Former Tennessee Vols quarterback Hendon Hooker is shaking off the rust as he enters his second season with the Detroit Lions.
Hooker, a third round selection by the Lions in the 2023 NFL Draft, didn’t appear in any games as a rookie last season while he recovered from the torn ACL that he suffered in Tennessee’s penultimate regular season game in 2022.
The former Vol has flashed the elite skills during OTAs this week that made him one of the top quarterbacks coming out of college (the ACL injury caused him to slip in the draft), but he’s also displayed a noticeable amount of rust.
From The Athletic’s Colton Pouncy: Truth be told, Thursday wasn’t Hooker’s best day. His ball placement is a work in progress, hitting receivers high, low and bouncing some balls in the dirt. It seems like he’s still figuring out when to rip it and when to use touch. Generally speaking, it’s been a bit of a theme these first couple of open practices. He looks like a young quarterback shaking the rust off in his first full offseason, which is to be expected. But man, the flashes. There are times when he’ll perfectly drop a ball in a bin to his receiver, or rip one over the middle with velocity, and those moments remind you why the NFL was high on him coming out of college.
On Thursday, while speaking to reporters, Hooker explained his goals for the offseason. And one of those goals is to get back to the way he approached the game while at Tennessee.
“Continue to gain confidence and continue to master the offense,” said Hooker when asked about his goals for the offseason. “Just complete balls, just getting back into the rhythm of completing balls. Just playing free, that’s what I’m trying to get to. Just playing free like I was at Tennessee.”
“Playing free” is something that Hooker had to learn when he transferred from Virginia Tech to Tennessee after the 2020 season.
When Hooker arrived at Tennessee in early 2021, he was too “business like” according to now Vols offensive coordinator Joey Halzle (Hooker’s quarterbacks coach at Tennessee in 2021 and 2022).
“Hendon was a guy who was way too far in the business model, meaning that nothing was fun,” said Halzle in 2022. “Everything was serious. That wasn’t his best way to play. For some guys it is. It is not for him. We had to spend a long time working on having him really just enjoy the game while working hard. Working hard doesn’t mean serious all of the time, though. He is fun. He is enjoying himself and enjoying his time out on the field. That is what has allowed his talent to now take over again. He’s not tightening himself up with his own mind.”
Playing “free” is what Halzle and the staff at Tennessee preach to their quarterbacks.
“We’re going to let you rip it all over the field,” said Halzle after he was hired at Tennessee. “We’re going to put a lot on you and, to me, I would say that is quarterback-friendly because we’re not going to hold your hands. We’re going to teach you, we’re going to mold you into the best that you can be, and then we’re going to turn you loose to go play ball on Saturdays. We don’t make guys play scared. We don’t make them afraid to make mistakes. Go out there, cut it loose.”
That’s a lesson that Hooker is eager to return to as he shakes the rust off this summer.
For now, Hooker is set to serve as a backup to Lions starter Jared Goff.
Detroit is hoping that Hooker develops into a high-end backup quarterback that can take the reigns of the offense and keep things rolling in the event that Goff goes down with an injury.