Teddy Bridgewater's retirement means Hendon Hooker in place to be Lions backup QB in 2024
Teddy Bridgewater hasn’t filed retirement papers yet, but the Detroit Lions quarterback took another step towards making his retirement official Friday when he was named the new head coach at his old high school.
Bridgewater told the Free Press in December he planned to retire after the season, and he said Monday the Lions’ playoff run hadn’t made him reconsider his stance.
Bridgewater appeared in one game and did not attempt a pass for the Lions this season, and his pending departure opens the door for rookie Hendon Hooker to serve as Jared Goff’s primary backup next season.
“Yeah, I’ve been in quarterback competitions my entire life and one thing I love is competition,” Hooker told the Free Press at locker clean out Monday. “I love to work and I love to better others that’s in my room. Throughout my whole career, helping others around me and others helping me, boosted everyone in the room, so just continuing to do that is what I’ll try to do.”
The Lions took Hooker in the third round of last April’s draft with plans to groom him for a future role.
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After having his final season at Tennessee cut short by a torn ACL, Hooker spent most of this season rehabbing and did not appear in any games.
The Lions activated Hooker from the nonfootball injury list before their Christmas Eve game against the Minnesota Vikings, and Hooker served as the emergency third quarterback for the final three games of the regular season and in the playoffs.
He got only a smattering of practice reps behind Goff and Bridgewater, but said he improved as a quarterback because of it.
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“I’ve grown a lot, grown an awful lot,” Hooker said. “Just from coming in, not knowing what to expect, especially with my knee and rehabbing that and not knowing when I would be 100% to actually being 100% and continuing to learn the playbook while I’m not taking physical reps, which is a little awkward cause even growing up you still take physical reps. That’s how you learn plays when you’re growing up. But being able to be with Teddy and Jared and ask them questions and then they never hesitated to help me.”
Bridgewater told the Free Press during the season he came to Detroit in part because he wanted to work with Hooker.
“I was once Hendon, a young rookie in this league,” he said. “I was once injured, so I just figured that, man, I could give him everything that I’ve learned.”
Bridgewater put Hooker through a personal play script after practice most days and the two formed a tight bond that Hooker said will continue during Bridgewater’s retirement.
They talked daily coming off the field and in the locker room about plays, Bridgewater quizzed Hooker on how to handle situations in-game, and Hooker said he plans to visit Bridgewater in Florida this offseason to continue working with a player he now considers a mentor.
“That’s mandatory,” Hooker said. “If I didn’t, my mom would have something to say about that.”
As for the rest of his offseason, Hooker said he plans to “be a little bit of everywhere, just connecting with my guys, wherever they are.”
He said he’s looking forward to being able to work on his game this spring rather than have to rehab his knee, and he said he’s ready for whatever role the Lions have in store for him in Year 2.
“I don’t think I’ve been more excited to go into an offseason before in my life,” he said. “But really I’m just excited to go work on my craft and polish these little details that I really want to embark on this offseason.”
Contact Dave Birkett at dbirkett@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter at @davebirkett.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Ready or not, Hendon Hooker in position to be Lions backup QB in 2024
