Which Lions are participating in which Pro Bowl skills challenges and how you can watch

The NFL's Pro Bowl games kick off Thursday night and Detroit Lions players will be participating in a number of the events. Here's what you can expect.

A series of skills competitions will air Thursday on ESPN, from 7-8:30 p.m. The events include:

▶ A pre-taped "Best Catch," which mirrors the theatrics of the NBA's dunk contest. Lions receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown was a participant last year, but won't take part this go-round.

▶ Precision passing, where three quarterbacks from each conference battle in a one-minute accuracy competition, trying to hit as many targets as possible.

▶ Ten players, including former Lions cornerback Darius Slay, will battle in a closest-to-the-pin competition. That's golf, not football.

▶ A competition dubbed "High Stakes," where each of the 10 players will start holding two footballs and see how many more they can catch from a JUGS machine without dropping one. Participants include Lions tight end Sam LaPorta and former Lions special teams standouts Miles Killebrew and Nick Bellore.

▶ A long-snapping competition similar to the precision passing, where the six contestants will vie to rack up the most points hitting targets from 13 yards away during a 45-second window.

▶ Finally, a classic dodgeball match featuring four teams of seven players each, pitting defenses against offenses from opposing conference. The Lions will be represented by running back Jahmyr Gibbs and St. Brown.

There will be a second set of skills battles Sunday, prior to the Pro Bowl game, which airs from 3-6 p.m. on ESPN and ABC.

Those events include

▶ Kick-Tac-Toe, where the conferences' two kickers try to connect a line of three squares.

▶ There will be a competition called "Move the Chains," where offensive and defensive linemen work together to move 3,000 pounds of weights of a wall and across a finish line. Offensive tackle Penei Sewell will represent the Lions.

▶ Four players will play a pair of head-to-head games of EA Sports Madden video game.

▶ And the pregame festivities will wrap up with a five-on-five Tug-of-War, where Detroit's Aidan Hutchinson is scheduled to take part.

The winners of each of the events on Thursday and Sunday are awarded points, which are tallied to determine a winning conference.

The game itself is a flag football contest without offensive and defensive linemen. Gibbs, St. Brown and LaPorta are all scheduled to participate.

jdrogers@detroitnews.com

@Justin_Rogers