Lions, Bucs initial injury report: Taylor Decker returns to practice

After back-to-back road games, the Detroit Lions (4-2) are back home in Week 7, as they host the Tampa Bay Buccaneers (5-1) in a “Monday Night Football” showdown at Ford Field. With this game falling on a Monday, both teams’ practice schedules are altered a bit, with the Lions holding their practices on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday.

Let’s take a look at the latest injury report and get you up to date with what we know. Note: Any changes from the last injury report will be bolded.

Injured list updates

• TE Shane Zylstra (ankle, Reserve/IR)
• LT Giovanni Manu (knee, Reserve/IR) — eligible to return in Week 11
• G Miles Frazier (undisclosed Reserve/PUP)
• EDGE Marcus Davenport (pectoral, Reserve/IR)
• EDGE Josh Paschal (undisclosed, Reserve/NFI)
• DT Alim McNeill (ACL, Reserve/PUP) — evaluation window has begun
• LB Malcolm Rodriguez (ACL, Reserve/PUP)
• CB D.J. Reed (hamstring/IR) — eligible to return in Week 10
• CB Khalil Dorsey (concussion, wrist, Reserve/IR) — eligible to return in Week 11
• S Daniel Thomas (forearm, Reserve/IR) — eligible to return in Week 8

Lions coach Dan Campbell provided updates on Davenport and Rodriguez on Tuesday, noting that neither are expected to start their evaluation clock this week, but are not too far away from returning—with Rodriguez potentially being able to practice after the bye in Week 8.

Campbell on Davenport:

“Not yet,” Campbell said. “He’s doing well, he’s getting better. We like where all of those (IR) guys are at. Man, we’re going to be looking pretty good at the end of November, December, which is awesome. But I don’t see him being ready before the bye for sure.”

Campbell on Rodriguez:

“We’re hoping after the bye we can start rolling him out there a little bit, get him going,” Campbell said.

Rookie guard Miles Frazier was also spotted working off to the side with trainers at practice by Detroit Football Network’s Justin Rogers. For now, he remains on the PUP list, but this could be a next step precursor to starting his 21-day evaluation clock in the coming weeks.

No practice

• RB Sione Vaki (groin)
• DT DJ Reader (back) — New Injury
• CB Terrion Arnold (shoulder)
• DB Avonte Maddox (hamstring)
• S Kerby Joseph (knee)

Vaki continues to miss practice after injuring his groin in Week 3. With no practices under his belt for over three weeks, he may not return to game action until after the bye week, even if he returns to practice this week.

Reader did not appear to suffer an injury during Week 6, but it’s common for back injuries to show up after the fact. While he didn’t practice on Thursday, it’s worth pointing out that several of the Lions beat writers noted that he was working off to the side with trainers, which could be a sign that he could return to practice soon.

Arnold and Maddox are both expected to miss this game, per...