Thursday marked a deadline for the Detroit Lions to activate pass rusher James Houston from the injured reserve list. The second-year EDGE showed enough in practice to get activated from I.R. and ready for action against the Buccaneers in the NFC Divisional Round.
Designated for return 21 days earlier, Houston had been practicing with the team in hopes of showing he had recovered enough from his ankle injury to make a difference on the defense. Houston suffered the injury while playing special teams in Week 2.
Defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn made it clear in his press conference prior to the playoff game against the Rams that Houston had to prove he could be effective in practice before being activated,
“Practice. That’s it, go out and practice and see how effective you can be. If you’re effective then we’ll put you in there and let you play.”
The second-year EDGE played just 32 defensive snaps prior to the injury and registered one QB pressure and one tackle. He burst onto the scene with eight sacks in six games at the end of his rookie season after initially not making the roster as a fifth-round pick out of Jackson State.
To make room for the welcomed return of Houston, the Lions waived EDGE Julian Okwara, who had been a healthy scratch of late.