Lions defensive tackle Isaiah Buggs says will not be playing in season opener vs. Chiefs

Detroit Lions defensive tackle Isaiah Buggs was the only player to miss this past Saturday's practice, as the team started to prepare for Thursday night's season opener against the Kansas City Chiefs. Then on Sunday, he offered an interesting (some may say cryptic) tweet that fueled speculation. He also scrubbed references to the Lions, which he apparently had, from his social media.

Justin Rogers of The Detroit News cleared the air later on Sunday, squashing any notion Buggs was going to be traded and adding it was an illness and not an injury from the preseason finale that kept him out of last Saturday's practice.

Buggs was back on the practice field on Monday, apparently without limitation or further "incident". Then after practice, the plot thickened again.

Lions defensive tackle Isaiah Buggs says he will be inactive vs. Chiefs

Reporters stood at Buggs' locker after Monday's practice, however naturally after his tweet. He of course said there's nothing to read into regarding his social media activity and it has nothing to do with the Lions and will be a team player. He also revealed he has been told by the coaches he is not playing Thursday night against the Chiefs.

"There's nothing to address, to be honest," the defensive tackle said. "Like I say, things change, relationships change. There's nothing to address." I'm not gonna technically say that (as far the Lions). I'm just saying in life period, it's nothing dealing with football, it's nothing dealing with here," Buggs explained. "So I don't want anybody to take that context and run with it. But at the same time, relationships do change. That's what I want to say, there's nothing else to say about it."

- Via SI.com

This could be regarded as a chicken or the egg situation. Did Buggs' tweet lead to his benching? Or did he tweet what he did in reaction to being told he's being benched? It's most likely the latter, whether his full explanation about his social media activity makes very much sense or not.

Buggs did say he feels there may have been consequences for his being away during offseason work. But the Lions lack depth at nose tackle, with Benito Jones and rookie Brodric Martin now for the game against the Chiefs. So the situation with Buggs feels weird, and like it's not over with.