Jared Goff is not expected to get the start when the Detroit Lions open the preseason Thursday night against the Cincinnati Bengals, and Dan Campbell made it clear Sunday that the plan extends beyond his quarterback.
“Even if we didn’t have a quarterback,” coach Dan Campbell joked, “Goff’s not playing."
He followed that with a more direct answer: "I don’t see Goff playing,” he reiterated a few beats later.
Campbell said he also doesn’t expect to use many of Detroit’s other starters at Paycor Stadium, where the Lions and Bengals are set for a 7 p.m. kickoff on Aug. 13.
“I really don’t see playing a lot of our guys,” Campbell told reporters Sunday afternoon in Allen Park. “We’ll play some of them that are in these … competitions going on in spots.”
The Lions entered camp with only two quarterbacks on the roster after Teddy Bridgewater retired, but that hasn’t changed Campbell’s thinking about preseason usage. Back in March, he said he was considering getting starters some snaps in the preseason after not doing so over the previous three years, a thought that came after Detroit decided against holding joint practices this training camp.
Still, Campbell said Sunday that he never truly expected his top players to take the field against Cincinnati.
Instead, he pointed to the Lions’ Aug. 22 preseason game against Washington at Ford Field as the one where Goff and other key players could see action.
“That was where I always targeted,” Campbell said. “This may be where we need to play our guys.
That’ll be the first one. That’s kind of what I was thinking.”
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For a team that had Bridgewater penciled in as a reliable insurance policy behind Jared Goff, the timing creates a clear need to act fast. Detroit is expected to add a veteran backup quarterback soon, and with the preseason opener against Cincinnati approaching, the Lions would like that situation settled before the next round of live game reps makes the depth chart even more important. [Read more 🡒]