ACL that landed him on season-ending injured reserve. To fill the roster spot, defensive back Mike Jones was re-signed.