Rookie quarterback Brad Kaaya passes first test with Detroit Lions

Brad Kaaya came from a pro-style offense in college, one that was not too dissimilar from the one Matthew Stafford ran at Georgia, so he had a head start on most rookies.

But two weeks into training camp, even Kaaya looked like he was drowning at times in the Lions’ oversized playbook.

“Put it this way,” Kaaya said. “The amount of offense I had last season was probably installed by Day 2 (here).”

That’s why Kaaya’s debut in Sunday’s 24-10 preseason win over the Indianapolis Colts was a big step in the right direction for the rookie quarterback and sixth-round pick.

[Brad Kaaya used to play 'Madden' as Matthew Stafford]

Sure, Kaaya had throws he’d like back, and not everything was perfect. But he finished the day 8 of 11 passing for 71 yards, had a game-high 119.9 passer rating, and showed the right temperament while leading the Lions on their final touchdown drive early in the fourth quarter.

Kaaya, who had another 25 yards worth of completions called back on two offensive pass interference penalties, took advantage of a short field after Jace Billingsley’s long punt return to throw a 15-yard touchdown pass to Dontez Ford.

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Ford broke two tackles on his way to the end zone, but Kaaya, who has the same pre-snap responsibilities as Stafford when he’s in the game, made the proper read and checks to set up the score.

“Jim Bob gave me a run-pass check at the line of scrimmage,” Kaaya said of Lions offensive coordinator Jim Bob Cooter. “They brought a funky front. They mugged the mike up and I saw they were playing single-high, Cover 1. They (filled up) the box. He gave me the pass to check to on that, and I saw press coverage on Dontez and Dontez is a guy, he’s an undrafted guy but I think he’s very solid. I’ve worked with him a lot in practice with similar routes. I just saw 1-on-1 and I just figured let me just get the ball out on time and get it to my playmaker and he made something happen with it, so all credit to him.”

Kaaya, who turns 22 next month, said he wasn’t as nervous as he thought he’d be entering his first NFL game, thanks in part to joint practices with the Colts last week.

Then halftime came, and Kaaya “knew I was getting close so I started to get amped up a little bit.”

“But for the most part I felt good just in terms of how we prepared as a whole for this game,” Kaaya said.

Lions coach Jim Caldwell praised Kaaya’s ability to “digest and regurgitate” a “voluminous” playbook last week. Kaaya said that’s still his biggest challenge as a rookie, one he’ll spend the next few weeks working on. 

“Where I am now compared to OTAs I’d say is night and day,” Kaaya said. “And where I hope to be next week and hope to be a year from now is hopefully night and day. It’s an offense you have to really take a lot of time with in terms of being a quarterback in it, you have to really take a lot of time to study and prepare and know all the rules, cause you are running the show. … We run the whole show like a point guard basically. You have to be just really locked in.”

Contact Dave Birkett: dbirkett@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter@davebirkett.

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