Lions Fall to Bengals 16-14 in Preseason Opener: Stock Up, Stock Down for Every Position
The Detroit Lions opened their 2026 preseason Thursday night at Paycor Stadium, and the scoreboard said Cincinnati 16, Detroit 14. But for a team resting 32 players — including 18 starters — the final score barely mattered. What mattered was who separated themselves in the roster fight, and who didn’t.
Quarterback Jared Goff, receivers Amon-Ra St. Brown and Jameson Williams, and edge rusher Aidan Hutchinson all watched from the sideline. So did running back Jahmyr Gibbs. In their place, a wave of backups, rookies, and roster-bubble veterans got extended run against Cincinnati’s defense — and a few of them made it impossible to ignore them.
Quarterback: Altmyer Survives His NFL Debut
Luke Altmyer’s box score won’t turn heads. Two interceptions, a lost fumble, numbers that look rough in isolation. But watch the tape and a different story shows up. The undrafted rookie played roughly two-thirds of Detroit’s offensive snaps and never looked rattled doing it.
Context matters here. The first interception bounced off receiver Isaac TeSlaa’s hands and into a defender’s. The fumble came off a wet handoff exchange, not poor mechanics. Only the second pick — a ball sailed high late in the game while forcing an issue — falls squarely on Altmyer.
Head coach Dan Campbell singled him out afterward. “I thought Luke did a really good job for a young guy,” Campbell said. “I’ve got to be careful; I don’t want to give him too much sugar and tea time. But what you see in practice — the composure, not too big for him, the accuracy, those deep balls — he’s got a touch about them. I felt like he showed up.”
Josh Dobbs played the rest of the game and graded out neutral. Goff didn’t play at all.
Running Back: Saylors Makes His Case
The battle for the fourth running back spot got a lot clearer Thursday. Jacob Saylors led Detroit in rushing attempts, rushing yards, yards per carry, receptions, and receiving yards — the full workload, and he handled all of it. He looked shifty in the open field and found ways to contribute as both a runner and a receiver.
“He was probably our most potent player on offense,” Campbell said of Saylors. “He made a lot of plays for us. He’s a steady workhorse.”
Raheem Blackshear flashed too, including a 24-yard burst that stood out. Kye Robichaux runs hard between the tackles but didn’t show much else. Isiah Pacheco left with a reported MCL sprain, and Sione Vaki dealt with a nose and eye issue — neither injury has an official severity update attached yet.
Wide Receiver: TeSlaa’s Rough Camp Continues
Isaac TeSlaa entered his second season with real expectations after a strong rookie year full of highlight catches. Thursday didn’t help. He was targeted three times and caught none of them — one target deflected off his helmet and turned into the interception that opened the scoring against Detroit.
Campbell isn’t worried yet. “I remember what those days were like. You want everything to come early; you can come into your second season and place a lot of pressure on yourself. You want to be great. Just stay the course,” he said after the game.
Elsewhere in the receiver room, Dominic Lovett took control of the competition for the fifth receiver spot. He drew eight targets — more than anyone else on the roster — and turned three into 28 yards, consistently creating separation. Tay Martin caught his only target for 14 yards. Veterans Tom Kennedy and Malik Cunningham each had a single catch and look like they’re losing ground in a crowded room.
Tight End and Offensive Line: A Rookie Sneaks Ahead
Jackson Meeks, a converted receiver, out-produced Thomas Gordon in the battle for the fourth tight end job, hauling in a 17-yard catch with 16 yards coming after contact. Starter-in-waiting Sam LaPorta and backup Brock Wright didn’t play.
Up front, most of Cincinnati’s pressure came through the interior of Detroit’s offensive line rather than off the edge — a good early sign for rookie right tackle Blake Miller and left tackle Larry Borom, who both held up in pass protection. NFL Network analyst Brian Baldinger posted about Miller’s performance on X, praising his ability to hold up for an entire half against Bengals pass rusher Trey Hendrickson’s group. Miles Frazier had a rougher outing, drawing three holding penalties at right guard in the first half before playing better after a second-half move to left tackle.
Defensive Line: Hassanein’s Breakout Night
If one player walked away from Thursday with his stock unmistakably higher, it’s edge rusher Ahmed Hassanein. On his first defensive snap of the game, he beat Cincinnati’s starting offensive line with an inside move and sacked quarterback Joe Burrow. He added a quarterback hit on the next series and later forced a fumble with a second sack.
Campbell didn’t hold back describing it. “Just the way Ahmed played, the things he’s able to do, you felt like it would translate, certainly with this preseason. It was good to see; it was maximum effort. He’s been disruptive, and he’s going to learn from this,” he said.
Rookie defensive tackle Skyler Gill-Howard also stood out, drawing two of the defense’s top plays on the night, including a fourth-down pressure that forced an intentional grounding penalty and a third-down tackle for loss on backup quarterback Josh Johnson. “Watching Skyler get to the quarterback there, it was a critical fourth down to get the offense the ball,” Campbell said. “That takes a tremendous amount of effort, but that’s what is expected; that was awesome.”
Secondary: A Scare on Rakestraw, and Relief Afterward
The night’s biggest concern came in the second quarter, when cornerback Ennis Rakestraw went low to make a tackle on Cincinnati running back Tahj Brooks and stayed down. He was evaluated in the blue medical tent before heading to the locker room and did not return, a tough moment for a player who lost his entire 2025 season to a shoulder injury.
Detroit got good news after the game. According to Pride of Detroit, X-rays showed no structural damage, and Campbell downplayed the severity himself. “It’s not major. It ended up being — it’s not a head shot — we just think he got a little contusion in the arm,” Campbell said.
Elsewhere in the secondary, undrafted rookies Nick Whiteside and Keith Abney both made plays worth remembering — Whiteside recovered from getting beaten deep to force a pass breakup, and Abney logged both a pass breakup and a fumble recovery. Safety Thomas Harper had arguably the cleanest game of any Lions defender at any position, rotating between safety spots and holding up in coverage throughout.
What It Means Going Forward
None of this changes Detroit’s depth chart at the top. Goff, St. Brown, Hutchinson, and the rest of the starting core weren’t trying to prove anything Thursday night. But for the back half of the 53-man roster — the running backs, receivers, and defensive linemen fighting for the last few spots — this game moved the needle. Saylors, Hassanein, and Gill-Howard all built a real case. TeSlaa and the offensive line’s depth pieces have work to do before the next preseason game.
