Detroit Lions quarterback Nate Sudfeld tore the anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee in Friday’s preseason finale against the Carolina Panthers and will miss the 2023 season, a person familiar with the diagnosis told the Free Press on Monday.
Sudfeld was injured on his only series of the game, when he stepped awkwardly while scrambling near the Panthers sideline.
Lions coach Dan Campbell said Monday morning Sudfeld was undergoing further testing to confirm the extent of his injury.
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“If it is the deal with Nate it’s awful, and I hate that for him,” Campbell said. “That’s tough, cause Nate’s given us everything he’s had and he came in last year and brought something to us, and somebody we were very comfortable with, enough to sign him back. So I hate that if that’s the way it goes here.”
Sudfeld, who joined the Lions last September and appeared in two games without throwing a pass as Jared Goff’s backup, delivered mixed results in his first preseason as a Lion. He completed 26 of 51 passes for 291 yards with one touchdown and three interceptions.
The Lions signed Teddy Bridgewater earlier this month to be Goff’s primary backup, but were contemplating keeping Sudfeld as a third quarterback on their 53-man roster.
Campbell said Monday he has “a lot of faith in Teddy.”
“He’s gotten better and better every practice, every week, so I feel pretty good,” he said.
Bridgewater started the Lions’ final two preseason games and completed 18 of 33 passes for 212 yards and one touchdown.
With Sudfeld out, the Lions could keep undrafted rookie Adrian Martinez as their No. 3 quarterback on practice squad. Martinez was 9-for-18 passing for 76 yards with a rushing touchdown this preseason and led a game-winning drive in the Lions’ win over the New York Giants.
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Rookie third-round pick Hendon Hooker is expected to open the year on the nonfootball injury list as he continues to recover from the torn ACL he suffered last November at Tennessee. The Lions plan to activate Hooker to their 53-man roster at some point in the regular season.
Contact Dave Birkett at dbirkett@freepress.com. Follow him @davebirkett.