The Detroit Lions and Cincinnati Bengals both kick off their preseason schedule on Thursday night. For the Bengals, it’s an opportunity for the starters to knock off their rust, before the reserves come in and start battling for roster spot consideration.
The Lions are taking a different approach. Coach Dan Campbell said the team will rest the majority of their starters against the Bengals, apart from a select few—most notably, first-round rookie Blake Miller. That will give the reserves a bunch of time to make their case for backup jobs and maybe even push the starters for playing time. It sounds like Detroit will wait until next week’s home preseason game against the Washington Commanders to put their starters on the field.
On this post, we will be providing drive-by-drive analysis, combined with highlights, injury news, and score updates for the game. When the game kicks off at 7 p.m. ET, just come back to this post, and refresh for updates as the game proceeds.