The Detroit Lions are bringing back a familiar face to be their No. 3 quarterback.
The Lions re-signed Tim Boyle to the practice squad on Monday, a week after he failed to win the backup job following a training camp battle with David Blough.
Blough made the Lions’ initial 53-man roster last Tuesday, only to be waived a day later when the Lions signed Nate Sudfeld.
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The Lions offered Blough a spot on their practice squad as their No. 3 quarterback, but he declined and signed with the Minnesota Vikings instead.
Lions general manager Brad Holmes said a change at backup quarterback was necessary because Boyle and Blough “just didn’t quite make the jump that we expected them to make.”
“We had a plan in place for the backup quarterback position and it kind of took a detour that was unexpected, but you got to be prepared for that and we just kind of made it work the best way we can,” Holmes said.
Boyle completed 26 of 46 passes this preseason for 274 yards. He threw two touchdown passes, had two interceptions and struggled while playing with the mostly first-team offense in the Lions’ preseason-ending loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers. Last year, Boyle went 0-3 as a fill-in starter for Jared Goff.
Despite his struggles, Boyle offers comfort as a No. 3 quarterback, at least temporarily, while Sudfeld learns the offense and gets to know what Goff wants from his backup.
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Sudfeld said he and Goff have known each other for years. They share an agency, throw together occasionally in the offseason and learned from the same quarterback coach in high school, but the two have never worked together until now.
“You kind of collaborate with (the starter), talk with them, communicate what they’re looking for, how you can help them,” Sudfeld said. “What areas if they don’t have time to watch a certain cut-up if you can watch it and kind of give them a summary of what you’ve seen, or just being someone to bounce ideas off, communicate with. So kind of figuring that out with Jared right now but I’ve known Jared for a while so it’s been a really seamless transition and looking forward to work with him.”
Contact Dave Birkett at dbirkett@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @davebirkett.