Lions quarterback Hendon Hooker effectively had a redshirt year as a rookie in 2023 when he was coming off a knee injury at the end of his college career.
That’s part of why this year’s training camp and preseason are so significant for him to get much-needed reps.
Hooker played in Detroit’s preseason opener against the Giants, but suffered a concussion. He was able to recover in time to play against the Chiefs in the second exhibition contest. But he hadn’t taken as many practice reps as the club would have liked, so he didn’t start.
Based on head coach Dan Campbell’s comments at his Tuesday press conference, that should change this week with the preseason finale against Pittsburgh.
“He missed a number of days because of the concussion that he had, and so that hurts. I mean it hurts, but then it hurts for development a bit because he doesn’t get all of those reps,” Campbell said. “Those were critical reps that he missed last week, which is not his fault, that’s just the way it played out and so he only got a handful of reps before we go in and play in the game. I mentioned this the other day, that’s why we didn’t start him. We were going to start him, and I didn’t think that was fair to him and really those other guys, that second group that was going to start the game out. But those — man there were some real good things in that game and there were some real bad things which doesn’t surprise me with where he’s at.
“So certainly, we want to get him a real good look. We’d love to get him a lot of reps this week. I think the idea would be, you’d love to start him this week. I’d like to start him, and then it’s just a matter of how much does he play? Is it a couple of series and then Nate [Sudfeld] goes in and then he’s back? Or is it a quarter or is it a half? But he’s going to get a really good look. He’s going to get a lot of reps this week because he needs them.”
Hooker, a third-round pick out of Tennessee in last year’s draft, does have a chance to beat out Sudfeld to be Jared Goff’s backup entering the 2024 season. But Campbell made it sound like Hooker does have some more to prove, even as Detroit seems inclined to keep both Hooker and Sudfeld on the roster.
“[Y]ou have to have conviction that whoever that guy is going to be able to keep this ship afloat, and what we know about Hooker is, Hooker is a young developing quarterback and he needs reps and he needs time. I do know that,” Campbell said. “And Nate right now has the upper hand because he’s played more. He’s been in it more, he’s seen it more, he just — and so with that, that would tell you there’s a good chance you could keep three. Am I going to say that’s 100 percent certain right now? No. But that’s kind of what you look at.”
Hooker has completed 17-of-24 passes this preseason for 186 yards. He’s also rushed nine times for 45 yards with a touchdown.
