Jared Goff Reveals How Backups Help Him Prepare

Goff shares insight on how quarterback room prepares for games.

Detroit Lions quarterbacks Jared Goff (16) and Hendon Hooker (2). / Daniel Bartel-Imagn Images

The Detroit Lions added a familiar face back into the mix of the quarterback room on Thursday.

In signing Teddy Bridgewater, the Lions now have three passers on their active roster and one on the practice squad. Starter Jared Goff relies on each of the others in the room to prepare for each opponent.

Bridgewater is not a stranger, as he was with the Lions last year before retiring to coach high school football in Florida. After ending his first season as a coach with a state championship, he elected to come out of retirement and join the Lions for the final stretch of their season.

Each quarterback has their own role in getting ready for every game. For instance, practice squad quarterback Jake Fromm analyzes the percentages of how much man or zone coverage opposing defenses deploy in any given situation.

Bridgewater and Hendon Hooker also bring plenty to the table, creating a collaborative environment within position coach Mark Brunell's room. The process is very thorough leading up to the night before the game, when the entire room will go over every bit of the game plan.

"They all do a ton, whether it’s breaking down the stuff early percentage wise, like getting the percentages and Jake (Fromm) does a lot of that weekly of, what’s the percentages of what they play on certain downs, and then through the week, just little quizzes here and there, making sure we’re on our stuff," Goff said. "The night before the game, we’ll go through the whole thing, and they’ll keep me on my toes. Now, Teddy (Bridgewater) is a guy that I mentioned last year, a guy who’s played, a guy who’s played in big games, he’s had that experience, and I can kind of lean on him for some of those things as well. He’s a veteran and he’s got great insight.”

Brunell, who has coached the Lions' quarterbacks since 2021, echoed that there is plenty that goes into preparing each week. In addition to the time that the coaches have, the group of passers often spent copious amounts of time watching tape amongst themselves.

"Really, it's going over the game plan every day. They watch tape together. We get a lot of time with them," Brunell said. "They put in a considerable amount of time just in the room without the coaches, watching tape, talking through things, going through different scenarios. Adding Teddy to that, as you can imagine, he's a huge asset for us because he's seen it all, really. And he just has a different perspective, the perspective of a guy that's been out there, has played a long time in this league. Really bright guy, and obviously he's a good coach, found that out this year. But he's great, and a lot goes into it."

MORE: Lions' Teddy Bridgewater Brings Insurance, Comfort as Playoffs Near

Returning to San Francisco

The Lions remember the sting of walking off the field at Levi's Stadium while confetti rained down.

As the team returns to the site of their NFC Championship loss in January, they're eager to continue their chase of the top seed in the postseason against the team that bounced them from the postseason just one game short of their ultimate goal.

As Goff explained Thursday, the Lions have matured from enduring that tribulation late last season. It has served as fuel for this year's group, which coined the mantra 'It Takes More' as the motto for this year's campaign.

“Anytime you go deep in the playoffs, and you go through a game like that, you learn, you grow, you get better, you get closer, all that stuff comes into play," Goff said. "We felt so close to winning that game and we came up short, but yeah, it served us well this season and hopefully as we go into the postseason.”

Wide receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown noted that while there are new faces on the roster, those who were a part of that defeat last year have grown from the experience.

The wound of the defeat is not fresh, but the game itself is pivotal for Detroit's hopes of claiming the top seed in the NFC.

"It was a while ago, almost a year ago. It hurt, it definitely stung at the time. But we've all, I think, grown from it as players, coaches too," St. Brown said. "We've got some different guys on the team, but a lot of the same guys that were here last year. It was a tough loss for us last year. New year, we can write our own story and that's what we're excited about."