Locker room buzz: Injury updates, backup QBs slump and Hassanein's emotional debut

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Canton, Ohio — If you can believe it, the postgame operation at Tom Benson Stadium might have somehow been worse than the Detroit Lions’ performance in a 34-7 loss to the Los Angeles Chargers in Thursday’s Hall of Fame game.

For starters, the lone elevator to the basement broke down after the game, and there wasn’t a direct staircase to reach the locker rooms. After a lot of trial and error, exiting the stadium, going back in another entrance, going down the stands, onto the field and through the tunnel, a small group of Detroit reporters finally reached our destination long after we intended. Unfortunately, we arrived after coach Dan Campbell had wrapped his postgame press conference and half the locker room had cleared out.

On top of that, the stadium announced it would close the pressbox two hours after the final whistle, leaving a trip back to the hotel as the only choice to continue writing.

C'est la vie.

So apologies for a truncated recap of locker room happenings. Circumstances were what they were. We were able to catch up with both backup quarterbacks, rookie receiver Isaac TeSlaa, linebacker Grant Stuard and defensive end Ahmed Hassanein. I also pulled injury updates from offensive tackle Dan Skipper and tight end Kenny Yeboah, who both exited Thursday’s contest.

So the trip to Canton wasn’t a total loss.

Here’s what I learned:

● First, the injuries.

Skipper exited in the first half after he got rolled up on while blocking on a 10-yard run for Craig Reynolds. Following the game, the offensive tackle was wearing a walking boot on his left leg.

His early understanding is that it’s a low-ankle sprain, the preferable outcome if you’re going to roll it. That pushed Giovanni Manu into action a little sooner than expected Thursday night, and will bump him up the depth chart temporarily. However, Taylor Decker’s initial timeline to return to action was set for early August.

As for Yeboah, his legs got pinned while blocking, and he got bent back at an awkward angle. The hyperextension looked ugly. The trainers looked at his right leg for a couple of minutes before he eventually limped off the field.

After the game, Yeboah was moving better. He said he probably wouldn’t know until the morning how sore things would be and whether it would cost him practice time.

Yeboah is currently locked in a roster battle for the third tight end job with Shane Zylstra. Both players were on the field for Detroit’s first offensive snap against the Chargers.

● Campbell said there was a concentrated effort to get TeSlaa and Dominic Lovett the ball against the Chargers. Lovett played all four quarters and saw nine targets, while TeSlaa paced the Lions with 46 yards on two second-quarter catches.

“It comes down to coaching and everything else that needs to happen for me to catch the ball,” TeSlaa said. “Obviously, on those plays that ended up happening, I mean, it's easy to catch the ball when you're wide open like that. Obviously, it's great to get my feet wet a bit, first couple of plays, get those rookie jitters, first plays out.”

TeSlaa was particularly amped to be able to deliver a hit to a defender after one of his two catches.

“It kinda felt good to drop my shoulder a bit on that DB,” TeSlaa said. “Definitely got hyped up about that one, and then, I don't know, football's an emotional game. But you've gotta be able to tame those emotions, so when you're making plays, don't let the highs be too high, the lows be too low.”

● TeSlaa wasn’t the only rookie trying to tame his emotions. The ever-grateful Hassanein acknowledged he was fighting back tears throughout his debut.

“I cried at the beginning of the game, just because I couldn't believe someone like me, that came so far and to just be here,” Hassanein said. “To soak this moment in and, man, just looking at the field, I'm like, 'Wow, I'm really playing an NFL football game.' It's just unreal to me. I take pride in that. Just going to do the best I can for my team. Whatever it takes. I love this team. This team really, really works hard and believes in me. My teammates believe in me. They push me.”

Hassanein said he was proud of the way he showed up in the run game, making multiple tackles. He noted the coaching staff constantly emphasizes that you need to be able to stop the run to earn the right to rush the passer, which isn’t something he takes for granted.

With that opportunity to pass rush on Thursday, Hassanein nearly secured his first sack, but he let the QB escape his grasp.

“He slipped away from me and I almost got there again in the backfield,” he said. “But the pass was just so fast. The one thing that I'm proud of is that I'm playing free. I'm not thinking about mistakes and I just want to grow. I want to learn. I want the game-to-game experience.”

Hassanein said he was constantly looking for feedback from teammate Aidan Hutchinson and position coach Kacy Rodgers during the contest. But the biggest thing the rookie learned is you don’t get to review and learn from your film on the sideline the way you do in college.

“On the sideline in the NFL, you just (look at) the pictures,” Hassanein said. “I'm like, 'Wait, what? I can't watch the film?' And they're like, 'No.' I'm like, 'That's weird.' But just learning and adjusting and just be like, 'OK, what do I need to do better here, coach?'"

● After a strong start to each of their training camps, both of Detroit’s backup quarterbacks were frustrated by how they performed in the preseason opener.

Kyle Allen got the start and bemoaned his costly interceptions.

“I think there are a couple throws that I wish I had back,” Allen said. “Both picks, obviously. Other than that, we moved the ball good. I just hurt us on those two third downs. We were moving it, I threw a pick, they (returned it) down to the 5-yard line. And I threw a pick in the end zone. So, it just really stalls your drives, and then gave them good field position, too. Just stuff to learn from.”

Allen was asked if the conditions were a factor after it had rained all day leading up to the game, but he rejected that excuse.

Hendon Hooker, who checked in to start the third quarter, attempted just six passes and completed only three. Campbell praised the young backup’s ability to check into the right plays to counter the Chargers’ defensive looks. Still, Hooker was frustrated by his overall execution.

“It makes me hungry just to get back to work,” Hooker said. “I wish we had practice tomorrow. I’m just very disappointed in myself, as far as — like I was saying earlier — just leading the troops down the field and making more plays.”

● There were hints during recent practices that linebacker Grant Stuard might get a shot to return kicks. He was out there to open the game, but unfortunately fumbled the return.

Stuard, a former high school sprinter, only returned one kick in college and hadn’t previously done it as a pro. He admitted he’s been ultra-focused on fielding the ball cleanly during practice.

He hopes the team will continue to give him a chance to do it this preseason and said he intends to shift his focus to ball security and absorbing contact by getting extra work with Detroit’s running backs.

“I think that moving forward, spending more times with the running backs after practice and stuff like that, that's something I can apply to make sure that my body, the muscle memory is there when it comes to being tackled, going to the ground, not reaching out and bracing with the ball in my hand, which ended up being the cause of that (fumble),” Stuard said. “It wasn't even a guy hitting the ball of me. I just went to brace.”