Tag: Lions Preseason

Rust or not, Dan Campbell will not play Lions starters in the preseason

Detroit head coach Dan Campbell made it clear he will not play Lions starters in the preseason despite Week 1 rust

Like a lot of other NFL teams, the Detroit Lions came out of the gate looking a little unpolished and uncoordinated in Week 1. Many have pointed to the fact that the Lions– also like many other teams–didn’t play their starters in the preseason.

Playing starters in preseason is something head coach Dan Campbell has repeatedly pushed back against since taking over the Lions. He’s not willing to make the injury risk, as well as also having confidence in the practices to prepare his team for the regular season.

Coach Campbell was asked if the rusty appearance of his team against the Rams made him think about changing course and playing starters in the preseason next year.

“No,” Campbell responded bluntly. “I mean, listen, there’s always going to be an element of – because even then – what, you’re going to play them 20 plays? I would rather go against ourselves and run 60, which is what we did. Those last two weeks we scrimmaged each other going 60 plays.”

Campbell continued, erasing any doubt about his stance.

“So no, I’m not, especially when you win the game. I feel good with where we’re at and I said it last night, do I like that we were not that clean? No, I don’t feel great about that, but I’m not upset with the win either. So, we will clean it up, like I told the team, all we have to worry about is getting a little bit better next week.”

Chiefs will play all their starters vs. the Lions in their preseason matchup

Chiefs coach Andy Reid said the starters will all play the entire first half, while the Lions likely not play any starters at all

Let this serve as a warning: if you’re a Detroit Lions fan who cannot handle seeing the team lose, not even in the preseason, you should probably avoid watching even one play of Saturday afternoon’s exhibition matchup with the Chiefs in Kansas City. It’s almost certain to not end well on the scoreboard for the Lions.

As is his custom, Chiefs head coach Andy Reid will play all of his starters for at least some of the second preseason game. That includes perennial MVP candidate Patrick Mahomes, All-Pro DT Chris Jones and more. Reid indicated in Kansas City’s final practice that the first-team will play at least the first half of the game.

“As far as the play time goes, the ones will take a half,” Reid said this week. “Then we’ll kind of fill in after that and just kind of see how the rest of that goes for the third and fourth quarters.”

The Lions, of course, will not play anyone of consequence. Last week, Detroit had 31 players sit out the preseason opener against the New York Giants, a game the Lions lost 14-3.

Campbell did crack the door open for some starters along the defensive line and linebacking corps to see a series or two, but nearly all of the first half will feature the starters from the reigning Super Bowl champions playing the Lions’ second-team offense and defense.

Detroit Lions head coach Dan Campbell provides an injury update on QB Hendon Hooker

Detroit Lions head coach Dan Campbell provides an injury update on QB Hendon Hooker and his concussion

During the Detroit Lions 14 – 3 loss to the New York Giants last Thursday, they saw potential backup quarterback Hendon Hooker go down with injury. The injury he sustained was a concussion and it’s unclear of exactly when that injury occurred. Meanwhile, it seems unlikely that we’ll see Hooker play in the Lions second preseason game against the Kansas City Chiefs.

Today, Lions head coach Dan Campbell spoke to the media about the performance from certain players against the Giants and he provided injury updates for numerous players.

One of the players he discussed was Lions backup quarterback Hendon Hooker. Speaking to the media, Campbell had this to say when talking about Hooker and the concussion he sustained:

“Yeah, honestly, we don’t know. We don’t know where he’s gonna be. He’s not gonna be out there today. We probably won’t have him tomorrow. It’s looking less likely that we’ll have him in practice this week. Until Friday, uh, getting ready for the Chiefs. And that’s not a guarantee. Until, you know, he clears the concussion protocol. We’re on a hold with him right now.”

https://x.com/Lions/status/1822677230243221613

Campbell did talk highly of what he saw from Hooker during the two drives he played against the Giants. When talking to the media today, Campbell had this to say about what Hooker did offensively.

“As you guys saw, there was some encouraging things in there. You know, he was able to move the offense down the field. Saw a couple of things. Had a hot throw. Did a good job on one of his progressions, kicking it back out to the back. Had a couple of runs there. So for the limited snaps that he was in there, with a very limited package offensively, you know, it was promising.”

Additionally, Campbell said, “…there wasn’t a lot of reps, we don’t know until he’s ready to go. We’re on hold with him, really.”

Against the Giants, we saw Hooker finish 5-for-9 with 36 yards passing. Adding to that, he had 4 carries for 34 yards and one of his runs was capped off with him trucking a defender in the open field.

Listening to Dan Campbell, it feels unlikely that we’ll see Hooker play against the Chiefs this week. However, he still has a chance if he clears the concussion protocol. That said, I’d expect to see more of Nate Sudfeld and potentially someone else next week.