The Detroit Lions' QB2 position entered a state of flux this past week after the abrupt retirement of quarterback Teddy Bridgewater.
Bridgewater's retirement prompted the Lions to quickly sign Josh Dobbs to fill in that role of veteran depth at the QB position. Both Dobbs and undrafted free agent rookie Luke Altmyer saw the field in the Lions' 14-16 loss to the Cincinnati Bengals on Thursday, and the results are nothing if not intriguing.
Dobbs, in his second stint with the Lions, was limited to three drives as he reacclimates himself to Drew Petzing's offense from their time in Arizona. Dobbs' first drive came after the Bengals first and only touchdown of the game, leading the Lions into Bengals' territory before penalties and sack knocked them out of field goal range.
Dobbs and the Lions rebounded, scoring twice in the final three minutes of the half to cut the Bengals' lead to 6-10.
Dobbs' night was finished after that, going 4/8 passing, with 32 passing yards. Dobbs also added a good nine-yard rush to round out his Lions return.
High highs and low lows for Altmyer
Altmyer took on a bulk of the snaps Thursday night, getting the start. The Illinois product's night began on an encouraging note, completing his first three passes, including a 23-yard completion to Cedrick Wilson Jr. However, an intended pass to Isaac TeSlaa was tipped and intercepted the following play.
Two drives later, Altmyer drove the Lions down to the Bengals' 29-yard line. In typical Lions fashion, they went for it on fourth down. TeSlaa's rough night continued, failing to bring in Altmyer's pass. The Bengals would turn the ball back over, only for Altmyer to give it back with a fumble of his own, setting up the Bengals' TD.
Dobbs replaced Altmyer after that fumble, but the rookie returned in the second half to mixed results. Altmyer completed only two passes for five yards in the third quarter, and took a bad 12-yard sack in his first fourth quarter drive.
Altmyer followed that up with the Lions best drive of the game by far, taking the offense down the field 80 yards for the team's only TD. Altmyer went 4/5 on that drive for 51 yards, including a 24 TD pass to WR Tarik Black while facing a collapsing pocket.
Luke Altmyer finds Tarik Black for 6! pic.twitter.com/TSYFv0fhID
— Detroit Lions (@Lions) August 14, 2026
READ MORE: It took one preseason game for Ahmed Hassanein to make his presence felt
Altmyer got to show off his footwork, taking in the two-point conversion himself to get the Lions within two points, with a minute and a half to go. Lions got the ball back, but Altmyer's game-winning drive attempt instead ended on a game-ending interception on the first play.
Altmyer finished the game throwing 13/22, with 130 passing yards, along with his one TD, two INTs, one fumble lost, and a sack. On the ground, he had four carries for a single yard on top of his two-point conversion.
Despite those three poorly-timed turnovers, Altmyer looked solid out there, at least as far as what's typically expected out of a UDFA rookie in his first preseason outing. His 64.5 Pro Football Focus grade was seventh-best on offense, and higher than Dobbs' 51.0. He got more comfortable as the game went on, leading a clutch TD drive. A few first quarter TeSlaa catches, and we could be talking about Altmyer entering the driver's seat for QB2.
But that's football. Not everything goes perfectly. Altmyer and Dobbs will get a second chance in their battle for QB2 on Saturday for an afternoon home matchup against the Washington Commanders.
Add us as a preferred source on Google