After what was a lost rookie season as he worked his way back from a torn ACL suffered in college, quarterback Hendon Hooker is battling for the Detroit Lions' backup job behind Jared Goff, with veteran Nate Sudfeld being his competition.
Hooker's offseason can best be described as up and down. He has definitely shown flashes and stacked some good days along the way, but he's also shown the issues you'd expect a young quarterback to have, like holding on to the ball for too long, for example.
Despite the fact that Hooker is basically a rookie in his second season, the Lions aren't treating him with kid gloves. Offensive coordinator Ben Johnson recently admitted that the Lions are "coaching him hard."
“Yeah, listen we've taken the approach, we're coaching him hard, which means we're throwing a lot on him and when he makes a mistake, we're letting him know about it and that's what we believe in,” Johnson said, per Nolan Bianch of The Detroit News. “That's what we believe in because if he can handle that, then once he gets to these preseason games, it's going to be a cinch for him. He's really going to click, and I really think he's going to flourish because of that so he's feeling it, he felt it a lot in the springtime.”
As Hooker has tried to find consistency in training camp, Sudfeld has been "Steady Eddie" and appears to at least have a slight lead over the Tennessee product. But nobody should count Hooker out yet with weeks of practice and three preseason games remaining.
“I think at this point now, he’s got a comfort level,” Johnson added. “Those six weeks off during the summer, all of those young guys, but especially Hendon, I mean, you can tell he really worked at his craft. He worked on calling the plays, getting in and out of the huddle, the procedure of it, because once he got that part right, now we can see his talent really coming to life.
“He’s been a lot more accurate here in training camp. You’ve seen him on the move a little bit more. I think once we get him into games, we’ll see his legs really be a benefit for us. So, I’m pleased with the growth he had from the springtime here to camp and we’ll continue to see how far we can push him here over the next few weeks.”
Detroit's tough-love approach with Hooker is no surprise, and it's the right one. The Lions need to know what they have in their backup quarterbacks ahead of a season in which one injury to Goff could derail the team's legitimate Super Bowl aspirations.
