Category: Lions News

Lions injury update: The starting OL all returns healthy enough to practice

Taylor Decker and Halapoulivaati Vaitai were both practicing with the starters on Tuesday

After a few weeks of mixing and matching healthy bodies along the offensive line, the Detroit Lions returned to full strength for Tuesday’s practice ahead of Week 5.

All of the projected starting five to start the season were active and practicing at the team’s training facility in Allen Park in the portion open to the media. That includes left tackle Taylor Decker, who aggravated a high-ankle sprain injury in last Thursday’s win over the Green Bay Packers. Decker had missed the prior two games after being injured in Week 1 in the win over the Chiefs in Kansas City.

Also back is Halapoulivaati Vaitai at right guard. “Big V” was injured in a pile-up near the end of the Week 2 loss to the Seahawks. He hasn’t even been a limited participant since suffering the knee injury, being replaced by Graham Glasgow for the last two weeks.

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Center Frank Ragnow is still battling through a toe injury, but it’s not slowed him down. Left guard Jonah Jackson was questionable for Week 4 with a thigh bruise but played in Green Bay. Right tackle Penei Sewell, who played in place of Decker on the left side in Weeks 2-3, has remained healthy to this point.

This week’s schedule is different than most, with the Lions coming off the Thursday night game in Week 4. Tuesday is typically a day off for players, but that got pushed to Wednesday due to the unusual schedule.

 

Julian Okwara designated to return to Lions practice from I.R.

The Lions designated EDGE Julian Okwara for return from injured reserve following Week 4

Reinforcements to the Detroit Lions defense are on the way. The team has designated EDGE Julian Okwara to return from injured reserve.

Okwara has been on the I.R. since immediately after the 53-man roster cutdowns. He was dealing with an undisclosed arm injury suffered in the final preseason game.

Being designated to return from I.R. does not immediately make Okwara active. The Lions have up to three weeks to activate Okwara and add him to the active roster. If he doesn’t get activated in that 21-day window, No. 99 will remain on injured reserve and i ineligible to be activated for the rest of the season.

There is a need for Okwara on the depth chart with James Houston being lost to I.R. with a broken ankle and unlikely to return before the late portion of the season. Another EDGE, Josh Paschal, is also on I.R. with a knee injury.

Lions Week 6 game vs. Buccaneers flexed to later start

The Lions Week 6 game vs. Buccaneers flexed to a later start

For most of the last decade or so, the Detroit Lions have been a fixture in the 1 p.m ET viewing window. Fans accustomed to the routine have been in for some radical change already this year. And with the ongoing success of the team, the changes keep on coming.

The Lions will not be playing in that standard window in Week 6 any longer. Detroit’s trip to Tampa Bay in two weeks has been flexed from the 1 p.m. slot to a 4:25 p.m. kickoff by FOX, who will broadcast the game.

Both the Lions and Buccaneers are in first place after Week 4 with matching 3-1 records. It’s an appealing matchup that will garner a bigger potential audience with less competition in the more prominent viewing window.

Video mailbag: Answering Lions questions after the Week 4 win

Video mailbag: Answering Lions questions after the Week 4 win via the Detroit Lions Podcast

Sunday was a rare off day for the Detroit Lions. After beating the Green Bay Packers on Thursday night, fans got to enjoy the weekend of watching the rest of the NFL play things out.

With no game to immediately react to, it was a good time for the latest edition of the Detroit Lions Podcast video mailbag. Among the questions posed from the Patreon Slack channel that get covered here:

  • What has Aaron Glenn done differently in the last two weeks?
  • Emmanuel Moseley expectations
  • What’s up with Jahmyr Gibbs?
  • Is a Jared Goff contract extension coming?
  • Biggest surprise and disappointment from the first four weeks?

There are a few more as well. The audio-only version of the mailbag will be available via your favorite podcast providers.

 

David Montgomery nominated for FedEx Ground Player of the Week

Montgomery ran for 121 yards and 3 TDs in Green Bay

For a player who was officially questionable for the matchup, Lions running back David Montgomery sure looked great in Detroit’s Week 4 win over the Green Bay Packers. Montgomery earned a nomination for the FedEx Ground Player of the Week for his gritty performance on Thursday Night Football.

Montgomery fought through a painful thigh bruise that had sidelined him in Week 3 and gashed the Green Bay defense for 121 yards on 32 carries. He scored touchdowns on three of those runs, making him a very worthy nominee for this week’s FedEx Ground award.

He’s up against Christian McCaffrey of the 49ers and Derrick Henry of the Titans.

The honor is decided by fan voting. From the press release from FedEx:

Voting is open until Wednesday at 3:00 p.m. ET at NFL.com/FedEx each week of the season. Fans can also vote on Twitter via the @NFL published polls and on the NFL Mobile App. 

Denver’s defense knocks the 2008 Lions from the worst ever through 4 games

It’s hard to imagine anyone being worse than the 2008 Lions defense, but the 2023 Broncos are off to an even worse start

The 2008 Detroit Lions have been the gold standard of suck for 15 years. No team has ever sported a worse defense than Rod Marinelli’s winless, witless Lions.

