After putting their starters through an intense scrimmage, the Lions are planning on resting a handful of players on Thursday.
Over the past two preseasons, the Detroit Lions have developed a habit of pushing their starters hard in practice and then resting them in the game. With four preseason games on the docket in 2025, the Lions appear to be sticking with their approach. After holding a scrimmage at practice on Tuesday, coach Dan Campbell said that they plan to rest their starters against the Los Angeles Chargers during the Thursday Hall of Fame preseason game.
“This will be our first scrimmage that we will have in camp here. Most of it will be focused on the group of guys that I don’t see playing in a couple of days for the Chargers,” Campbell said on Tuesday. “So we’re really going to get them a number of reps here, get them some good intensity.”
Despite previously suggesting that the team’s “young guys” were going to get much-needed reps in the preseason , Campbell appears to have had a change of heart with a few rookies, including first-round pick Tyleik Williams and second-round pick Tate Ratledge—both of whom have been repping with the starters all camp.
“I don’t think I’m going to play Tate (Ratledge) or Leik (Tyleik Williams) this game,” Campbell clarified. “We talked about it as a staff, and it’s like, ‘Why don’t we just wait? Maybe play him in Atlanta?’ So I think we’ll hold tight.”
To get an idea of how many players the Lions plan on resting, it’s worth noting that in the first preseason game in 2024, they rested 27 players, and in 2023, they rested 28 players.
So who is likely to be sitting on Thursday night? We tracked the starters from Tuesday’s scrimmage to see which players played a significant amount. Here’s a list of the players who played in six or seven series during the scrimmage and are not expected to play on Thursday night:
- QB: Jared Goff
- RBs: Jahmyr Gibbs, David Montgomery
- WRs: Amon-Ra St. Brown, Jameson Williams, Tim Patrick, Kalif Raymond
- TEs: Sam LaPorta, Brock Wright
- OL: Penei Sewell, Graham Glasgow, Tate Ratledge, Christian Mahogany, Dan Skipper
- EDGE: Aidan Hutchinson, Marcus Davenport
- DT: DJ Reeder, Tyleik Williams
- LB: Jack Campbell, Derrick Barnes, Alex Anzalone
- CB: DJ Reed, Terrion Arnold
- S: Brian Branch, Avonte Maddox
Ratledge and Mahogany each subbed out one series during the scrimmage, allowing Kayode Awosika to take reps at both left and right guard. If Awosika does not play on Thursday, it will be a strong indicator that his spot on the roster is safe.
Skipper subbed out a series in favor of Jamarco Jones, but with limited depth at tackle, the Lions are expected to play Jones. It’s also possible that the lack of depth could force Skipper into action, but that’s less clear.
Anzalone, who has been slowly worked back in after returning from a hamstring injury, gave way to Zach Cunningham on a series or two. Anzalone surely won’t play, but with Cunningham’s status still a bit in flux, he could very well play.
Arnold exited practice after three series and was evaluated for a hamstring injury, so don’t expect him to play.