{"id":978746,"date":"2026-08-20T23:57:26","date_gmt":"2026-08-20T23:57:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/978746\/"},"modified":"2026-08-20T23:57:26","modified_gmt":"2026-08-20T23:57:26","slug":"the-passtronaut-absorbs-opportunity-detroit-lions-qb-joshua-dobbs-to-start-saturday-vs-washington","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/978746\/","title":{"rendered":"The Passtronaut absorbs opportunity: Detroit Lions QB Joshua Dobbs to start Saturday vs. Washington"},"content":{"rendered":"

ALLEN PARK, Mich. \u2013 Detroit Lions<\/a> quarterback Joshua Dobbs<\/a> is looking forward to his first preseason start with the team, saying Saturday\u2019s game will be another opportunity to get comfortable in a new offense and compete for a roster spot.<\/p>\n

Lions head coach Dan Campbell<\/a> said Dobbs will start against Washington, with rookie Luke Altmyer<\/a> also expected to receive an equal number of snaps. <\/p>\n

Jared Goff<\/a> is not expected to play.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnytime you get an opportunity to start, and play is always a dream and a joy,\u201d Dobbs said. \u201cSo, I\u2019m excited to go out there, compete.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dobbs joined the Lions less than two weeks ago and said he has enjoyed the process of getting to know his new teammates and learning offensive coordinator Drew Petzing<\/a>\u2019s system.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s been good getting a chance to get to know everyone, learn the offense, get up to speed,\u201d Dobbs said.<\/p>\n

Dobbs played in the Lions\u2019 first preseason game, getting two opportunities on offense that resulted in scoring drives. <\/p>\n

With more preparation time before Saturday\u2019s game, he said he feels more comfortable.<\/p>\n

The first preseason game came after only a couple of days with the team. This time, Dobbs has had roughly nine days to prepare.<\/p>\n

\u201cI definitely feel more comfortable,\u201d Dobbs said. \u201cBut still getting up to speed.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Passtronaut<\/p>\n

Known as \u201cThe Passtronaut,\u201d Dobbs has become one of the league\u2019s most recognizable quarterbacks, in part because of his aerospace engineering background and his ability to learn new offenses quickly.<\/p>\n

The nickname has followed Dobbs through a career that has included stops with the Pittsburgh Steelers, Tennessee Titans, Arizona Cardinals, Minnesota Vikings, San Francisco 49ers, and New England Patriots.<\/p>\n

Now, as he competes for a roster spot with the Lions, Dobbs is once again being asked to absorb a new system on short notice.<\/p>\n

Dobbs focused on execution<\/p>\n

Dobbs said he does not have a specific statistical benchmark for Saturday\u2019s game. <\/p>\n

Instead, he wants to operate the offense cleanly, execute plays and take advantage of each opportunity.<\/p>\n

\u201cGuys are competing for jobs, guys are competing for opportunities, guys are competing for bigger roles,\u201d Dobbs said. \u201cEvery time you step on the field is to go out and execute and play at a high level.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dobbs has spent much of his career competing for opportunities and said his approach remains the same regardless of whether he is playing in a preseason game or practicing.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy goal is to be myself,\u201d Dobbs said. \u201cGo out, execute the offense, get out of the huddle and perform at a high level.\u201d<\/p>\n

The veteran quarterback acknowledged that he is also competing for a roster spot, but said he is focused on controlling what he can.<\/p>\n

\u201cAny opportunity to play football is a joy and a blessing,\u201d Dobbs said. \u201cI\u2019m going to enjoy it, but make the most of it at the same time.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dobbs enjoying Lions quarterback room<\/p>\n

Dobbs said the Lions have a quarterback room with considerable experience, including Goff and others.<\/p>\n

He also said he has enjoyed working alongside Goff, whom he has known since they were in the same high school class.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is the first time me and JG were in the same high school class,\u201d Dobbs said. \u201cSo, we\u2019ve known each other for a while.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dobbs said the experience in the quarterback room has helped him learn the offense, while rookie Altmyer has impressed him with his ability to absorb information.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s been good, man,\u201d Dobbs said of Altmyer. \u201cI\u2019ve been impressed.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dobbs said Altmyer has responded well to adversity, made plays when opportunities have been available, and done a good job getting in and out of the huddle.<\/p>\n

For his part, Dobbs said he tries to be a resource for the rookie while acknowledging that he is still learning the offense himself.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m no expert in this offense,\u201d Dobbs said. \u201cI know I\u2019ve played football, but I\u2019m not an expert here yet.\u201d<\/p>\n

Familiarity with Drew Petzing\u2019s offense<\/p>\n

Dobbs has previous experience in an offense coordinated by Petzing, but he cautioned that his time with the Lions has been limited.<\/p>\n

\u201cI would say a few weeks is probably a stretch at this point,\u201d Dobbs said. \u201cIt\u2019s been nine days.\u201d<\/p>\n

Still, Dobbs said the Lions\u2019 offense has similarities to systems he has previously worked in, while noting the personnel and scheme are different.<\/p>\n

Petzing has adjusted the offense to fit the players on the Lions\u2019 roster, Dobbs said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe team\u2019s built differently,\u201d Dobbs said. \u201cSo, you\u2019re going to build your offense around these guys and their skill set.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dobbs said he has enjoyed watching Detroit\u2019s offensive weapons and seeing how Petzing uses them to maximize their abilities.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe obviously have some great weapons, like the best players in the league,\u201d Dobbs said.<\/p>\n

Taking the preseason day by day<\/p>\n

With the regular season approaching, Dobbs said he is not looking too far ahead.<\/p>\n

Instead, he plans to focus on the playbook, what he can control, and making the most of every practice repetition.<\/p>\n

\u201cTake it day by day,\u201d Dobbs said. \u201cDon\u2019t look ahead. Just take it day by day and focus on the playbook, what you can control, and maximizing every rep.\u201d<\/p>\n

More: Detroit Lions HC Dan Campbell updates LaPorta injury, Hutchinson workload, backup QB battle ahead of Week 2<\/a><\/p>\n

Copyright 2026 by WDIV ClickOnDetroit – All rights reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"ALLEN PARK, Mich. \u2013 Detroit Lions quarterback Joshua Dobbs is looking forward to his first preseason start with…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":978747,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2071],"tags":[6214,146,113,2506,24101,7,1029,9538,147,28563,6],"class_list":["post-978746","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-detroit-lions","tag-dan-campbell","tag-detroit","tag-detroit-lions","tag-detroitlions","tag-drew-petzing","tag-football","tag-jared-goff","tag-joshua-dobbs","tag-lions","tag-luke-altmyer","tag-nfl"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/117130549176525325","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/978746","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=978746"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/978746\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/978747"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=978746"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=978746"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=978746"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}