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Detroit Lions vs New York Giants: Live updates, highlights

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Tonight is football again with the Detroit Lions.

The Lions will face the New York Giants for the first time in their preseason opener on Thursday night. The Lions began training camp for the 2024 season in late July and left their home facility this week to practice with the Giants in East Rutherford, New Jersey, on Monday and Tuesday. This is the first of three preseason exhibition games for the Lions before their regular-season opener against the Los Angeles Rams on Sept. 8.

READ MORE: Why Penei Sewell is so excited about the Lions after heated training sessions with the Giants

The game begins at 7 p.m. at MetLife Stadium. It will be broadcast locally on Fox and streamed on Fubo. According to BetMGM, the Lions are underdogs, four points behind.

Follow the live updates below.

Live updates and highlights from the Lions vs. Giants preseason

The Giants are on the board. New York managed a 91-yard drive in five plays, starting with a 24-yard pass to Gray, then 16 yards to Tyree Jackson. At the midfield line, the Giants let Gray take the pass up the middle and he reached the second level, dropped safety Morice Norris on a trick and ran for the game’s first touchdown.

The Lions failed to gain any yards after the interception with three consecutive turnovers, but Jake Bates had the opportunity to attempt his first field goal in a game as a Lion. He hit the 53-yard attempt from the left side with plenty of space and sunk it between the left upright. The Lions offense has gained 13 yards in three drives.

Brandon Joseph made the first big play of the game late in the first quarter. After the teams started the game with two three-and-outs each, Joseph jumped in front of a crossing route over the middle, intercepted a pass from Drew Lock from his free safety position and returned it to the New York 35-yard line.

Pre-game notes

Lions coach Dan Campbell said most of the starting lineups will rest during preseason games to avoid injury and give young players and players currently in position battles a chance to play. All of the Lions’ draft picks are likely to play, with the exception of sixth-round offensive lineman Christian Mahogany, who has not yet participated in training camp due to an illness.

There will still be plenty of exciting things to watch, even though most of the big-name players like Jared Goff and Amon-Ra St. Brown are off tonight. Nate Sudfeld and Hendon Hooker will both get plenty of playing time at quarterback after spending the two weeks of training camp sharing second-team snaps behind Goff.

BATES TIME: These are the 2 most important things I want to see in the Lions’ NFL preseason opener

Hooker, a 2023 third-round pick who missed his entire rookie season, has talent and the ability to throw on the run, but has struggled with accuracy and finding the right throw at times in practice. Sudfeld, who also missed all of last season, has been steady in practice but has also had turnovers when facing the Lions’ defense in training camp.

Brian Branch’s move to safety has also sparked tougher competition for the slot cornerback position after Emmanuel Moseley suffered a long-term injury. Amik Robertson, rookie Ennis Rakestraw Jr. and Ifeatu Melifonwu all expect to be in contention and could play there in this game, along with other positions in the secondary, as the coaching staff tests different combinations of players.

The depth of the defensive line will compete for playing time behind established players Aidan Hutchinson and Alim McNeill, as well as newcomers Marcus Davenport and DJ Reader when the latter returns from injury. On offense, the coaches are still looking for a wide receiver to fill the third wide receiver role behind St. Brown and Jameson Williams.

On the special teams side, kicker Jake Bates is being scrutinized after an inconsistent start to training camp. The big-legged newcomer from the United Football League was shaky from distance in training, and the coaches emphasized at the start that they wanted to test Bates in as many different situations as possible to see how he reacts.

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By Bronte

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