The Detroit Lions are adding another quarterback to the room, and this one comes with a familiar face and a lot of NFL mileage. According to NFL Network’s Mike Garafolo, the team is signing veteran Josh Dobbs after the sudden retirement of Teddy Bridgewater left Detroit looking for help behind Jared Goff.
Dobbs has already crossed paths with the Lions before. He spent two weeks on Detroit’s practice squad in 2022 before Arizona scooped him up, and that stint matters because Drew Petzing was the Cardinals’ offensive coordinator then.
Dobbs later started eight games for Arizona in 2023, then got traded to the Vikings and made four more starts in Minnesota that same season. That background gives him a built-in edge as he comes into a quarterback room that already includes both Dan Campbell and Petzing familiarity.
Across 15 career starts, Dobbs has completed 351 of 559 passes for a 62.8% completion rate, with 3,346 yards, 17 touchdowns and 15 interceptions.
His arrival also changes the competition behind Goff. Right now, undrafted rookie Luke Altmyer has been getting plenty of work over the last three practices with Bridgewater gone, and the Lions have liked what they’ve seen. Campbell made that clear Sunday.
“We like Luke, Luke is growing, Luke is getting better, he just needs reps,” coach Dan Campbell said Sunday. “I mean, he needs a million reps. But the reps that he has gotten to this point, he has improved.”
Dobbs is also likely to get on the field quickly. The Lions open preseason play Thursday against the Cincinnati Bengals, and Campbell has already said Goff won’t play. Altmyer is expected to get a heavy workload, but Detroit probably won’t ask the rookie to carry the whole game.
“Certainly Altmyer’s going to take a heavy load and then anybody else we get, we’ll get them up to speed as fast as we can and give them some reps,” Campbell said.
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Petzings approach is built around an offense that is physical and multiple, and TeSlaas frame and style seem to fit that direction. For Detroit, the appeal is clear: if he keeps stacking competitive reps and turning practice flashes into consistency, he could force his way into a bigger role than originally expected this season. [Read more 🡒]
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Lions Camp Tension Spiked Again As Another Injury Concern Emerged
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The tension built again as the day went on, starting with a post-whistle flare-up between Isaac TeSlaa and Chuck Clark. Ahmed Hassanein also had to be looked at after leaving early with an ankle issue, another reminder of how quickly camp depth charts can get tested. Even the final stretch of practice had a bite to it, with Nick Whiteside coming away with an interception late in the session. [Read more 🡒]