ALLEN PARK — Hendon Hooker will get his first chance of the preseason to start when the Detroit Lions face the Atlanta Falcons on Friday night.
The quarterback took over for Kyle Allen in the second half of last week’s Hall of Fame Game against the Los Angeles Chargers, and didn’t get the chance to find his groove. Now, that’s not an excuse for Hooker’s play, because it was a step down from what we had seen to open training camp.
But the Lions were down multiple scores when Hooker took over, with the quarterback only completing three passes on six attempts for 18 yards and one interception. Hooker’s interception came on what might have been his best throw of the night. But rookie wideout Dominic Lovett had the ball ripped from his hands to lose possession.
“I just want to see the guy I saw that we were writing about through the first two weeks or so at camp,” Raven said, contrasting Hooker’s early camp performance with his recent struggles.
Lions head coach Dan Campbell noted that Hooker looks better than he did in the spring offseason program when it comes to executing plays, recognizing the defense and controlling the line of scrimmage.
“But yet, there’s still a couple of things, communication error here or there, couple of the throws here you want to be more accurate,” Campbell said. “I think of Hooker as just keep diving into the work, keep getting the reps, and he just needs some small victories.
“He just needs a few wins here just to stack some back-to-back reps, back-to-back days, and I think that’s going to do him wonders. Look, he’s working. He grinds at it. He’s very coachable. He certainly has the ability. He’s going to get his opportunity.”
While the Dungeon of Doom podcast hosts disagreed on Allen’s chances of pushing for the backup role, both acknowledged the job remains Hooker’s to lose.
As Raven put it, “I think it would have to be a disastrous month for Hooker for Allen to make the 53-man roster.”
Want to hear more about Hooker’s opportunity? Listen to the full episode of MLive’s Dungeon of Doom podcast where Ben Raven and Kory Woods break down all the quarterback dynamics, including what Hooker needs to show against Atlanta to secure his spot on the depth chart.
