The last thing a team wants during the preseason is injuries and this year teams are being more careful with starters, especially with quarterbacks. Pro Football Talk points out that 12 of the NFL teams this preseason haven’t played their starting quarterback.
The list includes:
New England’s Tom Brady, Green Bay’s Aaron Rodgers, Detroit’s Matthew Stafford, the Rams’ Jared Goff, the Chargers’ Philip Rivers, New Orleans’ Drew Brees, Philadelphia’s Carson Wentz, Carolina’s Cam Newton, Pittsburgh’s Ben Roethlisberger, Indianapolis’ Andrew Luck, Jacksonville’s Nick Foles and Chicago’s Mitch Trubisky.
Some of these quarterbacks are expected to play this week in their team’s third game, but it seems that most that play won’t play as long as years past. Usually, Week 3 is considered the dress rehearsal for the regular season with some starters playing into the third quarter.
Even the starting quarterbacks who have been playing in the first couple of preseason games have only been going a series or two and then taking the shoulder pads off and relaxing the rest of the game.
Josh Allen has played the most for a starting quarterback this preseason, throwing 22 passes so far. He might be one of the few guys who plays most of the third preseason game.
One of the other reasons that quarterbacks might not be playing so long is because of the backup quarterback battles. There are many teams who are still trying to figure out who to put in the backup spot and not playing the starter gives the backups more time to prove they deserve the job.
Either way, not playing the starting quarterback makes another case for the NFL shortening the preseason.
Follow Us
Subscribe