Report: Detroit Lions to re-sign Tim Boyle to practice squad

NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero is reporting that the Detroit Lions are re-signing quarterback Tim Boyle to their practice squad. The Lions waived Boyle as part of their initial cutdowns to get to 53 players. While it appeared that Boyle had lost the backup competition to David Blough—who made the initial roster—the Lions soon opted to sign veteran backup Nate Sudfeld and waived Blough.

The Lions reportedly had an interest in bringing back Blough to their practice squad, but the former Purdue quarterback, instead, chose to sign to the Minnesota Vikings’ practice squad. That left the Lions with an open spot on their practice squad and a third quarterback necessary to add.

It may be a little surprising to see Boyle back considering what Lions general manager Brad Holmes had to say about their backup competition this year.

“They just didn’t quite make the jump that we expected them to make,” Holmes said last Thursday. “And so, you’ve just got to make some tough decisions and you’ve just got to just find the best solution that you can.”

Boyle struggled this preseason, especially in the finale, when coaches gave him the opportunity to play with the first-team offense. Boyle proceeded by going just 5-of-15 for 64 yards and an interception.

That said, Boyle does bring some necessary familiarity with the offense while new backup Sudfeld gets acclimated to offensive coordinator Ben Johnson’s scheme and language.

“A lot of concepts I’ve definitely run and done before,” Sudfeld said last week. “There’s a lot of new verbiage, memorization things. So definitely gonna need to study, continue to study.”

One piece of business that will have to be attended to before Boyle takes the practice field this week: Sudfeld already assumed his #12 jersey.