By the time the preseason gets to an end, people are more than ready for actual football to start. Until September 9th when Detroit takes the field to start the regular season, we have college football to tide us over. Some may say, "Don't forget about the game tonight." Well, tonight's game against Buffalo truly means nothing. Coach Rod Marinelli is sitting quite a few starters in order to be as safe as possible, so win or lose, it doesn't tell us much.
Defensively, the players who won't play include defensive tackles Shaun Rogers and Cory Redding, linebackers Ernie Sims and Paris Lenon, safety Kenoy Kennedy and cornerbacks Fernando Bryant and Travis Fisher.
Like the phrase goes, it's better to be safe than sorry, especially with starters. Detroit can't afford to lose anyone else to an injury in the preseason after what happened to Daniel Bullocks, and really, there is no reason for them to play with the risk of getting hurt.
Since the backups will get more playing time than usual, it'll be there last chance to show the coaching staff that they deserve to be there. With the roster currently at 75 players, it will shrink to 53 on Saturday. That means a ton of people are fighting for a spot on the roster and every snap counts for them.