DETROIT -- In the competition to see who will emerge as the backup to Detroit Lions starting quarterback Jared Goff, veteran Kyle Allen took another step forward with his performance.
Following the Lions’ 24-17 loss to the Miami Dolphins, coach Dan Campbell shared his perspective on where things stand in the QB2 battle between Allen and third-year player Hendon Hooker, giving the edge to the former.
“Pretty confident,” Campbell said about moving forward with Allen. “Here we go. This is the second week in a row in a competitive setting here that he’s moved the football for us and made critical throws in critical times. I thought the two-minute drill at the end was awesome right before half. He’s got really good command of the offense. He communicates very clearly. He doesn’t get frazzled. He doesn’t worry about anything if he does something that isn’t quite right or he makes a mistake. He doesn’t get frazzled, and he’s onto the next play.
“He’s playing better. He’s playing better. I would say right now, if you’re saying, if you had to go in with a No. 2 right now, who would you trust more? Yeah, I would trust Kyle more, because he’s proven more after these two games.”
After a slow start in the first quarter, Allen rebounded with a strong second, going 10-for-11 with two touchdowns — one to rookie Isaac TeSlaa and another to undrafted rookie Jackson Meeks. Still, the veteran was measured when discussing his performance under center.
“We want to start faster,” Allen said of the first-half performance. “A couple of penalties got us, and then just a couple of missed throws, just by a little bit. And it was nice for us to settle in there a little bit, start a little faster.”
Allen missed on two early throws — one to TeSlaa and another to Tom Kennedy — but finished the half completing 14 of 17 passes for 124 yards and the two scores.
When asked if he felt he took another step toward claiming the backup role, Allen wasn’t ready to make that call.
“I don’t know. I mean, I just think every day I come out to practice or in a game, it’s just, how good can I execute,” Allen said. “How good can I do my job for the guys around me and keep playing? I know my ability, and I know how good I can be. It’s more about just being consistent.”
On the other side of the competition, Hooker struggled to find rhythm. He showed hesitation in the pocket, nearly lost a strip sack, and often ran into pressure rather than getting rid of the ball.
While penalties and shaky pass protection didn’t help, Hooker struggled to capitalize even when he had time, forcing throws into coverage and missing open targets.
His lone bright spot came late in the fourth quarter during the Lions’ final drive, when he connected with Meeks and Ronnie Bell and converted a keeper on third down. That sequence briefly showed promise, but it ended with a costly interception by Dolphins defender Ethan Robinson that sealed the loss.
“Yeah, that was crazy. I’ve never seen someone jump so high, but I saw him blitz off the edge, and I knew I had free access to the flat to catch and get out of bounds for a quick gain to stop the clock,” Hooker told MLive. “So that’s what I was thinking. Bro just made an amazing play.”
When questioned again moments later during an impromptu scrum, Hooker doubled down on his decision.
“I wouldn’t do anything different,” Hooker said. “…My decision was a good decision. I was thinking, ‘Get the ball into the flat, might be hot, real quick gain, maybe seven yards, get out of bounds, stop the clock, and have an opportunity to go for the end zone.’”
Hooker, who started the second half, finished 6-of-13 for 61 yards with one interception and a passer rating of 28 — a far cry from Allen’s 136.3.
“It’s frustrating,” Hooker said. “I mean, me just as a competitor, I want to jump right in there and get right into my flow. But it’s different coming out — as soon as you come out of halftime, it’s a kickoff, so I get 10 balls to really get into that motion that I was in the groove doing in warmups, trying to get that back. But actually, finally getting into my groove and pushing the ball down the field is not something I wanted to show.”
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