The Detroit Lions made a late-season addition to their quarterbacks room with a familiar face on Thursday, with the team signing veteran signal-caller Teddy Bridgewater, who recently came out of retirement.
Bridgewater was with the Lions last season, serving as the backup to Jared Goff, and as a mentor to Hendon Hooker. But Bridgewater decided to retire after the 2023 campaign to go serve as the head coach at his old high school, which he helped win a state championship.
In 2024, Hooker won the backup job out of training camp over Nate Sudfeld and has been in the role since, although he’s seen limited action, throwing just nine passes in three appearances.
There has been some thought that the signing of Bridgewater means the Lions don’t fully trust Hooker, which would be understandable given his lack of experience and the high stakes the Lions are facing.
Head coach Dan Campbell and quarterbacks coach Mark Brunell both expressed faith in Hooker, but Campbell noted that both quarterbacks could play if Goff happens to suffer an injury.
“This does not mean that Hooker is out. That’s not what this means. If it comes to that, Hooker is going to play for us, but Teddy probably will, too,” Campbell said, per Jeremy Reisman of Pride of Detroit. “So, I understand what it looks like, but it’s just a different world that we’re getting ready to talk into, and we just felt like this is the right thing to do, especially with somebody that I have a tremendous amount of trust with and for. He understands our offense well, the guys know him well, the coaches know him well, and he brings a certain level of comfort to us.”
#Lions QB Mark Brunell said Detroit would absolutely trust Hendon Hooker to appear in a playoff game if necessary.
— Nolan Bianchi (@nolanbianchi) December 26, 2024
The signing of Bridgewater came as no surprise to Hooker, who said it’s something he has expected since the summer. Hooker was also happy to reunite with someone he considers a mentor.
“I figured Teddy was going to come back here this season,” Hooker said, per Dave Birkett of the Detroit Free Press. “I didn’t know when. I knew when his season was over he was going to come back. I mean, we’ve been talking about it since the summer.”
“Definitely miss my guy just being in the room and leaning on him whenever Jared is doing his own thing,” he added. “Still asking questions. He’s still my mentor at the end of the day, so any questions I have about life or this game of football or being a pro always seem to lean on Teddy.”
At the end of the day, the move was a good one by the Lions. It never hurts to have a little extra insurance and more experience at the most important position on the football field. Not to mention, Bridgewater is good for Hooker’s development.
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