Pride of Detroit
The Detroit Lions and Baltimore Ravens have declared their injury designations ahead of their “Monday Night Football” matchup, and they’ll be without one of their starting edge rushers.
Let’s take a look at the latest initial injury report and get you up to date with what we know. Note: Any changes from previous practices will be bolded.
At his Saturday morning press conference, Lions coach Dan Campbell provided an update on Davenport’s injury status, noting that he would be ruled out for Week 3, but the team was still figuring out how many games he would miss. Fortunately, Campbell assured that they don’t believe the injury is season-ending, but they’d have a clearer picture over the weekend.
The Lions are expected to turn to Al-Quadin Muhammad to start opposite Aidan Hutchinson. Muhammad has shown well as a depth pass rusher over the first two weeks, earning a pass rush win rate of 28%, per PFF, sixth best in the NFL at this time.
“Quan (Muhammad) is great. He’s awesome, a great teammate, and he’s been playing some really good football. So I’m looking forward to playing with him some more,” Aidan Hutchinson said on Thursday. Later adding, “We have a really good relationship, and with Marcus (Davenport) being uncertain for the future, it’s gonna be fun. We’re going to get after it.”
Decker’s shoulder injury has forced him to miss five of the last six Lions practices, as the Lions are trying to limit his exposure and allow him to rest up. The fact that he played a full complement of snaps in Week 2 and got in a full practice on Friday suggests that his absence on Saturday may also be for rest purposes. He’s tentatively projected to be in line to start in Baltimore on Monday night.
Campbell, like Decker, has missed a couple of practices over the past two weeks, but it has not limited him on game day. After missing Thursday’s practice, he got in a limited practice on Friday, then a full practice on Saturday, and is expected to start at MIKE linebacker.
Reed was a surprise addition to the injury report this week, but he’s been able to practice as a limited participant on Thursday and Friday, then was upgraded to a full practice on Saturday, which is a good sign he’ll likely start at corner on Monday.
Joseph has also been getting some rest of late, as the Lions try to prevent his knee issue—that has lingered since training camp— from flaring up. He is also expected to start, despite three limited practices this week.
As most have anticipated, based on their ramped-up practice schedule, both Vaki and Nowaske are ready to go for this game....
