Lions place Trey Flowers on IR amid a series of Saturday moves

The Detroit Lions made some roster moves on Saturday, the most notable of them regarding Trey Flowers.

The Detroit Lions announced a few roster moves on Saturday, the headliner being outside linebacker Trey Flowers being placed on IR with a nagging knee injury. He will miss at least the next three games.

Defensive tackle John Penisini was added the Week 13 injury report with an illness, and outside linebacker Rashod Berry was added to the practice squad. Linebacker Tavante Beckett and defensive end Bruce Hector were elevated to the active roster.

Flowers was already set to miss his third straight game on Sunday against the Minnesota Vikings. He missed two games earlier in the season with the knee issue, and it bothered him even upon his return to the lineup. He has been a weekly staple on the injury report.

Will Trey Flowers play for the Lions again this season?

Flowers will now be out until at least Week 16 against the Atlanta Falcons, as he’ll miss Sunday, then Week 14 against the Denver Broncos and Week 15 against the Arizona Cardinals. At that point, as the Lions likely try to  give younger players a look late in a dismal season, he may be a part-time player if he’s healthy enough to play. His being healthy enough to play is hardly a guarantee, since the knee issue has bothered him most of the season.

Flowers last had a sack in his first game back from his prior stint out of the lineup, Week 5 against the Vikings. Over the last three games he has played, he registed zero quarterback hits with a far from impactful seven total tackles (zero tackles for loss). He was clearly less than full strength when back on the field, and now he’ll miss no less than seven games for the second straight season. It’s possible he does not play again this season, perhaps with a mutual decision with the team to keep him out if he’s not completely healthy after his minimim IR stint.