Jim Harbaugh Makes Big Announcement Ahead of Lions Game

The Detroit Lions are starting their preseason early, which means that Lions loyalists are going to get to watch football in July. How wild is that? What makes this game even more of interest to Michiganders is that it’s up against the Los Angeles Chargers, who are coached by Jim Harbaugh who, of course, helped lead the Michigan Wolverines to a national championship.

Now, Harbaugh has announced which starting quarterback he’s going to use against the Detroit Lions, and it’s Trey Lance. According to Harbaugh, Lance will play into the third quarter, and then, UDFA D.J. Uiagalelei will take over for the rest of the game.

About Jim Harbaugh’s Starting QB for the Detroit Lions Game

Lance last served as a backup quarterback for the Dallas Cowboys before heading to the Chargers for the upcoming season. It will be interesting to see how the Lions’ preseason players do against someone with some more advanced NFL experience. Lance got some playing time last season, when Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott was out with an injury. The bulk of the Cowboys games last season, though, that were played while Prescott was out had Michigan native Cooper Rush serving aS signal-caller, who is now with the Ravens.

Back when Harbaugh was coaching Michigan, he commented on former Michigan player Aidan Hutchinson‘s success in the NFL. During one of his weekly Monday news conferences in October of 2023, Harbaugh talked about his former player and said that he wasn’t surprised to see him already making big plays in the NFL.

“I did comment that Aidan Hutchinson should be the number one pick in the draft,” Harbaugh said. “I think I was right on that one as well. Did you see that interception he made on the screen pass? That one-hander? Wow. So proud of him and the amazing job he’s doing. Statistics reflect very well too in what he’s added to the Lions. Darn exciting to be a football fan in Michigan right now.”

Jim Harbaugh Consistently Sang Aidan Hutchinson’s Praises

Back in 2021, when Hutchinson was on Harbaugh’s team, he also consistently said glowing things about him.

“Aidan Hutchinson, again, had a great game,” Harbaugh said in an interview with Jon Jansen on the Inside Michigan Football radio show back in October of 2021, when commenting on seeing a lot of holds on Hutchison to try to throw him off his game. “Just so hard to block. They resorted to holding him a lot, that’s taken place. But he continues to play at such a high level, MVP-type of level.”

He added, “Yeah, done a great job, Aidan — keep bringing it. He’s tough to block. Hope for the best. Hope that you’re gonna get a fair shake every time you go out there. Not always do you get that. Yeah, we turn the plays in, yes.”

So, Hutchinson and Harbaugh are back together again, but they’re on different sides this time. Do you think it will be make the game more special? Of course, Hutchinson probably won’t play in the preseason, because the Lions can’t risk him getting hurt again, but he’ll surely at least be at the games.