They started with a brutal opening four games, losing them all badly:

  • Falcons 34-21
  • Packers 48-25
  • 49ers 31-13
  • Bears 34-7

That’s 147 points allowed, an average of 36.8. They allowed 429 yards per game. It was awful.

Somehow, the Denver Broncos’ defense in 2023 has been even worse to start a season. After Week 4, they’ve allowed 150 points and an average of 461.5 yards.

The raw stats are bad for Denver, but the advanced metrics and analytics are even worse. How bad are they? They’re officially worse than the 2008 Lions, according to the DVOA metrics from Aaron Schatz.

 

DVOA measures a team’s defensive success based on the down-and-distance of each play and calculates how much more — or less — successful they are compared to all other teams. The higher the number, the worse the defense. And until now, no team had ever earned a higher number through four games than the 2008 Lions.

The 2023 Broncos do have a feather in their cap that Detroit never claimed back in 2008: a win. Denver rallied to beat the Chicago Bears 31-28 on Sunday.

Lions offensive linemen had themselves quite a week

The Detroit Lions offensive linemen had themselves quite a week on and off the field

The Detroit Lions took an old-school approach with a new school front office when Brad Holmes took over in 2021. That approach was to build a team not from the quarterback position or edge rusher but rather from the offensive line.

The first draft pick in the Holmes era was Penei Sewell which has been a massive success but also he kept around key faces in Taylor Decker and Jonah Jackson. He brought in the likes of Graham Glasgow as well and after all of that the Lions have the keystone pieces of a top offensive line.

Pair that with Ben Johnson getting the most out of Jared Goff and you have yourselves a high-powered offense in Detroit.

The offensive line themselves had a very big week against the Packers in the teams best win of the year. Whether it was on the field or off, all signs point to the line continuing to be the unsung heroes of the team.

Week 4 NFL viewing guide: What’s going to be on your TV?

The Detroit Lions already played, so here are the viewing options for Sunday, October 1st

This Sunday is a weird one for Detroit Lions fans. The beloved Lions already won on Thursday night, which means they’re not on the viewing schedule for the day.

Fans looking to get their football fix do have some intriguing games today across the network broadcasts. The action kicks off at 9:30 a.m. with the Atlanta Falcons and Jacksonville Jaguars playing in London, a game that is broadcast on ESPN+ and not the actual network.

Of course, all games are available via the NFL+ app or the Sunday Ticket on YouTubeTV. For those who wish to watch what’s going to be on their local affiliates, here are the scheduled broadcast maps (via 506 Sports).

 

CBS early slate

Most of the country will get the AFC East showdown between the Buffalo Bills and Miami Dolphins. That includes all of Michigan other than the extreme southwest corner. Those unlucky souls in the South Bend-area market get to watch winless Denver and hopeless Chicago battle it out.

FOX early slate

Fans living in Michigan will need to pay attention to the local listings here, because the affiliates in south and central Michigan are showing a different game than the Detroit and West Michigan markets.

The big markets draw the Philadelphia Eagles and Washington Commanders, listed in the red in the map below. The Lansing and Jackson markets will have the Minnesota Vikings/Carolina Panthers matchup on their local FOX station.

In the late afternoon window, the local FOX affiliates around most of the country will show the Dallas Cowboys and New England Patriots facing off. Sunday night football will highlight the Kansas City Chiefs playing the New York Jets in between Taylor Swift updates.

Lions vs. Packers: What I learned from film study of Detroit’s big win

On the offensive line being back, Aaron Glenn’s morphing game plans, special teams excellence and more

Saturdays are usually reserved for college football and NFL draft evaluation, but this week’s Lions victory on Thursday night threw a curveball. A worthy curve that made the Saturday morning coffee all the more sweet…

The rewatch of Detroit’s impressive 34-20 road win in Green Bay proved a great way to start a football Saturday. Watching both the broadcast feed for a second time and the All-22 game film confirmed some initial takeaways but also fleshed out a lot more detail on just how well Dan Campbell’s Lions performed.

Here’s what I learned from the film study of Detroit’s Week 4 road win.

Dan Campbell praises Taylor Decker for playing through painful injury

Lions coach Dan Campbell praises left tackle Taylor Decker for playing through painful injury

Taylor Decker was officially questionable for Thursday night’s game in Green Bay, though there was never really much of a question that the Lions left tackle wasn’t going to play. A painful high ankle sprain and bone bruise weren’t going to keep Decker from playing in such an important game.

Decker was back in the starting lineup at left tackle for Detroit after missing two games. It was not his best game, but the veteran gutted out a solid effort in the Lions’ 34-20 road win.

Along the way, Decker aggravated the injury. Head coach Dan Campbell didn’t think the ankle would sideline Decker for Week 5 in Carolina. On Friday, Campbell exuded praise for his left tackle’s toughness and grit..

“I’ll tell you what, Decker did a heck of a job by the way,” Campbell told reporters. “He was not 100 percent and man, he helped us win that game. Talk about being unselfish and just giving us what he’s got, and he battled over there, man. We appreciate the hell out of him.”

The Lions run game clearly appreciated having Decker back at left tackle and Penei Sewell over at his customary right side. Detroit ran for 211 yards, gaining 13 first downs and scoring three times, all three by RB David Montgomery.

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