There are only two quarterbacks on the Detroit Lions’ current roster after Teddy Bridgewater retired.
But that doesn’t mean Jared Goff will line up behind center Thursday, Aug. 13, in the team’s first preseason game against the Cincinnati Bengals (7 p.m.) at Paycor Stadium.
“Even if we didn’t have a quarterback,” coach Dan Campbell joked, “Goff’s not playing."
He then turned serious.
"I don’t see Goff playing,” he reiterated a few beats later.
Most of the team’s other starters won’t, either.
“I really don’t see playing a lot of our guys,” Campbell told reporters Sunday afternoon in Allen Park. “We’ll play some of them that are in these … competitions going on in spots.”
Back in March, Campbell first mentioned he was considering giving the starters
snaps in the preseason – something he refrained from doing each of the past three years. He raised the possibility because the Lions had decided against holding joint practices this training camp.
But Campbell said Sunday he never really planned for them to take the field against Cincinnati.
Instead, he eyed the Aug. 22 exhibition against Washington at Ford Field as the game Goff and the Lions’ other key players could see action.
“That was where I always targeted,” Campbell said. “This may be where we need to play our guys. That’ll be the first one. That’s kind of what I was thinking.”
Contact Rainer Sabin at rsabin@freepress.com. Follow him @RainerSabin on X.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Will Jared Goff play in Lions preseason opener? Dan Campbell answers
