Lions head coach Dan Campbell made the plan for Hendon Hooker plainly clear when he declared this to be a "redshirt year" for the rookie quarterback as he works his way back from a torn ACL. Not that Hooker won't be physically ready before the season is over, but combine with learning the offense he won't be rushed into anything.
Hooker is of course on the NFI (Non-Football Injury) list as training camp rolls on, and he may stay there into the season. But the widening of media availability for camp opens up Hooker to be seen working, after practice when he can get some focused work in with nothing else going on.
Via Dave Birkett of the Detroit Free Press, Campbell described the workouts Hooker is doing.
"We’ve got him doing a workout. It’s around every other day to see how that knee responds post-practice," Lions coach Dan Campbell said. "And we’ve got our training staff, our strength coaches that take him through a workout and it’s really scripted. And so it’s our plays, it’s our reads and so he goes through the drops, makes the play call, goes through the drops, throws and then has his sprint and he takes it down the field. ... You’ll go through a 30-play script somewhere in there, and we just continue to build as he gets his conditioning up and the knee gets stronger, so that’s about as good as we can do right now.""Dan Campbell
Hendon Hooker making noticable progress in his ACL recovery
After Sunday's practice, Jeff Risdon of Lions Wire took note of Hooker looking smoother with his front (left) leg, which is the ACL he tore.
"Pay attention to his front (left) foot and leg as he throws; Hooker is no longer altering his normal delivery or footwork, something he did do a bit when I saw him throwing similarly in June. Progress…"Jeff Risdon, Lions Wire
Hendon Hooker throwing after Lions practice. Accuracy is on point. He's been throwing for a good 20 minutes. pic.twitter.com/igd4A7EByG
— Jeff Risdon (@JeffRisdon) July 30, 2023
The Lions' backup quarterback situation, with Teddy Bridgewater lingering as an option, is independent of anything Hooker is doing until further notice. But there's noticeable progress in his ACL recovry, as the potential successor to Jared Goff is being cultivated.