Teddy Bridgewater – Lions Lowdown

QB Teddy Bridgewater rejoins Lions after coaching state championship team

ALLEN PARK — Teddy Bridgewater is back with the Lions and that should bring smiles to everyone on the team, even second-year quarterback Hendon Hooker.

Bridgewater, 32, who was a backup with the Lions in the 2023 season, spent much time working with Hooker who was a rookie.

“I understand what it looks like. It’s just a different world that we’re getting ready to walk into and I just felt like this was the right thing to do, especially with somebody I have a tremendous amount of trust with and for,’’ coach Dan Campbell said on Thursday. “He understands our offense well, the guys know him well, the coaches know him well and he brings a certain level of comfort to us.’’

Bridgewater just coached his alma mater, Miami Northwestern, to a Florida state high school championship in November. Not bad for his first year of coaching. Shortly after he announced plans to unretire and sign with an NFL team. He was on the Lions practice field on Thursday wearing No. 12.

“It’s fun, it’s cool. I’m glad to have him back here. State Champ Teddy Bridgewater is what we call him now,’’ quarterback Jared Goff said. “He’s a valuable asset to our team. I love having him in the quarterback room, he’s great to have around.’’

Campbell loves Bridgewater’s experience.

“He’s staying in shape, he’s been throwing, just getting worked back in here a little bit. It just brings a level of professionalism, veteran presence. Somebody that’s great for our team, that’s great for the position,’’ Campbell said. “It doesn’t mean we’re disappointed in Hooker, that’s not what this means. This gives us somebody that’s played a lot in the NFL, we’re getting ready for the playoffs, it’ll be good to get back in the fold with us.’’

Campbell said everybody in the locker room respects Bridgewater and what he stands for.

“When he gets his sea legs back under him, he’ll test those guys a little bit defensively which is good in practice,’’ Campbell said.

It’s not just that Bridgewater is an insurance policy as the Lions start a playoff run, always smiling he brings an infectious enthusiasm to the locker room.

“He’s a great resource for Jared, young quarterbacks Jake and Hendon. He is a professional — he works hard, he prepares as if he’s the starter and that’s what you want. He’s great to be around,’’ quarterbacks coach Mark Brunell said. “He brightens up that room quite a bit and adds some experience, we love having him around, obviously.’’

Campbell and Brunell both said Hooker improves daily.

“Each week he gets better, he really is. His mechanics, his fundamentals, understanding the defenses he’s presented with, his preparation, his work ethic,’’ Brunel said. “I can’t say enough about him. … He’s going to be a really good quarterback in this league and I’m excited for him.’’

Campbell has known Bridgewater since he coached him with the New Orleans Saints in 2018 and 2019. As a backup for the Lions in 2023, Bridgewater played three snaps in a win over Carolina in Week 5 of the season.

Bridgewater was drafted by the Vikings in 2014 (32nd overall) and started for two seasons (6-6, 11-5). He has also played with the Saints (2018-19), Panthers (2020), Broncos (2021) and Dolphins (2022).

In 79 games in his NFL career he completed 66.4 percent of pass attempts and threw 75 touchdowns against 47 interceptions.

INJURY UPDATE: Linebacker Jalen Reeves-Maybin was back at practice after getting in a full practice last week coming off a neck injury. WR Kalif Raymond had his first day of practice coming off a foot injury. “We’ll see where he’s at, I don’t feel as confident with him as I do JRM,’’ Campbell said.

UP NEXT: Lions (13-2) at San Francisco 49ers (6-9), 8:15 p.m. on Monday, Dec. 30.

Detroit Lions can’t find offensive rhythm in preseason loss to Jaguars

Bridgewater gets start; 5 rookies have standout games

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.

Lions win preseason opener with rookies and backups leading the way

DETROIT — With most of the starters watching from the sidelines, the Detroit Lions won their preseason opener 21-16 over the N.Y. Giants on Friday night before an exceptionally boisterous preseason crowd at Ford Field.

The teams held a pair of joint practices at the Lions’ facility earlier in the week, giving many veterans plenty of reps against an opponent. Coach Dan Campbell’s plan was to give younger players more gametime reps.

“I felt like those young guys came out, I didn’t think it was too big for them. They made plays and the vets who were out there for us did a good job too,’’ Campbell said. “It always feels good to win. We’ve got a lot to clean up, but it’s a good first start.’’

Detroit quarterback Nate Sudfeld, who will battle for the No. 2 spot with Teddy Bridgewater, started and played until there were 23 seconds left in the third quarter.

His first snap was an attempted pass to wide receiver Jameson Williams that was intercepted. Campbell said Nate was getting hit as he threw. Sudfeld’s other interception was also on a pass to Williams, but Campbell said that one was on both of them.

Williams, who only played in the last six games last year, is under much scrutiny. He’s a first-round pick (2022) with speed to spare, but he hasn’t been able to show much on the football field at least yet.

“I told him this, I’m not worried. I didn’t go into this game saying Jameson needs to have 10 catches and 180 yards. That was not what I wanted,’’ Campbell said. “I just wanted him to get lined up, urgency, route definition, detail, finish. I thought for the most part he did that.’’

Williams, who started and played until late in the third quarter, was targeted seven times and had two catches for 18 yards. While it won’t be found in the stats, he made a nice block on a 32-yard play by tight end James Mitchell.

Sudfeld completed 15 of 28 passes for 194 yards, settling down a bit after that first pick.

Early in the third quarter he completed a 2-point conversion on a pass to Williams (who made a one-handed catch) after a 95-yard punt return for a touchdown by Maurice Alexander.

“That was an outstanding return, I thought that was a long kick, he fielded it and I thought we blocked well and the rest was up to him,’’ Campbell said. “He broke a couple of tackles, kept going, he got some blocks downfield. I think what was awesome is what we preach all the time, that’s not even our first unit, but it showed the development of guys.’’

Adrian Martinez came in at quarterback with 23 seconds left in the third and led an 11-play drive that ended with a quarterback keeper for one yard and a touchdown that proved to be the game-winner.

Campbell said the young quarterback was composed, efficient and unfazed. He will likely get fewer reps next week against Jacksonville because Teddy Bridgewater, who signed Thursday and didn’t play Friday, will be in the mix.

Rookie running back Jahmyr Gibbs, a first-round pick, looked like he belonged with six runs for 19 yards and an 18-yard catch in his limited time in the first half. It wasn’t a surprise, it’s what he has been showing at training camp.

The Lions backup defense held the Giants to just 215 net yards, with 81 of those on the ground.

Defensive ends Julian and Romeo Okwara combined for four sacks, with Julian getting three of them.

“It was nice to see the two brothers go in there and crush the can. That was good,’’ Campbell said. “I thought for the most part we had pressure all day.’’

Nine defensive players had tackles for losses.

Rookie linebacker Jack Campbell did not start, but had four tackles and one pass defense.

“Obviously it always feels good to win, I thought the guys came out, we just wanted to cut it loose and play, keep it plain and simple,’’ coach Campbell said. “They knew what we were facing because we faced them for two days now.’’

On Wednesday and Thursday, the Lions will host joint practices with the Jacksonville Jaguars and then face them in a preseason game at 1 p.m., Saturday, Aug. 19, at Ford Field.