Pride of Detroit
The Detroit Lions have activated rookie guard Christian Mahogany to the 53-man roster.
The Detroit Lions announced on Tuesday that they’ve activated rookie offensive lineman Christian Mahogany from the non-football illness list. He now counts against the team’s 53-man roster and is eligible to play for the first time in his career.
Mahogany was the Lions’ sixth-round pick this year after being a three-year starter for Boston College. Although he was around for OTAs and minicamp in the spring, he contracted mononucleosis in the summer, which caused him to be placed on the non-football illness list and miss all of training camp.
The Lions opted to return Mahogany to practice three weeks ago, opening up his 21-day evaluation window. Tuesday was the deadline for that window, with the Lions having to choose whether to activate him to the 53-man roster or end his season.
Last week, Lions coach Dan Campbell hinted that they’d activate him, but he hadn’t fully made that decision yet.
“I will tell you this, he’s gotten better every week,” Campbell said. “He’s made strides every week and that has been very noticeable. So, I’m just standing up here in front of you, I think it would be hard to say that you don’t want to continue this progress, that would be hard to say. So, but until I talk to (general manager) Brad (Holmes), I won’t know for sure on that.”
No corresponding move was necessary for the Lions, as they had two vacancies on their 53-man roster. One is leftover from placing both Aidan Hutchinson and Kyle Peko on injured reserve and only signing Pat O’Connor to the active roster. The other is a temporary spot open as Jameson Williams does not count against the 53 while suspended.
