DETROIT -- The Detroit Lions opened the year at Ford Field with a 24-17 preseason loss to the Miami Dolphins.
As always with the preseason, there were some highs and lows, and a handful of players who put themselves on the roster bubble as cut day nears.
Lions wideout Isaac TeSlaa has cemented himself as a rookie to watch, while the Lions are leaning toward their veteran option in the battle for QB2.
The Lions have one preseason game left on the books, not to mention one joint practice with the Houston Texans this week.
Here are some notable quotes from the Lions and Dolphins players and head coaches on Saturday:
Lions coach Dan Campbell, on if QB2 is Kyle Allen’s to lose: “Yeah, I mean, he’s playing better, he’s playing better. So I would say that right now, if you’re saying -- if you had to go in with the (no.) two right now, ‘Who would you trust more?’ Yeah, I would trust Kyle more because he’s proven more after these two games. But I’m still -- we’re still going to coach (Hendon) Hooker up. We’re still going to see what’s there and see if we can get him better. I mean, we still got a little bit here.”
Allen, on throwing to TeSlaa and Jackson Meeks: “Oh, it’s been awesome, especially for young guys coming in here and playing early, getting their first couple starts. And they haven’t blinked. The lights aren’t too bright for them. Tesla makes great plays in the red zone, really reliable. Just throw a 50-50 ball to him, give him a chance, and usually good things come from it. So it’s been awesome.”
Lions QB Hendon Hooker, on the fateful game-ending interception: “I wouldn’t do anything differently. My mind’s still blown. I’ve never seen someone jump so high to catch an interception, especially blitzing off the edge. That’s an amazing play that he made. My decision was a good decision. I was thinking, get the ball into the flat, might be hot, we’ll gain maybe seven yards, get out of bounds, stop the clock, and have an opportunity to go for the end zone.”
TeSlaa, on his first game with the Lions at Ford Field: “It’s cool. I mean, I was here in 2018 for the Michigan state championship, and I remember walking out of that tunnel, and being like, ‘This is the coolest moment of my life.’ And I go out there, I think I had a passing touchdown, two rushing touchdowns, a couple of interceptions, and I’m like, ‘Man, that’s the coolest moment of my life.’ Then I get drafted by the Lions, that’s the coolest moment of my life. Now I’m walking out of the tunnel as a Lion, score a touchdown, I mean, I’m just so blessed. So thankful to God he’s been so faithful to me.”
Dolphins coach Mike McDaniel, on his defense getting tested: “To get all of those reps is invaluable because not only is it the situation in the moment of truth, but everyone learns from it in the film room. Those are -- particular with Dan (Campbell) being super aggressive, you are looking for those moments of intensity and pressure situations to see how people respond.”
Campbell, on Lions RB Sione Vaki’s return to action: “It was just good to get him out there. I mean, that’s where I would start. He’s missed most of camp, so to be able to get him out, get him some significant reps on special teams, on the offense, I thought he did a few things. But so, that’s where I’m happy. I don’t -- I’ll know more about exactly what it looked like, but it’s just good to get him out there on the turf moving the football again.”
Dolphins WR Dee Eskridge, on the former WMU standout’s return to Michigan: “It feels like home every time. You know, me going to Western Michigan a lot of my close people, they live in Detroit right now. It’s just another home for me, for sure.”
Dolphins WR Andrew Armstrong, on TeSlaa’s play (Arkansas teammates): “Hey, it was a great catch, a great touchdown for him, man. Proud of him. Glad he’s over here having success right now. It’s been a great thing to watch.”
Campbell’s assessment of the game: “We had an opportunity to win there at the end and we just weren’t able to finish it out. I told the team really, it was more about -- you want to know you’re playing complementary football. That’s the big deal with me. You guys have been around. They know that, and so as long as one of your units is keeping you alive, you can weather the storm. But then we kind of, we hit that rough patch. There in the fourth quarter, it’s third-and-1, third-and really half-a-yard and we don’t -- we get a penalty, backs us up, then we don’t convert. Then defensively we punt them down there, but defensively we can’t stop them. They chew up most of the fourth quarter and kick a field goal to go up seven and then we couldn’t answer back. So, we just stalled out there at the end, but lot of guys made some plays, when they had their opportunity and really the story for us, as far as the loss goes, is too many penalties. We just, there were way too many penalties that we got to clean up.”
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