Good, bad and ugly from Lions' preseason opener against Bengals
Lions insider Dave Birkett analyzes who shined and who disappointed in the preseason opener in Cincinnati against the Bengals, Aug. 13, 2026.
Video Transcript
Dave Birkett, Detroit Free Press here at Paycor Stadium in Cincinnati after the Detroit Lions' preseason opening 16-14 loss to the Cincinnati Bengals.
Let's recap the good, the bad, the ugly, everything that went on, and even a little bit of what didn't, I guess.
Let's start right there.
Lions did not play any starters.
No Jared Goff, no Jahmyr Gibbs, no Penei Sewell, Aidan Hutchinson, so I wouldn't read too much into the result.
Obviously, you always wanna win when you step on the field, but it's more about evaluating some of the players that are contending for jobs and some of the rookies, and so let's jump into that a little bit.
Let's start with the good.
I thought a couple players that jumped out for the Lions.
Ahmed Hassanen, you guys have seen me write and talk about him multiple times during camp here.
He had two sacks, one against Joe Burrow, that essentially thwarted a, a, a scoring drive.
And then another late in the game when he had a sack fumble, or in the second half at least, when he had a, a sack fumble.
Look, he's had a really strong camp.
He continues to, to rush the passer well.
He plays with so much energy.
It's, it's, and, and Dan Campbell said after the game, it's something that he expected, the way that Hassanen's camp has gone, he expected that to carry over to the game.
Obviously, Tyler Vlasek is gonna be the Lions' starting big end.
Ahmed Hassanen, though, has a chance to be the number two, and that's a big step for him after not playing at all as a rookie.
Remember, he lost basically all of his preseason last year.
He had a pectoral injury.
So this is kinda new for him, and he said after the game, he said he even cried when he got to Joe Burrow.
It's something he tried to manifest before the game.
Doesn't count in the record books, but for him it counts.
He got a pelt on the wall and a pretty good quarterback in Joe Burrow.
I thought he was one of the, the biggest bright spots on defense.
I thought Jacob Saylors was the biggest bright spot on offense.
Saylors, had a really good game running and receiving the ball.
He led the Lions in both categories in the first half.
He was really, as Dan Campbell said after the game, he was really, if anything was going right offensively early, it was going through Jacob Saylors' hands.
He had a couple good runs to set up field goals.
Look, the Lions are set at the top of their running back room, okay?
Jahmyr Gibbs is the number one, no questions asked.
Isaiah Pacheco, when he comes back from his knee sprain, he'll be the number two.
Dione Bell, you know, Dan Campbell said it after the game, he's one of the best special teams players in the NFL.
He's making this team.
That's three running backs.
If the Lions keep a fourth, it's gonna be a guy that also contributes on special teams.
Jacob Saylors can do that.
He returned kicks last year.
He's on the punt cover team.
You know, he's, he's on the, the kick return team.
Even if he's not a kicker, he can be in the, the blocking unit there.
So he adds some value, and I thought he ran the ball well.
I'm looking at the, the stats right here.
Saylors finished with 55 yards rushing on, on eight carries, and he ended up finishing or tying for first with 28 yards receiving on three catches.
Didn't play in the, the second half, at least not on offense, so maybe that's a good sign.
Still not out of the woods when it comes to making the j- you know, making the roster, but if the Lions keep four running backs, I think he'll be the guy.
Couple guys that I, you know, I thought had, maybe a little bit disappointing debuts, Ennis Rakestraw.
You know, he left the game with injury.
Dan said it's not too serious, but still, the fact is, the Bengals picked on him a little bit.
They threw the ball at him, I think it was three times in four plays.
He led the, the Lions in tackles, you know, in the first half with five, and that's because the Bengals kept throwing at him.
Got hurt on a run play.
Dan said it's not too serious, so that's good news, but he needs to be a little bit better, right?
I mean, right now it's D.J.
Reed, it's Okara Tolutope, your top two cornerbacks.
Nick Whiteside has probably played his way into the number three job.
