Category: Lions News

Don’t expect the Lions starters to play in the preseason finale vs. the Panthers

Lions head coach Dan Campbell said the finale vs. the Panthers will look like the first two preseason games, when all starters all sat out

When the Detroit Lions visit the Carolina Panthers in the preseason finale on Friday night, don’t expect to see Jared Goff, Aidan Hutchinson, Penei Sewell, C.J. Gardner-Johnson or any other Lions starter. Based on what Dan Campbell said, and how the Detroit head coach said it, every notable Lions player figures to sit out once again.

Campbell was asked about if he would play any of his starters in the exhibition wrap-up.

“Yeah, I don’t know. I think it’ll be a lot like – I’m still trying to think about that one a little bit,” Campbell responded. “And really, I want to see how today and tomorrow goes, but I think it’s going to look very much like the first two games.”

Those first two games, both at home, saw nearly every starter stick on the sidelines. A few key backups also haven’t yet played in the preseason, too.

Campbell stated this before his starting defense effectively smothered the starting offense in Tuesday’s practice. While the starting defense has looked pretty sharp in the joint practices against the Giants and Jaguars, the first-team offense has performed more variably. There are times when Jared Goff and his crew have lit up whatever defense is on the field, notably last Thursday against the Jaguars in the final joint practice between those two teams.

But there have been days like Tuesday where, in the absence of top WR Amon-Ra St. Brown, the unit looked uncomfortably like the 2021 Lions offense that ranked 25th in the league for the season and was in the bottom three in the first eight weeks that year.

Detroit has one practice remaining this week before traveling to Charlotte to face the Panthers in prime time on Friday night.

Lions players who remain on roster from before Brad Holmes

It’s been 2 years since Brad Holmes took over as Lions GM, and there aren’t many players left from before his reign

Whenever a team gets a new look on either the coaching staff or front office, there is change. Whenever both areas get a new look and build, you can guarantee the roster is going to be getting an overhaul.

For Bad Holmes, when he became the general manager after spending 15 years with the Rams, he made quick work of things. He worked with new coach Dan Campbell and they immediately got to building a roster that matched the identity of the team they thought would be successful in Detroit.

Fast forward to today as they are weeks away from their third season kicking off, things are looking up. What may be a curious thought, however, is who remains on the roster from before they took over. It is an interesting list with some familiar faces and some surprises as well.

Lions sign S Scott Nelson, waive injured RB Mohamed Ibrahim

Lions sign safety Scott Nelson and waive injured RB Mohamed Ibrahim

Days after preseason contests are always busy with transactions, and Sunday is no exception. A day after losing the second exhibition game to the Jacksonville Jaguars, the Detroit Lions signed safety Scott Nelson to the active roster.

Nelson is in his second NFL season, spending 2022 primarily on the Pittsburgh Steelers practice squad, He originally signed as an undrafted free agent with the Seattle Seahawks. The 6-foot-2, 205-pound Nelson played collegiately at Wisconsin. He’s a Detroit native and a graduate of Jesuit High School.

To make room for Nelson, the Lions waived running back Mohamed Ibrahim with an injury designation. Ibrahim, an undrafted rookie from Minnesota, has been sidelined with an injury and lost the early momentum to make the roster he established in minicamp.

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Detroit Lions stock report after the second preseason game

Breaking down which Detroit Lions players saw their stocks rise and fall in the second preseason game, a loss to the Jaguars

The second exhibition game for the Detroit Lions ended in a disappointing, punchless 25-7 loss to the visiting Jacksonville Jaguars.

With nearly every player of significance sitting out, it was a chance for the depth players in Detroit to prove themselves. Some looked like bullish risers, while others saw their stocks grow more bearish.

Here are the Lions who rose up and those who fell back in the preseason loss to the Jagaurs.

Dan Campbell on the Lions offensive depth after loss to Jaguars: ‘We’re always looking’

Campbell spotlighted offensive line and wide receiver as places where the team might be looking after the loss to the Jaguars

Saturday’s humbling preseason loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars highlighted the lack of quality, proven depth across several position groups for the Detroit Lions. The team sat its starters and a few key reserves against the Jaguars and got crushed, 25-7.

