Lions QB Nate Sudfeld struggles to hit the mark in preseason debut

Detroit — It’s been a long week for Nate Sudfeld.

One day after the Lions brought in Teddy Bridgewater to challenge him for the backup job — concluding a rough string of joint practices for Sudfeld — he was intercepted on his first play from scrimmage and generally found it tough to get going in Friday night’s 21-16 preseason win against the New York Giants at Ford Field.

Sudfeld finished the night 15-for-28 for 194 yards, two interceptions and no touchdowns for a passer rating of 45.8. Lions head coach Dan Campbell said he saw “more positive than negative” with Sudfeld and that he’ll continue to have opportunities to fight for the backup job, but one has to wonder how much that actually matters for his long-term outlook with Bridgewater on his way in.

“(Lions quarterback Adrian) Martinez is going to get a little bit less because Teddy needs to start getting some, so you’re looking at Nate and Teddy right now. Adrian is the one who’s probably going to have to take a little bit of a back seat and not get as many reps,” Campbell said.

Campbell excused the first interception because Sudfeld was getting hit as he threw — adding there was miscommunication before the snap — and said he didn’t want to discourage the throw that resulted in his second interception, which was a bullet over the middle to Jameson Williams that sailed and was picked off by Giants safety Dane Belton.

“He’s trying to squeeze a ball in there to Jamo. It was high and hot and then Jamo got squeezed in the middle so it’s really on both of them, but we hate to discourage throwing those daggers into the field. We want him to launch them and he did that, and it didn’t work out,” Campbell said.

Sudfeld remained positive about his performance following the game.

“I felt great the whole time. I felt like I was seeing it really well. (Giants defensive coordinator) Wink Martindale does a really good job on defense, really mixing it up, blitzing all the time, all types of pressures and different coverages. I felt like I was seeing at all and loved what (Lions offensive coordinator) Ben (Johnson) was calling,” Sudfeld said. “Trying to play fast and be aggressive and keep playing.

In fairness, Sudfeld’s night probably looks and feels a lot different had his best throw of the game — a deep ball to Williams that was put right in the bread basket and dropped — was caught for a lengthy score. Sudfeld said he wasn’t told to force the ball to Williams but rather was “just trying to play good football and was trying to give Jameson opportunities.”

“Just continuing to get on the same page,” Sudfeld said.

nbianchi@detroitnews.com

Twitter: @nolanbianchi