Not that he has much choice, but Lions head coach Dan Campbell is not yet ready to bench Jared Goff.
The cinderella of the first four weeks this season has turned into a pumpkin in the last two games for the Detroit Lions. I botched the analogy, but that is the Jared Goff experience through the first six games this season. He led the league in touchdown passes through Week 4 (11), and over the last two games he has accounted directly for as many turnovers as points the Lions have scored in said games (six).
Appearing with Stoney and Jansen on 97.1 The Ticket as he does every Tuesday, head coach Dan Campbell talked about Goff. The Colts’ announcement of Matt Ryan’s benching led Campbell to a reference to Indianapolis head coach Frank Reich.
"I’m no different than what Frank said, I have to look at everything and every player gets evaluated. And if that’s the case, you take it as it comes and you evaluate when need be,” “But right now, it’s all about putting our best unit out there to get ready to play Miami and that’s Jared Goff.”"
Dan Campbell is not quite ready to bench Jared Goff
Asked if he would consider a quarterback change if Goff’s recent turnover problems continued, Campbell had a short, but perhaps telling, answer.
"Look, that’s down the road.”"
Through his early struggles last season, it took Goff being injured and unable to play to not start. Tim Boyle has been swapped out for Nate Sudfeld (37 career regular season pass attempts) as the Lions’ No. 2 quarterback this year, which is the dictionary definition of a lateral move.
If Goff delivers another dud against the Dolphins at home on Sunday, the idea of benching him will still feel far-fetched. Sudfeld is the replacement option on the active roster, and Boyle is on the practice squad.
It’s nice to have that kind of job security if you’re Goff, as general manager Brad Holmes has made no effort to acquire a remotely viable replacement–lest Goff have his ego bruised or be challenged to perform better at risk of being benched.
But it may not take seeing much more from Goff for Campbell to throw up his hands and say someone else can’t be any worse, and to also decide that someone else can’t possibly be more of an active detriment to the Lions’ effort to win games.