It’s been a tumultuous start to Detroit Lions’ Austin Bryant’s NFL career with multiple injuries sidelining the second-year EDGE rusher, but he has returned to practice in Week 7 and begun an evaluation period to determine if and when he can return in the 2020 season.
Bryant began his rookie training camp on the non-football injury list, was activated after a few days, then quickly injured his shoulder during the first week of camp. That injury eventually led to him opening the season on the injured reserve.
He was activated from injured reserve in late November of 2019, placed on the roster, and played in Week 12. Then he was promptly re-injured. By Week 15, he was healthy once again, and played in the final three games of the season — but was once again injured in Week 17.
He opened 2020 on the Physically Unable to Perform (PUP) list, but it’s unclear if his injury was related to what happened to him in the 2019 finale or something else.
Today, Bryant is healthy enough to practice, and at his morning press conference coach Matt Patricia said he wants to get Bryant reps to see where he is health-wise. The Lions will now have 21-days to decide if they want to place him on the active roster or if they will put him on injured reserve.
With Julain Okwara placed on injured reserve today, the Lions could use Bryant’s help on the edge and will hoping he is ready to go sooner rather than later.