The Detroit Lions (4-5) are preparing for a Week 11 matchup with the Carolina Panthers (3-7) and they opened this week’s practices without their starting quarterback Matthew Stafford, who is dealing with a thumb injury. There are mixed reports surrounding the severity of Stafford’s injury but most reports expect him to play on Sunday.
Here’s a look at the Lions’ full injury report, with the updated changes in injury status listed in bold.
Injured reserve
- TE Hunter Bryant (IR) has begun practicing
- JACK Julian Okwara (IR) is eligible to return at any time
- EDGE Trey Flowers (IR) is eligible to return after Week 11
- CB Darryl Roberts (IR) is eligible to return after Week 11
No Practice
| Player | Injury | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday | Designation |
| Matthew Stafford | Thumb | No Practice | |||
| Marvin Jones | Knee | No Practice | |||
| Danny Amendola | Hip | No Practice | |||
| Austin Bryant | Thigh | No Practice |
Stafford injured his thumb in the first half of last Sunday’s game, was taped up, and didn’t miss a snap. On Monday, it was reported that X-rays came back negative and there wasn’t “much concern moving forward“. Stafford then downplayed the severity of the injury in an interview with Dan Miller indicating he was optimistic about playing. On Tuesday, a new report surfaced that Stafford has “a partially torn ligament” but was still expected to play this weekend. Today, after not practicing, Stafford did not confirm or deny the report surrounding his ligament and would go on to say he was “just taking it day to day” and trying to “see if I can go out there and play”.
The fact that Stafford was made available to the media is a good indicator he is on the path to playing on Sunday, but it is mildly concerning that he went from being optimistic about playing on Monday, to being non-committal on Wednesday. Par for the course in the realms of mid-week NFL gamesmanship.
Amendola was also injured last Sunday, but unlike Stafford, he was forced to miss game time. We won’t know the severity of his injury until after tomorrow’s practice.
Jones and Bryant were not known to be injured during the game, so this could just be a pain management day for them, but it’s worth keeping an eye on.
Limited practice
| Player | Injury | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday | Designation |
| Kenny Golladay | Hip | Limited Practice | |||
| T.J. Hockenson | Toe | Limited Practice | |||
| Hal Vaitai | Foot | Limited Practice | |||
| Nick Williams | Shoulder | Limited Practice | |||
| Jarrad Davis | Knee | Limited Practice | |||
| Christian Jones | Knee | Limited Practice |
After two weeks of not practicing Golladay was finally back at practice. If the Lions could get him back for this weekend, it would do wonders for their offensive efficiency — especially with Amendola and Jones dealing with injuries.
Hockenson was limited last week and only saw a slight dip in his snap counts in Week 10. Him being limited here isn’t overly concerning at this time.
Vaitai, Williams, and Davis all missed last week’s game due to their injuries, so limited practice is an upgrade for all three.
Jones has been limited for most of the last four weeks with a bothersome knee but hasn’t missed any playing time because of it. He should be on pace to play a typical allotment of snaps this weekend.
Full Practice
| Player | Injury | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday | Designation |
| Jamal Agnew | Ribs | Full Practice |
Agnew missed the last two weeks’ worth of games but was trending up on the practice report, seeing three limited practices last week. Getting in a full practice to start the week is very encouraging for his availability on Sunday.
Panthers Report
