The Detroit Lions are closely monitoring the status of their second-year quarterback, Hendon Hooker, who suffered a concussion during the team’s 14-3 preseason loss to the New York Giants on August 8.
While the team is hopeful Hooker could return to the field by the end of next week, there’s uncertainty about his availability for the Lions’ upcoming preseason game against the Kansas City Chiefs on August 17.
Head coach Dan Campbell discussed Hooker’s situation with reporters, acknowledging that Hooker’s return to practice this week is unlikely.
“Yeah, honestly, we don’t know where he’s going to be, he’s not going to be out there today,” Campbell said. “We probably won’t have him tomorrow, and it’s looking less like we’ll have him in practice this week until Friday. We’ll get him ready for the Chiefs, and that’s not a guarantee until you know, he obviously clears the concussion protocol then we’re on hold with him.”
This uncertainty has led Campbell to consider bringing in an additional quarterback to split reps with backup Nate Sudfeld, especially if Hooker is unable to play.
“We talked about that this morning,” Campbell revealed. “That could come down to the wire, on today or tomorrow. There is a chance you know, and I think we’ll have a pretty good idea this afternoon as to, do we need to go ahead and do that, just to make sure we got a guy other than Nate (Sudfeld), you know for the game.”
Despite the injury, Campbell has expressed optimism about Hooker’s development. The young quarterback, who spent most of his rookie season rehabbing a torn ACL, has shown promise in practice and during his limited action in the preseason game against the Giants.
“There were some encouraging things in there,” Campbell said. “He was able to move the offense down the field, he saw a couple of things, had a high throw, did a good job on one of his progressions kicking it out to the running back, had a couple of runs there. So for the limited snaps that he was in there with a very limited package offensively, he was promising.”
With the regular season approaching, the Lions must weigh their options carefully to ensure they have adequate quarterback depth, particularly if Hooker’s recovery takes longer than expected.
