Jared Goff is out, but the Detroit Lions will play more of their starters in their second preseason game, set for Saturday, Aug. 22, against the Washington Commanders.
The Lions rested most starters in last week’s exhibition loss to the Cincinnati Bengals, but Lions coach Dan Campbell indicated he’ll play his projected offensive line Saturday in what could be the only preseason snaps most of the Lions’ core players get this summer.
With cut day a little over a week away and just three practices left next week, this game could have a big bearing on who makes the initial 53-man roster.
Here are seven players I’ll be watching when they take field Saturday (noon, WJBK-TV):
QB Josh Dobbs
Campbell
said the No. 2 quarterback job behind Jared Goff is up for grabs, and while I’d be surprised if it doesn’t go to Dobbs, given his familiarity with Drew Petzing and the Lions’ preference for an experienced backup, the journeyman has done little to actually win the job yet.
Dobbs played 22 snaps against the Bengals and has barely taken any team reps in camp. Undrafted rookie free agent Luke Altmyer has handled most of the work with the second-team offense as the Lions evaluate in what capacity he’s worth keeping around.
Dobbs and Altmyer are expected to split snaps Saturday, with Dobbs starting. At a minimum, it’d be nice to see him play a turnover-free game and keep the offense on schedule or ahead of the chains.
C Juice Scruggs
Scruggs will make his preseason debut Saturday after missing the Bengals game with a soft tissue injury.
Acquired in the offseason David Montgomery trade with the Houston Texans, Scruggs is expected to open the regular season as the Lions’ starting center until Cade Mays returns from a wrist injury. He has been on a snap count in practice, so I wouldn’t expect him out there long. But he needs to get his timing down with the rest of the offensive line, as the Lions had some snap problems this week in practice.
“We got to kick some of the rust off of here,” Campbell said. “We got to get a little bit of that off there and let those guys work together.”
TE Tyler Conklin
Conklin wasn’t high on my players-to-watch list this week until Sam LaPorta hurt his hip in practice. We don’t know how long LaPorta will be out or if his injury will bleed into the regular season, but if it does, Conklin might all of a sudden become the Lions’ top pass-catching tight end.
The veteran is coming off a down year – he had seven catches in 13 games last season for the Los Angeles Chargers. And he missed the start of camp while recovering from a calf injury.
Like with Dobbs, I think the Lions trust in Conklin’s experience, but they also need to find out how much he has left at 31 years old. If the answer is “not much,” second-year pass-catcher Jackson Meeks is presumably next up in the tight end room.
CB Roger McCreary
Like Conklin, McCreary was a late add to this list because of injury – suffered by Ennis Rakestraw Jr.on the final team play of practice Thursday, Aug. 20.
McCreary has played mostly as a slot cornerback in his career, and he’s competing for the starting nickel job this summer. I’m more curious how he’ll play as an outside cornerback against the Commanders, and how much the Lions use him in that role.
The Lions were thin at cornerback before Rakestraw hobbled off the field Saturday. If that injury is serious, they’ll be down to D.J. Reed, Rock Ya-Sin, Nick Whiteside and Khalil Dorsey as their top four outside corners. That’s not enough to weather the regular season, and they might need to add help if McCreary or rookie slot corner Keith Abney isn’t ready for an expanded role.
DE Eric O’Neill
O’Neill has been on a bit of a heater of late. The undrafted rookie had a big hit on Bengals QB Joe Burrow to force a third down incompletion last week, a pick-six in the Lions’ intrasquad scrimmage Monday and a sack in the next practice two days later.
I still think O’Neill’s a long shot to make the initial 53-man roster. We’ve seen the Lions relegate undersized undrafted rushers to the practice squad before.
But he should get plenty of playing time against the Commanders, and the more he produces, the more likely he is to end up on someone’s roster to start the regular season.
DE Derrick Moore
Let’s stay with the defensive end position for a minute. Moore, the Lions’ second-round pick in April, is expected to make his preseason debut Saturday after sitting out the Bengals game with a groin injury.
The Michigan product has popped in pass rush packages in practice, and that seems like the most likely role he’ll fill this fall. But he could get a chance to play as a base-down defensive end some against the Commanders and I’m interested to see how he fares on run downs.
Moore is big and athletic, and even if it’s not this year, he projects to be an important player on the Lions’ defense before long. Just like first-round pick Blake Miller last week, there'll be plenty of eyes on Moore on Saturday.
LB Joe Bachie
Damone Clark’s injury has cleared the way for one of Bachie or Troy Reeder to make the team as the Lions’ sixth linebacker, and who wins the job might come down to how they do on special teams.
Bachie, a veteran out of Michigan State, had one special teams tackle against the Bengals and was one of four players special teams coordinator Dave Fipp mentioned as having caught his eye in the kicking game.
Bachie adds more on defense than Reeder. He can middle linebacker and wear the green dot if necessary, and if he plays well Saturday – and next week against the Indianapolis Colts – he'll be in a good spot to make the team.
Dave Birkett covers the Lions for the Detroit Free Press. Contact him at dbirkett@freepress.com. Follow him on Bluesky, X and Instagram at @davebirkett.
Next up: Commanders
Matchup: Lions (0-1 in preseason) vs. Washington (1-0).
Kickoff: Noon Saturday; Ford Field, Detroit.
TV/radio: WJBK-TV (Ch. 2 in Detroit); WXYT-FM (97.1).
Regular-season opener: 1 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 13 vs. New Orleans Saints, Fox.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Josh Dobbs, Juice Scruggs among 7 players to watch in Lions-Commanders
