Allen Park — After struggling to find a rhythm with the third team in Thursday’s preseason loss to the Los Angeles Chargers, Hendon Hooker is set to start at quarterback against the Atlanta Falcons on Friday night.
Detroit Lions coach Dan Campbell said Sunday that Hooker will play the entire first half and quarterback Kyle Allen will enter for the second half.
Both quarterbacks struggled to move the ball against the Chargers. Allen at least had some flashes — he finished 9-for-14 passing for 91 yards — but threw two interceptions in Chargers territory, including once from just outside the red zone. Hooker, meanwhile, finished 3-for-6 for 18 yards and an interception, which came on his last attempt.
“It goes without saying, they’re frustrated with the way that went,” Campbell said of both quarterbacks’ performance on Thursday night at Tom Benson Hall of Fame Stadium. “They both want to improve and get better, and they will.”
Hooker wore the lackluster performance while speaking to the media after Sunday’s practice, saying offense just has to “come out and execute, point blank, period. No excuses.”
“Every play is important, so just taking advantage of every play, every throw, every decision, and just putting my best foot forward every time,” Hooker said.
Manu ‘encouraging’ in opener
Second-year offensive tackle Giovanni Manu has a ways to go before he’s ready to see the field during the regular season or playoffs, but his performance against the Los Angeles Chargers in Thursday’s Hall of Fame Game was promising.
“Better. It was better. That’s the best way to say it,” Campbell said Sunday, when asked for his assessment of Manu’s outing in the preseason opener. “The beginning of (training) camp has been probably more downs than ups, and then the game was more encouraging. Actually, I will say this, I thought his last practice before this game was better. I do feel an uptick here, and now you just have to build off of that.
“Always going to be things to work on, but it was better.”
Manu was on the hook for one pressure allowed, per Pro Football Focus, and his pass-blocking grade (77.1) ranked second among Detroit’s offensive linemen, behind interior piece Trystan Colon (79.0). With backup left tackle Dan Skipper (ankle) out Sunday and starter Taylor Decker (shoulder) still working his way back, it was veteran Jamarco Jones and Manu splitting reps with the first-team offense. Jones was out there first, with Manu replacing him later in practice.
nbianchi@detroitnews.com
@nolanbianchi
rsilva@detroitnews.com
@rich_silva18
Hendon Hooker was 3-for-18 for 18 yards and one interception in 34-7 loss vs. Chargers.
Hendon Hooker was 3-for-18 for 18 yards and one interception in 34-7 loss vs. Chargers.
Want to comment on this story? Become a subscriber today. Click here.