Rakestraw intercepts in Lions' preseason finale
With three jobs in the secondary still up for grabs, Ennis Rakestraw Jr. picked off a pass in Indianapolis on the last afternoon that will count toward anybody's roster spot.
The secondary is still wide open, and Rakestraw just made his pitch
Dan Campbell isn't pretending this roster is settled. "There'll be a lot of these guys that will be playing in this game. There are still spots available, jobs available," he said this week, adding that the point of Saturday's finale is to "give a lot of exposure to some of these guys to give them the best opportunity to put their best stuff on tape, whether it's here or for another team," per ClickOnDetroit.
Nowhere is that truer than the secondary. Christian Izien, Roger McCreary and Keith Abney II are still competing for the nickel job, with Campbell saying flatly it's staying that way — the plan may split reps by down and distance rather than crown a winner. Outside, D.J. Reed has the corner spot locked down, but the Lions have given Rock Ya-Sin the first shot at starting opposite him after releasing Terrion Arnold, according to Yahoo Sports, while multiple outlets, including Sports Illustrated, have described Rakestraw's camp as shaky enough that his own roster spot isn't a given.
That's what made Saturday matter for him. With Ahmed Hassanein and Alex O'Neill collapsing the pocket, Rakestraw stepped in front of a throw for an interception — exactly the kind of play that turns a training-camp question mark into a 53-man decision, and exactly the kind of proof Campbell said he wanted to see from this game.
Last time out, Dobbs ran one in, Bates split his kicks, and Detroit found 1-1
The last time out, on August 22, the Lions beat the Commanders 17-13 to even their preseason record at 1-1. Joshua Dobbs did the damage two ways, completing 7 of 12 passes for 74 yards and an interception through the air, then breaking off two carries for 53 yards and a touchdown on the ground. Trayveon Williams turned 10 carries into 36 yards and a score and added a 24-yard catch, and Jake Bates made one of two field goals plus both extra points.
Commanders17-13
Bengals14-16It wasn't clean everywhere — Jacob Saylors ran for 32 yards on six carries but also coughed up a fumble that Washington took back for a touchdown, the kind of mistake that will matter more in roster meetings than it did on the scoreboard. Preseason results don't carry over into the regular season, but who made those plays does, and Saturday's finale in Indianapolis was the last chance for any of them to add to the file.
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Detroit's roster kept moving this week even before Saturday's cuts. Payton Turner (back) landed on injured reserve Thursday, Pro Football Talk reported, and linebacker Damone Clark went to IR with an undisclosed issue on Tuesday — two players who won't be part of whatever 53 the Lions land on next week.
Lions put DE Payton Turner on IR. t.co/hyUmWsra92
There was a subtraction and an addition on the same day: Detroit signed cornerback Eric Scott Jr. on Thursday, adding another body to a secondary competition that's already crowded. Elsewhere, Isiah Pacheco is now dealing with a back injury on top of the knee issue Campbell says isn't a concern, per Dave Birkett of the Detroit Free Press, while Sam LaPorta (hip) was back at practice Tuesday, according to Richard Silva of The Detroit News, and Derrick Moore (groin) could return as soon as next week, per Nolan Bianchi of The Detroit News.
The real opener waits two weeks, at home, against a Saints team that just beat Dallas
None of Saturday's roster drama changes the calendar — the games that count start Sunday afternoon vs. the Saints, back at Ford Field. New Orleans is still 0-0 like everybody else, but its preseason ledger reads 1-2, with the lone win a 27-24 road decision at Dallas that's the only real data point on them so far.
The Lions open as the favorite, with the line set at -6.5, and the total pinned at 48.5 pointing to a high-scoring afternoon. Whatever the finale in Indianapolis settles about the back end of this roster, the group that takes the field against New Orleans will be the one Detroit actually trusts.