Lions head coach Dan Campbell took no chances with the important players on his Detroit roster in Friday night’s preseason finale. When the Lions hosted the Indianapolis Colts, 21 players sat out to avoid injury risk and to allow the reserves to battle for the final roster spots. Nearly all of them are starters.
On offense, the only projected starter who played at all was rookie right tackle Penei Sewell. He was in for the first 17 reps before taking the rest of the night off, and Sewell’s dire inexperience necessitated the risk of playing in the exhibition. Rookie wideout Amon-Ra St. Brown also played and figures to see extensive action in the regular season.
[listicle id=64885]
Defensively, rookie nose tackle Alim McNeill and veteran DE Nick Williams, who is coming back from an injury that kept him idle much of training camp, were the only starters who played.
Here are the 21 Lions who sat out:
- QB Jared Goff
- RB D’Andre Swift
- RB Jamaal Williams
- LT Taylor Decker
- LG Jonah Jackson
- C Frank Ragnow
- RG Halapoulivaati Vaitai
- T.J. Hockenson
- WR Tyrell Williams
- WR Kalif Raymond
- DE Michael Brockers
- DE Da’Shawn Hand
- OLB Trey Flowers
- OLB Romeo Okwara
- LB Jamie Collins
- LB Alex Anzalone
- CB Jeff Okudah
- CB Amani Oruwariye
- S Will Harris
- S Tracy Walker
- K Randy Bullock
Of those sitting out, only Hand was definitively out with an injury. Hockenson, Swift and Tyrell Williams have been dealing with minor injuries but nothing that prevented them from playing if the outcome mattered.