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Dan Campbell: Kyle Allen playing better than Hendon Hooker, but backup QB race not over
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- Dan Campbell: Kyle Allen playing better than Hendon Hooker, but backup QB race not over
The preseason isn't over yet, but Detroit Lions coach Dan Campbell has a pretty good idea who Jared Goff 's backup will be to start the regular season.
Asked after Saturday's 24-17 preseason loss to the Miami Dolphins if the No. 2 quarterback job is Kyle Allen 's to lose, Campbell said, "I mean, he's playing better."
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"He's playing better," Campbell said. "So I would say that right now, if you're saying – if you had to go in with a 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 and 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."
Detroit Lions quarterback Kyle Allen looks to hand off the ball during the first quarter of the preseason game at Ford Field in Detroit, Saturday, Aug. 16, 2025.
Allen made his second start of the preseason Saturday and outplayed Hooker for the third time in as many games.
Allen completed 14 of 17 passes for 124 yards and threw first-half touchdown passes to rookie receivers Jackson Meeks and Isaac TeSlaa . All three of Allen's incompletions came on overthrows and the veteran quarterback led a sterling two-minute drive that ended in a touchdown just before halftime.
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He completed all six of his passes for 70 yards on the drive, dug the Lions out of a third-and-12 after taking a sack and closed the possession with an 18-yard touchdown pass to TeSlaa.
"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 at critical times," Campbell said. "I thought the two-minute drill at the end was awesome right before half. I mean that was – 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, he's onto the next play which all of us appreciate that. He's done a good job. I do have faith in him."
Hooker, who started the Lions' second preseason game last week against the Atlanta Falcons as part of the team's backup rotation, took a sack on his first pass attempt Saturday and finished 6 of 13 for 61 yards with an interception.
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He played his best football during a two-minute drive at the end of the game, when the Lions started at their own 39-yard line and drove to the Miami 13 before Ethan Robinson made a leaping interception on a pass to Zach Horton in the flat. Robinson was coming on a slot blitz on the play and jumped into the passing lane.
"It took him a while to get going, but once we got to kind of end-of-game setting, I appreciated the fact that, yes, we got to score, yes, we're under 2 minutes, but he – the ball went where it was supposed to by coverage," Campbell said. "He didn't try to force anything, He calmed everything down enough to know that, man, we don't have to force it, just take what's there, let the players do the rest of the work for him."
Campbell said Hooker will get extended reps and possibly the start in next week's preseason finale against the Houston Texans .
For the preseason, Allen is 30 of 39 passing (76.9%) for 335 yards and four touchdowns with two interceptions. He's led the Lions to scores on 6 of 13 full offensive possessions.
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Hooker is 16 of 29 for 117 yards with no touchdowns, two interceptions and two lost fumbles. The Lions have scored one of his 14 drives.
A third-round pick in 2023, Hooker said he doesn't feel any extra pressure to close the gap on Allen before teams have to cut their rosters to 53 players Aug. 26.
"I mean, I put pressure on myself every day but just continuing to be a good teammate regardless of who is in or who's going and playing my game," he said.
Dave Birkett covers the Lions for the Detroit Free Press. Contact him at dbirkett@freepress.com . Follow him on Bluesky , X and Instagram at @davebirkett.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Dan Campbell trusts Kyle Allen more than Hendon Hooker at backup QB
