On Wednesday the Detroit Lions conducted a walkthrough practice, and thus they only issued an estimation of player participation. So Thursday was their first real practice of the week heading into Week 10 against the Houston Texans on "Sunday Night Football."
We knew about one player who would be absent from Thursday's practice the day before. Head coach Dan Campbell told reporters new acquisition Za'Darius Smith would be back on Friday after being given a couple days off. The Cleveland Browns, Smith's old team, have their bye this week and Campbell felt it was important to give him a little time off.
Linebackers Malcolm Rodriguez (ankle) and Jalen Reeves-Maybin (shoulder) felt like easy assumptions to miss Thursday's practice as well. The level of participation for safety Ifeatu Melifonwu and cornerback Emmanuel Moseley on Thursday, after their 21-day evaluation clocks to come off IR were started on Tuesday, was not going to be a huge concern.
First meaningful Lions Week 10 injury report courts big concern
Here is the Lions' practice report from Thursday. (NP=Non-participant, LP=Limited participant, FP=full participant)
- LB Jalen Reeves-Maybin (neck): NP
- LB Malcolm Rodriguez (ankle: NP
- DL Za'Darius Smith (personal): NP
- OT Taylor Decker (shoulder): LP
- DT Brodric Martin (knee): FP
- S Ifeatu Melifonwu (ankle): FP
- CB Emmanuel Moseley (pectoral): FP
- DL Josh Paschal (illness): FP
- RB Sione Vaki (knee): FP
- DL Mekhi Wingo (ankle): FP
Paschal has missed the last two games, and this week he revealed he had a non-cancerous mass removed from his shoulder after it was discovered during an annual checkup after he had melanoma in 2018. He is line to play Sunday night after being a full participant on Thursday.
Campbell and defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn have both said Smith could still make his Lions' debut Sunday night after being excused from practice until Friday.
Melifonwu and Moseley both being full participants right away in their first actual practice back off injury is surprising. It's possible one or both is activated in time for Sunday night.
Martin is also in his 21-day activation window after starting the season on IR, with 12 days left now.
The concerning addition to the Lions' injury report on Thursday is Decker. He has been listed on practice reports in previous weeks and he has not missed any games, But a shoulder issue is a new injury, and he was not listed on Wednesday's estimated practice report. New injuries that pop up mid-week or possibly occurred during a day's practice are automatically concerning to some degree. It's also possible Decker just needed a rest day.
Campbell should be prompted by reporters for an update on the Lions' left tackle before Friday's practice.