The Lions offense, in particular, was overmatched by the defensive reserves of the Jaguars. Detroit managed to gain just 131 net yards and attained only nine first downs.

As an entity, the Lions offense was weak and ineffective. There were some individuals who had decent days, but two position groups in particular — the line and the receivers — proved somewhere between inadequate and inept on Saturday.

After the game, head coach Dan Campbell acknowledged that the team’s depth at wide receiver and offensive line was going under the game film microscope to see if moves need to be made.

“Yeah, I mean we’re working through it,” Campbell said after the game. ” We’re working through it and there again, we’ll look at this tape and find the guys we can rely on and listen, you just never know. (Lions GM) Brad (Holmes) and his crew, they’re looking at everything. And it’s not just our own squad, they’re looking at 31 other teams too, so we’re always evaluating.”

With roster cutdowns looming soon, Holmes and his pro personnel department will get the opportunity to acquire players who get waived by other teams or who are in peril of not making it. They tried this earlier in the offseason by trading for Jets WR Denzel Mims, but that didn’t pan out.

Campbell continued,

“We’re always looking and look, we’re going to take the positives out of this game and learn. But we’re also going to find the negatives and what can be done about them, or it is what it is.”

The free agent market for offensive linemen is barren and also highly competitive. A quick watch of some other preseason games and social media reactions indicates that O-line depth is a league-wide issue, not just a Detroit problem.

Wide receiver can be a different story, however. There are some proven veterans still available to try and buy a handful of games before Jameson Williams returns from his suspension. Guys like Jarvis Landry, Sammy Watkins, Rashard Higgins or T.Y. Hilton come to mind, though none have been consistent impact players lately.

The Lions did bring in a lower-rung wideout in Jason Moore after waiving Mims. That seems to be the level of receiver help they’re looking for–a deep reserve with one or two notable attributes that might be useful in a pinch. Acquiring someone else like that won’t do much to ameliorate the fans who watched the wideouts struggle to get open quickly or reliably catch the ball against the Jaguars, however.

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Studs and Duds for the Lions preseason loss against the Jaguars

Who helped and hurt themselves this week? Here are this week’s Stud and Duds for the Lions preseason loss against the Jaguars

The preseason is an opportunity for teams to assess their players, and the Detroit Lions relied on their backup players during their game against the Jacksonville Jaguars. Unfortunately, they were unable to perform well and lost 25-7 in their second preseason game.

Since the starters were resting, we were able to observe the players who needed to prove themselves to secure a spot on the team. Although the offense was not performing at its best and the defense had some weaknesses, some players stood out, while others struggled.

Here are the Studs and Duds for the Lions in their game against the Jaguars this week. In this week’s edition, I focused on players who are right at the borderline of making the roster. I know Cominsky, Campbell, Walker, and Houston all had fantastic games, but we all know they are sticking around.

Watch: Rookie CB Steven Gilmore comes down with an excellent INT

Lions UDFA CB Steven Gilmore comes down with an excellent INT with an assist from Tracy Walker

There wasn’t much in the way of Detroit Lions highlights in the first quarter of Saturday’s preseason contest with the Jacksonville Jaguars. Undrafted rookie cornerback Steven Gilmore made sure the Lions had a fun won, however.

Gilmore, starting on the outside as the Lions rested all the regular starters, made an impressive interception off a savvy deflection from safety Tracy Walker. C.J. Beathard’s throw was initially set to be picked off by Walker, who ranged over the top beautifully.

Jaguars wideout Kevin Austin made a nice play to prevent Walker from cleanly catching it, but Gilmore was right there to clean up the play and make the takeaway.

Gilmore had a nice end zone pass breakup on the prior series too, nicely recovering after getting beaten on a long pass play on the same drive.

