Johnson and Johnson to the Lions' rescue
Can someone, anyone, please catch the ball? I know, preseason doesn't matter, but when we're furiously trying to judge this Lions' quarterback race, it's darn near impossible with all the passes bouncing off various limbs.
Thankfully, the top two receivers, Calvin Johnson and Bryant Johnson, have returned to practice, likely in time for the Lions' third preseason game Saturday against Indianapolis. No, Matthew Stafford did nothing to convince anyone he's ready to start the opener with his five-for-13 performance against Cleveland. But I must admit, it's tough to tell if he's making progress with all the dropped passes.
I'm thoroughly convinced now Daunte Culpepper will open the season, as he should. But until we start seeing the quarterbacks throwing the ball toward Johnson and Johnson -- instead of the Band-Aid receivers they've been using -- we won't know a ton about these guys.
Adam Jennings dropped one pass in the latest game, as did the normally sure-handed John Standeford. And of course, Keary Colbert played patty-cake with the ball in the opener.
GM Martin Mayhew acknowledged that evaluating Stafford and Culpepper is trickier because of it. Maybe that's why Culpepper appears to be playing it safer, throwing shorter passes. If you're the leader for the starting job, it makes no sense to take too many chances with a short-handed offense.
I suspect Culpepper will air it out to Calvin against the Colts, and cement the job in the process.
Bob.wojnowski@detnews.com