I know he hasn't had a great camp, Roger McCreary, but Dan said he did some good things tonight.
I'm gonna have to go back and watch the tape on that one.
Keith Abney is a rookie.
He's gonna make the team, and he provides some special teams value.
So Rakestraw is still scrapping for not just a roster spot, I think he probably makes it, you don't wanna give up on, on him, but, but for a role, and he's gonna have to be on the field to get a role, and then he's gonna have to start contributing as well.
Isaac Tesla's another guy.
Look, the Lions threw three passes to him tonight.
He didn't catch a single one of them.
One bounced off his helmet, went for an interception.
Another fourth-down play went through his hands.
Would've been a tough catch, but something certainly we've seen him make last year.
He has not had a good preseason, and it's something that I think the Look, Dan said he, he's not worried.
He said, you know, it's not necessarily something that he has to talk to Tesla about, but, you know, indicated that maybe he's pressing a little bit.
He wants to be great.
He's sort of in this number three role, being counted on to produce a little bit more this year, and so maybe some of that is getting to him.
He hasn't had a great camp.
He hasn't made any of those wild plays, those splash plays that we saw last year.
He needs to take a step forward.
He needs to pick it up here a little bit.
I didn't think that was a, a great debut tonight after sort of a, a, a rough camp, an up-and-down camp so far.
Let's talk Blake Miller real quick before I sign off here.
You know, the rookie, he played the entire first half.
Lions had two of their starting, projected starting offensive linemen out there, Christian Mahogany at left guard and Blake Miller at right tackle.
I thought Blake was up and down, sorta like his camp has been.
He's done some good things in the run or did some good things in the run tonight.
There were a couple, you know, pass sets where maybe his, he just didn't shoot his hands right.
You know, some of the, the speed, hurt him, even if he didn't give up a sack.
You know, the one thing that he said after the game was that he needs to make sure that whatever he does, he commits to.
And I said, you know, maybe that's, is that thinking too much?
Is that something for a rookie?
He said he didn't know if it was, was thinking, but it's just something, when you commit to whatever that pass set is gonna be or however you're gonna play that, that lineman, you have to do it all the way out.
And he's sorta getting caught in between with some of those things right now.
Some of that's probably coming against, you know, playing good players.
I mean, he sees Aidan Hutchinson every day in practice.
He did see the Bengals' starting defense for a little bit out here.
He's a critical, critical player for the Lions this year.
And you know, all these reps out here are going to help him.
I don't think he stood out in a bad way but, you know, there's, there's, especially in a, a game when there wasn't a whole lot of passing, you'd like to see him maybe a little bit sharper on some of his pass sets.
Last thing to, to mention here, look, it was Luke Altmyer playing most of the game.
Josh Dobbs played, you know, s- most of the second quarter, the, the last three, you know, series there right before halftime.
Altmyer, you know, he had the three turnovers.
One, wasn't his fault, the, the interception to, to Tesla.
Bad hand off.
He just didn't have, you know, possession of it when he was trying to get the ball to Saylors.
That fumble was on him, and then he threw one late.
I wouldn't read too much into the turnovers.
I thought he did some good things.
It was a learning experience, as I wrote.
Still probably has a big hill to climb to be the number two with, with Josh Dobbs there.
But, you know, Dan said after the game he didn't wanna give him, you know, too much sugar.
He didn't want him to get cavities, but he liked sorta what he did in his debut.
So maybe there's something to build on there, and there's something to build on for the defense, too, because, they played against the first team offense of the Bengals, Joe Burrow, Jahmyr Chase, Tee Higgins.
They got one stop to get off the field, the Hassanen sack.
They gave up a field goal, on the second series.
That's this Lions second team defense.
If nothing else, for the unit that's been much maligned, that has a lot of questions about it, maybe it's a little bit of a, a good thing to take from preseason week one.
That'll do it for me here at Paycor Stadium.
I'm Dave Birkett.
This is freak.com.
Again, the Lions lose their preseason opener 16-14 to the Bengals.
Next week, they host the Washington Commanders.
I'll be back to talk more about that one then
