Pride of Detroit
The Detroit Lions lost to the Miami Dolphins 24-17 in Week 2 of the preseason, but the outcome of the game doesn’t matter much. We can tell much more about the team by how individuals performed, and—sometimes just as important—how much and when they played.
So let’s take a look at both the snaps counts from Lions players on Saturday, but also the order in which each player came onto the field.
Allen got the start, as an expected part of the rotation. And while each quarterback got equal opportunities, coach Dan Campbell made it clear after the game that Allen is leading the backup quarterback competition. That said, the team plans to give Hooker more looks this upcoming week to see if the third-year quarterback can make a last-ditch effort for the job.
“I’d like to get him some more reps next week. I’m talking about Hooker,” Campbell said. “I mean, we’re going to get them both reps, but maybe we—we might start him out again for that game and let him go with that unit.”
Sione Vaki finally made his preseason debut, and he split time with Reynolds with the starting unit. Detroit also continues to get a long look at former UFL star Jacob Saylors, as he makes a strong case for the practice squad. While newly-added Deon Jackson didn’t see much time on offense, he got plenty of opportunities to stand out on special teams. Only two players (Ian Kennelly and Anthony Pittman) played more on teams than he did.
Note: Both the NFL official snap counts and PFF credited Kalif Raymond with a single snap, but I’m fairly certain he was not dressed for the night, so I did not include it.
Meeks played the entire first half, and then helped Detroit on the final drive of the game. No one made more use of their snaps than the rookie receiver. The game was split pretty evenly between the six active receivers:
First half:
Second half:
While it’s a little surprising to see Lovett’s playing time so small, the seventh-round pick just...
