The Detroit Lions have been very good this season. So good that they’ve been able to do something that teams don’t get a lot of chances to do, play their young backup quarterback in blowout wins.
We’ve got to see Hendon Hooker in three games this year becasue the Lions have been putting up some crazy points. In these moments there’s been some excitement that we might get to see what Hooker can do against a live first string defense. Instead what we get is a very muted performance that feels purposely subdued.
Hooker has thrown just 9 passes in those three games and only one of them, a 21 yard pass to Kalif Raymond last Sunday, felt like it was Hooker being allowed to unload. He’s otherwise been checking down or handing the ball off. Turns out there’s a reason it feels purposely subdued, it’s because it is. Lions offensive coordinator Ben Johnson explained this week.
“Yeah, I think it’s invaluable for him. Going out there, you’ve got the lights shining on you, you’ve got people looking at you, it’s not practice setting. He had a ton of reps there during training camp and the preseason games that you saw growth from game one to game three, and now we’re at a spot where he’s been able to get a few in games this year, and the challenge for me is, I do want to get him some passes, but I also don’t want to be disrespectful to the opponent as well, so it’s kind of a balancing act when it comes to that.”
There you go. The Lions don’t want to kick a man when they’re down 40 points. It’s commendable and you can understand the sportsmanship of it all. That likely means that we’re not going to really see Hooker go out there and let it fly until next summer when he plays in the preseason again.