Dan Campbell Has Tough Decision With Bengals Playing Starters in Preseason Opener

The Detroit Lions will begin preseason play in less than a week.

On Thursday, Aug. 13, the Lions will take on the Cincinnati Bengals at Paycor Stadium for their preseason opener. It will come with plenty of intrigue, as it'll be the first time the Lions take part in game action even if the result is meaningless in the grand scheme of the season.

Thursday's game also presents head coach Dan Campbell with a tough decision entering his sixth season. In years past, the Lions' starters on both sides of the ball have gotten little or no work in exhibition games.

Traditionally, the Lions have hosted joint practices with opposing teams across the league leading up to a preseason game. Campbell and company would devote a large share of the work in these joint practices to the starters, then the preseason games would be showcases for depth players.

However, the Lions have elected to not schedule any joint practices this year. Another element was added to this decision when Cincinnati Bengals head coach Zac Taylor announced he will be playing starters on Thursday, though he was unsure at the time of how long.

“I have. I’m not ready to go there yet," Taylor told reporters earlier this week. "They will play a little bit, we’ll just determine how much at a later date.”

Because the Bengals are playing their starters, the Lions could view Thursday's game as an opportunity to get some "good on good" work for their starters against the Bengals' counterparts. Even if it's just for a series, there are merits to the first team offense and defense taking the field against starting caliber competition.

There are inherent risks that come with playing starters in the preseason, with the primary one being injury. By not playing starters in the preseason in previous years, it has been a de facto guarantee that the Lions would avoid injuries to their key players prior to the start of the regular season.

Yet, there can be benefits to the Lions trotting out their starters for a fixed amount of time in Thursday's game. Quarterback Jared Goff has stated he's open to playing in the preseason.

The team did not play their starters in any of their four preseason games last year, and some believe that this contributed to a slow start in their Week 1 loss against the Green Bay Packers last season. It was a sluggish performance all around, and getting some preseason work in could help avoid some of these early setbacks.

One of the key parts of this equation would be the fact that it's an opportunity for first-year offensive coordinator Drew Petzing to try his concepts out on a live defense with his starters.

Petzing has experience from his time in the role with the Arizona Cardinals, but he and the Lions are still in the very early stages of their partnership, and getting to work their concepts against a starting defense from an opposing team would be beneficial.

Ultimately, the preseason games have very little bearing on the regular season outside of the momentum a positive showing can generate. However, the opportunity for the offense and defense to work their concepts against an opposing team that they don't see every day would be a boost for the team, as it would give coaches and players alike a baseline for their expectations in the fall.

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