With the Detroit Lions placing veteran quarterback Teddy Bridgewater on the reserve/retired list Sunday, undrafted rookie Luke Altmyer has a big opportunity Thursday in Detroit's first preseason game in Cincinnati to make a statement.
Lions head coach Dan Campbell said quarterback Jared Goff and most of the starters won't play against the Bengals. Detroit reportedly signed veteran quarterback Josh Dobbs Sunday afternoon, but Altmyer is expected to get a lot of the reps Thursday and is looking forward to the work.
"First of all, best wishes to (Bridgewater)," Altmyer said after Sunday's practice. "I'm so thankful to spend time with him and (Goff), obviously, learning from both of them, different perspectives (and) different outlooks on how they see things. It was a joy to spend some time with him.
"But it brings about opportunity for myself. The standard is to play good football no matter how many reps or whatever my role is. I have a job to do, and my job is to do that very well at a high level. I'm thankful and believe in my abilities and I'm going to go cut it loose whatever that looks like."
Altmyer started the last three years at Illinois, completing better than 60 percent of his passes all three seasons with 57 touchdowns and 21 interceptions. He has a strong belief in his ability and a lot of confidence for a rookie signal caller.
"Yeah, thought he did some really good things," Campbell said of Altmyer's performance in training camp so far. "He was put in some really tough positions for a young player that you absolutely have to be put in, you just do. You've got to be thrust in it and really you need to fail, you need to make mistakes so that you can grow.
"We thought he handled it really well, we did. He had a delay of game, there were a couple of misreads. But man, that's part of growth. But what you feel like right now, we'll know a lot more when we get in the games, is it doesn't feel too big to him right now. And that's a great sign at that position. So, we'll see, he's got a long way to go and he just needs a million reps."
Altmyer said his mom, dad, two brothers and grandparents will be in Cincinnati to watch his preseason debut Thursday night, and he's excited to put on a good show for them.
"What an awesome opportunity, man," Altmyer said. "It's exactly what I could ever dream of playing NFL football and getting a lot of opportunities out there on that field. You grew up wanting this. I'm grateful and pleased. I'm not going to let it go by. I'm going to take full advantage of it and prepare the right way and be ready for it."
SCRATCHING THE SURFACE
Running back Jahmyr Gibbs has accomplished a lot in his first three seasons in the league. He was a Pro Bowler in each of his first three seasons and has scored more touchdowns (49) than any player in NFL history through their first three seasons.
Gibbs, 24, just signed a three-year extension that will keep him in Detroit through 2030 and has ushered in his return to the practice field after he sat out practice waiting for the extension to get done.
Gibbs set a career-high with 77 receptions last season for 616 yards and five touchdowns, but that's an area we could see huge growth from him in Drew Petzing's offense. Gibbs made a couple critical third-down catches in Sunday's practice at the Meijer Performance Center that kept drives going.
"We're going to push him because we think this kid can be one of the best, if not the best," Campbell said Sunday of Gibbs. "So, we're going to push him to get there. We're going to see what he's got now.
"I'm glad we got (Isiah) Pacheco and he's going to very much be a part of what we have, but we need to see where we can take Gibbs now. We've only scratched the surface of him."
EXTRA POINT
The Lions signed cornerback Ryan Cooper and linebacker Amen Ogbongbemiga on Sunday. They also waived tight end Nick Muse.
Cooper went undrafted out of Oregon State in 2024 and has spent time in Baltimore, Seattle, Miami, New York (Jets) and most recently with the Birmingham Stallions of the UFL.
Ogbongbemiga was undrafted in 2021, playing in Los Angeles (Chargers) and Chicago to begin his career.
