Former Tennessee Vols quarterback Hendon Hooker is quickly fading in the battle for the Detroit Lions' backup quarterback job.
Hooker was outplayed by veteran quarterback Kyle Allen in Detroit's preseason loss to the Miami Dolphins this past weekend. Allen has now outplayed Hooker in all three of the Lions' preseason games.
Lions head coach Dan Campbell met with reporters after the loss to Miami and he all but named Allen as Detroit's No. 2 quarterback.
"Yeah, I mean, he’s playing better, he’s playing better", said Campbell when asked if it's Allen's job to lose. "So I would say that right now...if you had to go in with the two (No. 2 QB) right now, who would you trust more? Yeah, I would trust Kyle more because he’s proven more after these two games. But we’re still going to coach Hooker up. 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.”
Campbell indicated that he'd like to get Hooker more reps this upcoming week (Hooker could also see significant action in the Lions' final preseason game).
At this point, it seems unlikely that Hooker is going to be able to win the job over Allen. Hooker would probably have to be perfect over these final couple of weeks before the start of the season to have any shot at unseating Allen -- and even that may not be enough for Hooker to win the job.
The most likely scenario is that Detroit wants to get Hooker some positive reps on film so they can shop the former Vol for a late round draft pick.
And maybe that's what would be best for Hooker -- the North Carolina native may just need a fresh start in a new system.
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