DETROIT — Quarterback Teddy Bridgewater made his Detroit Lions’ debut, playing most of the first half, in the Lions’ 25-7 preseason loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars at Ford Field on Saturday.
“It’s tough to lose no matter what time of year it is and what you’re doing. You don’t like to lose that way but also you have to keep in perspective it is about evaluation,’’ coach Dan Campbell said. “We’re trying to put these guys in position where you can find out about them a little bit and I felt like we found out a few players today that we have to know.’’
Bridgewater, whose first practice with the team was on Monday, got sacked on his first snap. He didn’t get many reps in the joint practices with the Jaguars this week, so playing time was crucial.
“I thought Teddy was solid. I mean there are always going to be things to clean up, but in my head it was always about getting him in a flow, let’s get him in there, let’s get him used to how we run our offense, our cadence, our shifts, our motions and just go play a little bit,’’ Campbell said. “It wasn’t that he was going to have a perfect quarterback rating.’’
Bridgewater completed five of 11 passes for 34 yards and carried the ball once for negative-8 yards playing behind the second-string offensive line. Most of the offensive starters were on the sidelines.
“There’s some throws you wish he had back, a couple of things. But also I thought he made some really good throws too,’’ Campbell said. “He had probably three drops that could’ve been for conversions.’’
Quarterback Nate Sudfeld (9-of -18, 80 yards and one touchdown) took over with 1:45 left in the first half and finished the game. Campbell said the original plan was for Bridgewater to play three series, but since they were three-and-outs, he wanted him to get a chance to get into a flow.
While offensively the Lions couldn’t get into a rhythm, Campbell found other positives.
“I thought we had some really good returns on special teams. I thought on defense – we had a couple things early – but ultimately I thought our defense made some critical stops and played pretty good football for a while,’’ Campbell said.
The defense, second- and third-stringers, gave up 399 yards of offense to the Jags who started quarterback C.J. Beathard.
While most Lions’ starters did not play, a few rookies made the most of their time against the Jags. Some of them including Sam LaPorta and Jahmyr Gibbs did not see action. Here are five rookies — four of them undrafted — who stood out:
1. Not surprisingly, first-round pick Jack Campbell’s impact was tough to miss. The linebacker led the Lions with seven tackles and played into early in the second half. “I felt like it was let’s let him go a little bit, let’s let him play. His was just speed of the game, picking it up, playing faster. We feel like the more he plays the more we’re going to see out of him,’’ Campbell said.
2. Wide receiver Chase Cota is trying to make a case to fill a spot on the roster. He picked up where he left off in the preseason win over the Giants when he had four catches for 60 yards from Nate Sudfeld. Against the Jags, he returned a punt for 28 yards and finished with one catch for 8 yards while playing with Bridgewater. With Sudfeld in the game, a wide-open Cota caught a 1-yard touchdown pass in the third quarter. “We got a call, it was like a bunch of cross and stuff and so I knew as long as I could get hidden in there I could come out the backside Scot-free kind of,’’ Cota said. “It worked out really good, we executed and everyone pulled their guys away. It was exciting to celebrate with the fans.’’
3. Cornerback Steven Gilmore gave up a deep catch in the first quarter but came back and saved a touchdown with a pass breakup in the endzone on a third-and-9 play. He followed that up with an interception. The ball was touched by Tracy Walker and bobbled into Gilmore’s arms. “Those are the types of things you’re looking for from these young players. These things are going to happen, you’re going to get hit on a play, something bad is going to happen, you may get a flag thrown on you, it’s all about what happens next,’’ Campbell said. “You want to know if these players are resilient, I would say Gilmore that was encouraging. You give up a big one and then you go right back, don’t bat an eye and you get a knockdown in the red zone then he gets a ricochet interception those things are big.’’
4. Wide receiver Dylan Drummond, who has been solid throughout camp, caught two passes for 29 yards — including a 23-yarder — on five targets.
5. Cornerback Starling Thomas, a standout during training camp so far, returned two kicks for a total of 66 yards and picked up four tackles on defense.
NEXT UP: The Lions play their final preseason game at 8 p.m. on Friday at the Carolina Panthers. The roster must be cut to 53 players by 4 p.m. on Tuesday, Aug. 29. It’s the only NFL cutdown date this year.
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