Brock Wright – Page 3 – Syndication Server

Lions final injury report for Week 17: Cam Sutton questionable, Brock Wright out

Lions final injury report for Week 17: Cam Sutton questionable, Brock Wright out for the game against the Cowboys

The final Detroit Lions injury status report for the Week 17 matchup with the Dallas Cowboys is, mercifully, a brief list. Only two players on the active roster carry any injury status at all into Saturday night’s game in Dallas.

Tight end Brock Wright will miss his second straight game with a hip injury. He is the only active player ruled out.

Starting cornerback Cam Sutton is questionable with a toe injury. Sutton was a full participant in the first two practices of the week but was limited by the new injury on Thursday.

Two players still on injured reserve but designated to return will not be activated this week, either. The Lions ruled out both DB C.J. Gardner-Johnson and EDGE James Houston. Thursday was Houston’s first practice since he suffered a serious ankle injury in Week 2.

Cornerback Jerry Jacobs and LB Derrick Barnes are both without injury designation a week after missing the Week 16 game with injuries. Left tackle Taylor Decker was also a full participant on Thursday and carries no injury status into Dallas.

One last note: Fullback Jason Cabinda was not given an injury designation, a good sign that he’s going to be activated from I.R. for the game.

Lions injury report: Taylor Decker sits out practice with injury

Lions injury report: Taylor Decker sits out practice on Wednesday with a groin injury

One day after being listed as a limited participant in the Lions walkthrough, left tackle Taylor Decker was downgraded on Wednesday. Decker was out for the second practice of the week in advance of Saturday night’s matchup with the Dallas Cowboys.

Decker sat out with a groin issue. It’s a difficult injury to recover from quickly, and Decker is trending in the wrong direction.

Tight end Brock Wright remains out with a hip injury. Wright is the only other Lions player currently on the active roster who had any limitation in practice on Wednesday.

Two players aiming to return from injured reserve, DB C.J. Gardner-Johnson and FB Jason Cabinda, were listed as limited practice participants. Both are eligible to be activated this week but remain on I.R. at this point.

Lions injury report: Kicking off Week 17 in good shape

Lions injury report: Kicking off Week 17 in good shape with only one active player out with an injury

It can be hard to keep track of what day it is during this holiday season, and also when the Detroit Lions will play again. On Tuesday, the day after Christmas, the Lions were back on the practice field to get ready for Saturday’s showdown with the Cowboys in Dallas.

The Lions held a walkthrough, which means the practice participation report is an estimation from the coaching staff. It’s a pretty brief report, nonetheless.

Only one player was deemed as unable to practice: tight end Brock Wright. He continues to be sidelined with a hip injury that also kept Wright out of the last week of practice and Sunday’s win over Minnesota.

There was also just one active player who was listed as limited. Left tackle Taylor Decker is dealing with a groin injury. Decker played every snap on Sunday.

Two players currently on injured reserve who have been designated to return, DB C.J. Gardner-Johnson and FB Jason Cabinda, were also listed as limited. Neither player is on the active roster as of Tuesday.

The two other Lions who missed the Vikings game with injuries were both back as full participants. Cornerback Jerry Jacobs (hamstring) and linebacker Derrick Barnes (shoulder) were full-go designations.

Lions inactives for Week 16 vs. Vikings: Rookies and injuries abound

The Detroit Lions inactive players list for Week 16 vs. Vikings is loaded with injured players and rookies

The Lions have released the inactive players list for the Week 16 visit to the Minnesota Vikings. It’s a fairly predictable list given the injuries and current construction of the 53-man roster.

With CB Jerry Jacobs and TE Brock Wright previously ruled out due to injury and LB Derrick Barnes listed as doubtful with a shoulder injury, half the list was predetermined.

Quarterback Hendon Hooker will be inactive for his first game on the active roster. Hooker is listed as the No. 3 and emergency QB. Rookies Antoine Green, Brodric Martin and Steven Gilmore round out the inactive players.

