The Detroit Lions made some procedural roster moves to start the 2023 training camp. Three players were placed on the non-football injury list.
The most notable player hitting the active NFI list is third-round rookie quarterback Hendon Hooker. He is still recovering from knee surgery that Hooker had at the end of his college career at Tennessee.
Hooker is joined by tight end Derrick Deese Jr. and defensive lineman Zach Morton. Deese was healthy enough to participate in the recent minicamp, so something came up between those OTAs in June and now.
The players are eligible to be activated from the list at any time during the offseason. The NFI list is for players dealing with injuries that occurred outside the NFL. Even though Hooker’s injury happened while playing football, he wasn’t yet in the NFL so it qualifies as a non-football injury instead of the physically unable to perform, or PUP list.