Lions linebacker Kennard out to ‘kill’ ex-mates

In two weeks, the Lions and Giants will hold joint practices in Allen Park, Mich., and Detroit linebacker Devon Kennard can’t wait.

Despite playing his f irst four years for the Giants, Kennard, who will be reunited with his former team for the first time since he left them for a free-agent deal with Detroit, isn’t feeling the nostalgia.

“I’m going to see a lot of guys that I played with my whole career,” Kennard told reporters Wednesday, according to the Detroit Free Press. “But now I want to kill them. It’ll be all love when the pads are off. But when they’re on, it’s going to be go time.”

Not exactly. Kennard was asked about angling for Eli Manning, and the 2014 fifth-round draft pick out of USC laughed.

“Nah,” he said, “I’m pretty sure there won’t be any live hitting on Eli.”

Kennard was part of a Giants purge this offsea- son, when the team, coming off a 3-13 collapse, let many of its veterans walk. Kennard started 35 games in four years — typically the starting middle linebacker when healthy — and amassed 9.5 total sacks.

As the Giants retooled, switching f rom a 4- 3 defense to a 3-4, he signed with the Lions for three years and $18.75 million.

Thursday was a light day of practice for Saquon Barkley. But that’s part of the Giants’ plan to keep the rookie running back fresh. He watched approximately the final 45 minutes of practice from the sideline.

“He’s had a really, really big workload,” Pat Shurmur said. “This was the day, for no reason other than just [giving] a little bit less [work].”

For the second straight day, Landon Collins made an impressive play in coverage. After intercepting a tipped Manning pass and returning it for a touchdown on Wednesday, the Pro Bowl safety broke up a pass for

Odell Beckham Jr. while in single coverage in an 11-on-11 red-zone drill on Thursday.