Pride of Detroit
The Detroit Lions will square off against the Chicago Bears in Week 2, their second divisional matchup in as many weeks. The Lions returned a few players injured last week to practice, and even had players injured in Week 1 practicing, but there were two starters missing from Wednesday’s activities.
Let’s take a look at Wednesday’s initial injury report and get you up to date with what we know. Note: Any changes from last week will be bolded.
Jones injured his ankle last Thursday, was placed on injured reserve on Saturday, and by Monday afternoon, Lions coach Dan Campbell informed the media that Jones’ injury was season-ending. As of this moment, second-year offensive tackle Giovanni Manu appears the likely replacement, though it’s worth noting that veteran Kayode Awosika also has NFL experience playing tackle, and the Lions just signed Devin Cochran to the practice squad.
Decker played every offensive snap in Week 1, and although he did not practice on Wednesday, he told the media after practice that he “just got some stuff that I’m dealing with, hopefully be out there on Sunday.” It’s not unusual for the Lions to take a very cautious approach with veterans dealing with injuries—especially those over 30 years old—so, we’ll have to wait and see if he’s practicing on Thursday.
Unfortunately, practice squad offensive tackle Dan Skipper—who seems like a candidate to be activated to Jamarco Jones’ previous role as OT3—was spotted at practice wearing a compression sleeve on his right leg and is still unable to practice at this time.
Jack Campbell played every defensive snap in Week 1, so it’s unclear when this injury happened or if it was something that popped up in recent days. We’ll have to monitor the situation for now, but if he can’t play, the Lions have multiple options to replace him, including shifting Alex Anzalone or Derrick Barnes inside or turning to veteran linebacker Zach Cunningham.
Vaki and Nowaske were finally able to begin practicing after missing all of last week with their ailments. Vaki has been nursing a hamstring injury since the third day of training camp, while Nowaske’s injury only popped up within the last two weeks. Both are dynamic special teams contributors, and if they are healthy enough to play against the Bears, they could give a boost to a unit that has struggled of late.
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