The Detroit Lions eked out 27-26 a preseason win against the Indianapolis Colts on Saturday and were able to give several of their rookies some considerable playing time while doing so.
While some rookies showed some promise and should be able to walk away from this game feeling good, others did not have themselves a day against the Colts.
Third-round pick Kerby Joseph got the start at safety and began the game with two tackles in the first quarter. As the game went on, he continued to make tackles, but often on plays that already had gone for first downs or sizable yardage gains for the Colts.
The third quarter of the game was the toughest for Joseph. On a deep ball from Colts quarterback Sam Ehlinger, Joseph misread the coverage and struggled to make it to the receiver on time, resulting in a touchdown.
Joseph also whiffed on a tackle during a Colts’ punt return in that same quarter.
Sam Ehlinger launches a 50-yard TD to Dezmon Patmon!@sehlinger3 @dadpat7
: Stream #DETvsIND on NFL+ https://t.co/wdgAWXJg5i pic.twitter.com/0bh3PJpZA9
— NFL (@NFL) August 20, 2022
Undrafted free agent Cedric Boswell also allowed a touchdown for the Colts. Late in the fourth quarter, the cornerback out of Miami University allowed the receiver to get a few yards of space ahead of him and made matters worse as he committed a holding penalty while trying to defend the pass. Boswell has struggled in both preseason games and sits at the back end of the cornerback depth chart, menaing the Detroit-area native may not be with his team for much longer.
Jack Coan to Samson Nacua for the @Colts TD!
— NFL (@NFL) August 20, 2022
In some positive news on defense, sixth-round pick and fan-favorite Malcolm Rodriguez got the start at inside linebacker and looked great once again. His best play was a pass breakup on a third-down pass to Phillip Lindsay that forced the Colts to kick a field goal. Rodriguez did not play after the first half and finished the day with two tackles.
The Lions finally get a stop on third down in the shadow of their own goal line.
The guy who forced the incompletion: Malcolm Rodriguez
— kyle meinke (@kmeinke) August 20, 2022
The rookie tight ends also had a fairly good day. James Mitchell saw the field for the first time as a Lion and recorded two catches for nine yards while primarily being used as an inline blocker in two-tight end sets. Undrafted rookie Derrick Deese had one catch for nine yards as well.
Undrafted wide receiver Kalil Pimpleton also had a decent showing against Indianapolis. He was targeted 5 times and caught three passes for 23 yards. The two passes that he didn’t catch weren’t fully on him, as they were broken up by Colts defenders. Pimpleton is undersized at 5’9″ so he will need to use his speed to his advantage to avoid situations like that in the future.
Defensive lineman Demetrius Taylor had quite the week during joint practices and followed that up by making some plays in the preseason game. In the second quarter, he made an easy tackle for loss on a Colts inside run. The undrafted rookie has the potential to be a disruptive rotational lineman for Detroit, as long as he can continue to produce results like he has over the past few weeks.
Rookies James Houston, Chase Lucas, and Obinna Eze all appeared in the game but didn’t do much to get noticed, which isn’t always a bad thing in the NFL.
First-round pick Aidan Hutchinson did not play as the Lions held out most of their starters. Also sitting out was UDFA offenisve lineman Kevin Jarvis, who was injured. Jameson Williams is still on the NFI list while Josh Paschal remains on PUP. Rookie running back Greg Bell is currently on injured reserve.
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