The Lions no longer owe the Jets any draft picks for Denzel Mims

The Lions will keep their own 2025 6th-rounder and the Jets hold onto their 7th-rounder that year now that Mims is waived

The Denzel Mims experiment ended earlier than hoped for both the Detroit Lions and the fledgling NFL receiver himself. The Lions waived Mims on Friday with a waived/injured designation.

Mims had not practiced in two weeks since suffering a leg injury in a practice-time collision with teammate Tracy Walker on August 5th. He had been working primarily at that point with the second-team offense, with mixed results. Mims had been emerging as a potential special teams asset, however.

Now that Mims is gone, so is the conditional draft pick that the Lions agreed to send to the Jets in the trade for the 2020 second-round pick earlier this summer. The Lions and Jets effectively canceled the trade, which involved a late-round pick swap in the 2025 draft. Both picks involved were conditional, based upon Mims making the Lions initial 53-man roster.

Mims is subject to waiver claims, though that seems unlikely given his injured status. If he goes unclaimed, the wideout reverts to the Lions’ injured reserve, with a five-day window to reach any potential injury settlement.

Lions to waive WR Denzel Mims and sign WR Jason Moore

Lions to waive WR Denzel Mims and sign former Chargers WR Jason Moore

Denzel Mims, we hardly knew ye…

The Lions are waiving Mims a day after Detroit head coach Dan Campbell hinted that a move was in order with the injured wideout. Mims had not practiced since leaving the field on August 5th with an ankle injury.

Acquired via trade with the New York Jets earlier this summer, Mims never suited up for the Lions beyond a handful of early training camp practices. The former Jets second-rounder is still dealing with the ankle injury.

Aaron Wilson of KPRC reports that the Lions already have the Mims replacement ready to roll. Per Wilson, the team is signing former Chargers wideout Jason Moore. The 28-year-old Moore has spent most of the last four seasons on the Chargers practice squad. He played collegiately at D-II Findlay.

Lions ‘have not even talked about’ timetable for activating rookie QB Hendon Hooker

The Lions ‘have not even talked about’ timetable for activating rookie QB Hendon Hooker from the NFI list, per Dan Campbell

When the Detroit Lions selected Tennessee QB Hendon Hooker in the third round of the 2023 NFL draft, it was done with the knowledge that Hooker might not be ready to play right away. He had surgery in December to repair a torn ACL, after all, and immediately began his Lions career on the non-football injury (NFI) list once he was eligible to be added.

Hooker has looked very strong in his post-practice workouts in both throwing the ball and with his mobility. Under the watchful eye of trainers, Hooker has done considerable activity (jumping backward down the hill on the practice field as an example) that makes it look like he’s ready to roll. However, that’s not something Lions head coach Dan Campbell has really considered just yet.

Campbell was asked before Thursday’s practice if Hooker might be activated before the start of the regular season.

“Yeah, honestly, we have not even talked about Hooker in those regards. It’s been more about, let’s get him back,” Campbell said.

He then indicated that the team is very pleased with Hooker’s work with QB coach Mark Brunell and assistant coach J.T. Barrett in doing whatever he can to prepare despite being injured. However, the idea and timing of activating Hooker is not something that Campbell or Lions GM Brad Holmes have gone over in the roster construction process just yet.

“And then everything else, his rehab, he just continues to come along and get better, but honestly, Brad (Holmes) and I haven’t even discussed him at this point. Once we start hearing from (Lions Director of Player Health & Performance Brett Fischer) Fisch and those guys like, ‘Hey, this guy’s coming on,’ we get the, ‘OK, you guys may have a decision to make sooner than later,’ then we’re not even going to worry about it right now.”

That would indicate the idea that Campbell is under the impression Hooker will remain on the NFI list into the regular season. If that’s what happens, the rookie will miss at least the first four weeks.

Now that the Lions have added veteran Teddy Bridgewater as a backup to Jared Goff, the urgency to get Hooker ready and on the active roster is further diminished. Nate Sudfeld remains on the roster, as does undrafted rookie Adrian Martinez, so there is no impetus to rush Hooker into action in the exhibition season.

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