Lions wide receiver Josh Reynolds ruled out for Sunday vs. the Giants

Lions wide receiver Josh Reynolds seemed to be trending the right direction for a time this week, but he will miss his third straight game on Sunday.

Detroit Lions wide receiver Josh Reynolds returned to practice on Thursday this week, fostering some optimism he wouldn’t miss a third straight game. But he did not practice on Friday, and was listed as questionable on the final injury report. Saturday’s departure for New York/New Jersey would be telling about his status.

Alas, Reynolds was downgraded to out before the team’s flight.

Reynolds landed on the injury report multiple times earlier in the season, but it was the back issue that has ended up costing him games. His production had dropped off over the last couple games he played, surely rooted in being so banged up, then the back injury came.

Reynolds has 26 receptions for 357 yards and two touchdowns in seven games this season.

Josh Reynolds’ continued absence leaves Lions still thin at wide receiver

With Reynolds out, Amon-Ra St. Brown, Tom Kennedy, Kalif Raymond were left as the only wide receivers on the Lions’ 53-man roster. DJ Chark could come off IR at any point now, and practice squaders Stanley Berryhill, Maurice Alexander and Brandon Zylstra have been elevated to the active roster in recent weeks.

Chark and at least one of the latter trio looked like the roster moves for Sunday’s game against the Giants, so the Lions can field a full complement of wide receivers.

Indeed, Chark has been activated and Berryhill was elevated again. This is Berryhill’s third free elevation, so now if the Lions want to use him on Sundays he has to be signed to the active roster.

The placement of Trinity Benson on IR Friday opened up the 53-man roster spot for Chark, so there was no need for another move. Waiving JuJu Hughes from a thin safety depth chart is an odd-looking move by the Lions on the surface. But Ifeatu Melifonwu was not given an injury designation on Friday after battling an ankle issue for weeks, and he should be in uniform on Sunday.

Circling back to Reynolds, after Sunday the Lions have a short week before Thanksgiving Day against the Buffalo Bills. So he’s likely to make it four straight missed games, before benefiting from some extra time before Week 13 against the Jacksonville Jaguars.