The Detroit Lions have gone across the pond to play the New England Patriots in Germany, and they’ll be doing it without their best cornerback.
Veteran DJ Reed has been ruled out of Sunday’s game with a hip injury. It will be his second straight game missed.
The injury comes at a really unfortunate time for Reed. He was playing extremely well before his injury, grading out as Pro Football Focus’ highest rated cornerback from Week 6 to Week 8.
D.J. Reed is PFF's highest-graded cornerback over the last three weeks. What a change
— Mike Payton (@AtoZ_Payton) November 1, 2026
Without him, the Lions will likely start Roger McCreary on one side, and a combination of Ennis Rakestraw Jr., Rock Ya-Sin and Khalil Dorsey on the other. Rookie defensive back Keith Abney II is also a candidate for snaps.
None of those players strike fear in the hearts of NFL quarterbacks.
Lions' secondary is beyond shaky for Patriots game in Munich
The Lions are facing a Patriots offense that likes to take its shots. Quarterback Drake Maye is fourth in the NFL among qualified passers in average depth of target at 9.57 yards per SumerSports.
Maye is a dynamic playmaker who can make any throw, and is capable of carrying the offense.
“Drake is as good as they come, getting out of the pocket right now,” head coach Dan Campbell said. “I mean, he's playing— that's where he's very dangerous. Buying time, you know, these five-plus second throws— he's dangerous.”
Maye has, however, been a little careless with the ball this season and is tied for the NFL lead with 11 interceptions. There might be some pressure on Maye to play “hero-ball” in this one.
New England’s top two running backs, Rhamondre Stephenson and TreyVeon Henderson, are questionable and out for this game respectively, which could stress the passing game. New England’s top-billed wide receiver, AJ Brown, is also questionable for this game with an ankle injury. He has only appeared in three games this year. If Brown can’t go, New England will turn to Romeo Doubs, Demario Douglas and tight end Hunter Henry as its top receiving options.
The Patriots are ninth in the NFL in passing yards per game (one spot behind the Lions) with 249.6 as a team.
Reed's ascension as of late will be missed vs. Patriots
Reed’s improved play from the beginning of the season has been a huge reason for the Lions’ greater defensive turnaround. After starting the season in the basement of the NFL in most defensive statistical categories, the defense has rebounded to allow just 15.5 points per game in its last four contests.
Detroit is tied for third in the NFL in sacks with 27. Once that pressure was finally married with strong, sticky coverage from the secondary, good things started to happen for the Lions.
“When when your front is able to apply pressure, your D-line, your outside linebackers, and
coverage on the back end is the way it's supposed to be—play very tight coverage, make them have to make very accurate throws under heavy pressure— that's the way we want to play,” Campbell said. “And that's the way we've been playing for about four weeks now. That gives us the ability to play the game any way we need to play the game, or want to play the game, more importantly.”
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Now, the Lions’ corners will have to hold up if Detroit still wants to be able to play the way Campbell described.
Detroit did not make any move to upgrade its cornerback room at the trade deadline. Its safety room, however, received a major boost.
Not only did the team acquire Andre Cisco from the New York Jets, but versatile star Brian Branch is back from a torn achilles and has helped the defense improve in just about every aspect. There’s hope that All-Pro Kerby Joseph can also return in the near future, but he won’t be back in this game.
It’s all going to have to amount to enough for this Detroit secondary to stop the reigning AFC champions and their star quarterback from having a big day through the air. If the Lions’ secondary returns to its September form without Reed, they might be in for an even longer flight home.
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