Dave Birkett of the Free Press is reporting that a team rule violation factored into the Detroit Lions’ releasing of safety Jayron Kearse.
“Kearse committed a violation of team rules before the Lions’ loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers last week when he left the team hotel without permission and was late for bed check, multiple sources told the Free Press,” Birkett reported. “Kearse, who was a late addition to last week’s injury report, did not play against the Buccaneers because of those transgressions, and likely would have been inactive again Sunday against the Minnesota Vikings.”
Birkett would go on to suggest that the team also wanted to get an extended look at some of the other safeties on the roster, like Tracy Walker and Will Harris, which lines up with what interim coach Darrell Bevell said on Monday.
When asked to comment on Brikett’s report at today’s press conference, Bevell would not go as far as to confirm the report, but reading between the lines seems to suggest it was indeed a factor.
“Like I’ve told you guys, and I think I’ve told obviously the whole team, everything that we do matters,” Bevell said. “So everything that goes into any situation matters. So all of that out there, I mean, I won’t get into the specifics of what happened with ‘JK’ (Kearse). At the end of the day, we decided to make a change so that we could end up seeing some of the younger players that are on the roster. Obviously, give him other opportunities with other teams elsewhere – that’s kind of where we left it.”
Last week the Lions asked Walker to return to a starting role, will Harris as the team’s third safety, and C.J. Moore as the fourth option. These roles are expected to repeat themselves this weekend, and it’s also possible rookie Bobby Price — who is protected this week and has one roster elevation remaining — could also get a look.