Lions final injury report vs. Vikings: 2 players out, 1 doubtful

Lions final injury report vs. Vikings: Jerry Jacobs and Brock Wright ruled out for Sunday’s game

The final Week 16 injury report for the Detroit Lions is a relatively short one. Two Lions have been ruled out for Sunday’s game in Minnesota, with another listed as doubtful.

Cornerback Jerry Jacobs (hamstring) and tight end Brock Wright (knee) did not practice all week and will not play on Sunday. In addition, linebacker Derrick Barnes is doubtful with a shoulder injury. No player listed as doubtful under Dan Campbell as head coach has ever played, so Barnes is effectively out as well.

Two players aiming to return from injured reserve will also not be activated this week. Defensive back C.J. Gardner-Johnson and fullback Jason Cabinda were ruled out, meaning they will say on I.R. through the weekend.

No other Lions carry any injury designation for Sunday’s game. That includes right tackle Penei Sewell, who was limited in practice early in the week with a shoulder issue. Sewell was a full participant on both Thursday and Friday.

Lions injury report: Penei Sewell is back as a full practice participant

Sewell and Levi Onwuzurike both returned to being full participants after being limited a day earlier

There was a welcome sight at Detroit Lions practice on Thursday. Right tackle Penei Sewell was a full participant in the practice session, a day after he was limited with a shoulder issue.

Sewell and defensive lineman Levi Onwuzurike were both fully active after being limited on Wednesday. Onwuzurike was back from a knee malady.

The only player currently active who carried a limited participant status on Thursday is LB Derrick Barnes, who injured his shoulder during the win over the Broncos but did play in that game after suffering the injury.

Both CB Jerry Jacobs and TE Brock Wright remained out for a second straight day. Jacobs is dealing with a hamstring issue while Wright is sidelined with a hip. Center Frank Ragnow took his customary veteran’s day of rest on Thursday, too.

Best and worst PFF grades from the Lions win over the Broncos

Best and worst PFF grades from the Detroit Lions’ Week 15 win over the Denver Broncos

The Detroit Lions played their best all-around performance in weeks on Saturday night, pounding the Denver Broncos 42-17. Pro Football Focus recognized the dominance by giving the Lions their best team grade since the Week 5 win against hapless Carolina and Detroit’s second-highest score for the season. The overall grade of 87.9 is the team’s third-best since the start of the 2016 season.

Detroit’s player grades reflect the impressive overall game.

Best and Worst PFF grades for the Lions Week 5 win over the Panthers

Here are the Detroit Lions best and worst PFF performers with this victory over the Carolina Panthers

The Detroit Lions seem to be a force to reckon with after a convincing 45-24 win against the Carolina Panthers. With a 4-1 record for the season, they show no signs of slowing down.

Despite missing key offensive players, the Lions were able to control the game. They dominated every aspect of the game, moving the ball with ease against the Panthers defense. The Lions defense was also strong, keeping everything in check and frustrating rookie quarterback Bryce Young. This was one of the most complete games the Lions have played in recent memory.

Given their impressive performance, it is no surprise that the Lions scored well in most departments with PFF. Here are the best and worst PFF performers from the Lions’ victory over the Panthers.

Detroit Lions Training Camp Battles: Tight Ends

Breaking down the ongoing Detroit Lions training camp battle at tight end

While we enter the days of training camp, it’s already been interesting for the Detroit Lions. Wide receiver Jameson Williams suffered a minor injury and should miss a few days. Meanwhile, they suffered an injury scare when defensive back C.J. Gardner-Johnson went down with a knee injury.

Fortunately, the injury for Gardner-Johnson has been defined as minor and is considered day-to-day.

While both players will be worth monitoring, there’s still plenty to follow when it comes to each position group during training camp. One of the main positions to follow is the tight end position.

Last season, the Lions tight end room changed drastically when they traded away T.J. Hockenson. Fortunately for the Lions, they made it work with players such as Brock Wright and Shane Zylstra.

