James Houston excited to return to ‘special team’

Detroit Lion James Houston couldn’t hide his excitement on Thursday when speaking to the media about returning to this special team.

The Detroit Lions may be getting some meaningful pass rush help for Aiden Hutchison for the playoffs. The team started the process to have James Houston come off of injured reserve on Thursday. He will be able to practice for 21 days and can be added to the roster at any time within that window.

When speaking to the media on Thursday, Houston was asked about a timeline for him to return to live game action. He answered, “not right now, just taking it day by day.”

Houston did express excitement when talking about the team, he has missed every game since fracturing his ankle in week two.

“It’s extremely important, I want to be a part of this team. We are doing really great things, I just want to be a part of something special, I have to do what I gotta do to be a part of it”

Part of his return process in practice will be a gradual increase in work. Houston explained the most important part is going against someone else live.

“Getting one-on-one work and feeling someone, real live action, something you can’t get in the training room…”

Houston mentioned he has some hardware in his ankle in the form of four screws and a plate. All of that isn’t a concern for him, “coming back from injury…you can’t think about it or worry too much about it.”