Jared Goff Camp Update — August 31: The Preseason Ends With Zero Snaps
2026 NFL Season · Monday, Aug 31
Goff sat the finale, closing a preseason in which he never threw a pass, and Detroit kept only two quarterbacks, per the team's website, after Josh Dobbs went fifteen of nineteen in that game. The rebuilt line in front of him is set at nine, with Juice Scruggs the center — and it has never taken a live snap with Goff behind it.
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Detroit's preseason is over and Jared Goff never threw a pass in it. He sat Saturday's 25 to 16 finale win at Indianapolis, per Tim Twentyman at the team's website, while Josh Dobbs went 15 of 19 for a hundred 28 yards and two touchdowns. The room settled at two: Goff and Dobbs made the initial roster, per Twentyman, and rookie Luke Altmyer was waived, with Dan Campbell noting the organization's preference for a veteran backup, per Dave Birkett at the Detroit Free Press. Birkett reports the expectation that Altmyer returns on the practice squad if he clears waivers — a reporter's expectation, and nothing has cleared waivers yet.
The line in front of Goff is set at nine — Sewell, Mahogany, Scruggs, Ratledge, Blake Miller, Borom, Frazier, Bartch and McLaughlin, per Twentyman's breakdown — with Juice Scruggs the starting center and Tate Ratledge the insurance behind him, per Justin Rogers at the Detroit Football Network. Cade Mays went to injured reserve with the fractured wrist he suffered on August tenth, a designation that costs him a minimum of four games, per Rogers. Rookie center Seth McLaughlin entered the concussion protocol during cut week, missed the finale, and made the roster anyway, per Rogers. And the summer's defining fact about this group came straight from the head coach: Detroit held no joint practices, so the rebuilt line's only test has been internal. "It's just Detroit versus Detroit," Campbell said, citing Ratledge against McNeill, and Sewell and Blake Miller against Hutchinson, as the developmental engine, per Twentyman.
A week ago we said to watch two things: who takes the first-team center reps after cutdown, and whether Goff gets any live work. The second is answered flatly — no. The first is answered by reporting on the roster rather than by reporting from practice: no beat account from the last two days names who actually took the first-team center reps, but Rogers has Scruggs starting and Ratledge the insurance behind him. Back in June we said Goff's stability rests on a line replaced wholesale in one offseason — a rhythm passer inherits his protection more than he carries it — and that question is now permanently unmeasurable in preseason. The measurement is the opener against New Orleans. We'll be there when it arrives.
_Data via nflverse._
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