As we enter the off-season, we knew that their was a need for an upgrade at tight end in Detroit. However, we didn’t know if the Lions were going to sign one or draft one. As it unfolded, we saw the Lions select Iowa tight end Sam LaPorta in the 2nd Round of the 2023 NFL Draft.

By selecting LaPorta, the Lions get a clear upgrade at the position. During training camp, we should see LaPorta be a step ahead of every other tight end on the roster. Much of this is due to the route running and athletic ability that he possesses. With that skill-set, it should allow the Lions the ability to consistently run between 12 and 21 personnel and they should find plenty of success.

Players such as Zylstra and Wright are experienced and are familiar with the scheme being ran under offensive coordinator Ben Johnson. For Brock Wright, he had 591 snaps on offense last season and recorded 18 receptions for 216 yards and 4 touchdowns.

As for Shane Zylstra, he could be on the outside looking in and his performance during training camp could be crucial on if he makes the roster or not. Last season, he had 227 offensive snaps but he did score 4 touchdowns off just 11 receptions. What we’ve seen from himis very similar to what we saw in 2013 and 2014 from Joseph Fauria. We’ll see if Zylstra only plays two seasons for the Lions like Fauria.

The determining factor for Zylstra could be based off three things:

Can LaPorta handle the role of being the top tight end
Is James Mitchell ready to take another step?
Do the Lions carry three or four tight ends on the roster?

We know the Lions selected James Mitchell in the 7th Round of the 2022 NFL Draft but he was coming off a torn ACL. However, he played well in 14 games last season. He had 11 receptions for 113 yards and a touchdown. But it’s unclear on what his progression from year one to his second season looks like.

Ultimately, I’d expect Sam LaPorta to be the top option for the Lions at the tight end position. He should get the majority of the first-team snaps, but it looks like he’s got a good supporting cast behind him and an even better supporting cast around him at the other positions. The Lions could carry four tight ends this year, but I think they’ll go with three of them. It’ll be interesting to see how it plays out during training camp, but the projected three tight ends I have for the Lions are Sam LaPorta, Brock Wright and James Mitchell.

Lions barely threw to TEs aligned in the slot in 2022

The Lions offense barely used the slot TE in 2022, but drafting Sam LaPorta opens up the potential for a lot more usage in 2023

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One of the focal points in the recent Lions OTAs and minicamp was how Detroit is using second-round tight end Sam LaPorta. Without giving up too much confidential information, we saw LaPorta getting ample work aligning in the slot.

That’s not something we saw a lot of from the Lions offense in 2022. Detroit had a tight end aligned in the slot just 22.8 percent of the time last season. Over half of those total slot snaps belonged to T.J. Hockenson in the team’s first seven games, too. Hockenson aligned in the slot just over 30 percent of the time in his seven games with Detroit in 2022.

Of course, Hockenson was traded to the Minnesota Vikings after Detroit’s Week 8 loss to Miami. With his departure came the effective end of any slot usage for the remaining tight ends. The tight end splits for the Lions post-Hockenson (Weeks 9-18) out of the slot:

	Snaps	Routes	Targets	Catches	Yards
S. Zylstra	73	62	5	4	29
B. Wright	35	14	3	0	0
J. Mitchell	18	23	1	1	22

That’s using a slot TE on 16 percent of the total offensive snaps over that time period. Quarterback Jared Goff targeted them with under 3 percent of his pass attempts. Interestingly, seven of the nine targets here came in the red zone.

Adding LaPorta into the mix opens up the potential for offensive coordinator Ben Johnson to more effectively, frequently and successfully use the flexed-out tight end as a matchup weapon. In his final season at Iowa, LaPorta played out of the slot on over 40 percent of his offensive snaps.

LaPorta’s presence gives the offense more punch in bunch formations or dual-slot alignments with WR Amon-Ra St. Brown, who is one of the best slots in the league. It’s clearly a dimension to the offense that the Lions wanted to bring back after using it so sparingly in the second half of 2022.

All usage data is from SIS via The 33rd Team.