Pride of Detroit
The Detroit Lions (4-1) and Kansas City Chiefs (2-3) have declared their injury designations ahead of their Week 6 battle on “Sunday Night Football,” and it appears the Lions are headed toward several game-time decisions.
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.
Vaki and Cunningham will miss their third straight game with lingering soft tissue injuries. The fact that neither landed on injured reserve suggests they could be back to practicing soon, but with a bye on the horizon in Week 8, they may not even be able to re-acclimate before that break.
McNeill will remain on the Reserve/PUP list for another week, but according to Detroit Football Network’s Justin Rogers, the plan is to return him ahead of the Lions’ Week 7 game against the Bucs. When he does return to action, look for the Lions to take it slow with McNeill and limit his snaps in his first game back.
“I think being smart, you get him 20, 25 plays,” Lions coach Dan Campbell said of McNeill’s snap count expectations when activated. “I think being smart, that’s the right thing to do. Yup, he’d be ready for that.”
Arnold is expected to miss some time, so him being ruled out is not a surprise, but we are still waiting for more clarity on how much time he’ll be expected to miss.
Raymond missed practice on Wednesday but returned to the practice field on Thursday and will have a chance to play on Sunday night. Teams are typically very cautious with neck injuries, so there’s still a possibility he sits this game out.
Decker has said that he feels improved and is working toward playing this week. However, after not practicing all week, he could be headed for another week off. That being said, he’s played in games after not practicing all week in the past, so there’s still an outside chance for him to suit up.
Manu popped up on the injury report on Thursday and missed practice on Friday. His listing as questionable gives him at least some hope of being available to play this week, if Decker doesn’t—and if Dan Skipper hasn’t jumped him on the depth chart.
Branch, Joseph, and Maddox are all considered “game-time” decisions, according to Campbell, and the loss of any one of them would force the Lions to make some significant changes in their secondary.
Branch got in two limited practices this week before having an MRI on Thursday and missing practice on...
