Tag: Detroit Lions roster moves

Lions make final roster moves in advance of Week 17 game vs. Seahawks

Lions make final roster moves in advance of Week 17 game vs. Seahawks

The Detroit Lions made a series of injury- and COVID-related moves to fully stock the team’s roster in advance of Sunday’s matchup with the Seattle Seahawks.

Three players were elevated to the active roster from the practice squad:

LB Tavante Beckett

OL Parker Ehinger

DE Bruce Hector

All are designated as COVID-19 replacements for Week 17.

Two other players were given standard elevations from the practice squad, including rookie WR Javon McKinley. He and recently signed TE Ross Travis will make their active roster debuts in Seattle.

The Lions also announced that OLB Rashod Berry is out for the game with an undisclosed illness.

Jared Goff placed on reserve/COVID-19 list among several Lions roster moves

The Detroit Lions made several roster moves, including QB Jared Goff going on reserve/COVID-19 list and LB Alex Anzalone on IR, with RB Jamaal Williams coming back too

The good buzz around the Lions huge win over the Arizona Cardinals barely lasted 24 hours. Monday’s roster move announcement from Detroit was a downer.

Starting quarterback Jared Goff has been placed on the reserve/COVID-19 list. Goff is coming off a great game against the Cardinals, throwing three touchdowns and showing toughness and leadership. Reserve offensive tackle Matt Nelson joins Goff on the COVID list.

With the new NFL guidelines for COVID-19 testing, Goff and Nelson can return if they are asymptomatic and vaccinated after just one negative test.

In addition to those moves, starting LB Alex Anzalone is now on injured reserve with a shoulder injury. With just three games left on the schedule, Anzalone’s first season in Detroit is effectively over.

Not all of the news was negative. The Lions did activate RB Jamaal Williams and CB Mark Gilbert from the reserve/COVID-19 list. Both will be ready for practice on Wednesday after clearing the necessary protocols.

The team also made the signing of RB Craig Reynolds official.

Lions sign RB Craig Reynolds to the active roster

Craig Reynolds accomplished his outstanding first two weeks as a practice squad elevation

Craig Reynolds has been outstanding as the Detroit Lions featured running back in the last two weeks. And now Reynolds has been rewarded by the team for his stellar effort.

Per Doug Kyed of PFF, the Lions have signed Reynolds from the practice squad to the active 53-man roster. Reynolds had performed in his first two weeks while serving as a practice squad elevation, not technically on the active roster.

Now Reynolds will be in Detroit through the 2022 season, according to Kyed’s report. Several local sources have confirmed that the Lions have signed Reynolds, though the exact details are not yet public.

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Reynolds, an undrafted free agent from D-II Kutztown in the 2019 NFL season, has rushed for 195 yards on 36 carries in the last two weeks. The Lions have been without starter Jamaal Williams and versatile D’Andre Swift, but Reynolds has proven he belongs in the Detroit backfield too.

Lions activate Tracy Walker, AJ Parker among several roster moves for Week 15

Tracy Walker, AJ Parker and 2 other DBs are back in time to play vs. the Cardinals

The Detroit Lions finalized the game-day roster for the Week 15 visit from the Arizona Cardinals. And the additions reflect good news for the health of the team.

Detroit activated S Tracy Walker and CBs Ifeatu Melifonwu and Bobby Price from the team’s reserve/COVID-19 list. All are ready to play on Sunday. Walker is listed as questionable with illness.

In addition to the returns from the COVID-19 list, Detroit elevated three players from the practice squad:

RB Craig Reynolds

LB Curtis Bolton

OT Dan Skipper

Reynolds, who ran for 83 yards last week, is a standard elevation. The others are designated as COVID-19 replacements.

Rookie CB AJ Parker is also back. The Lions activated the starting slot CB from injured reserve. He hasn’t played since Week 11.

 

 

 

Lions elevate OL Parker Ehinger, place CB AJ Parker on IR

AJ Parker was already ruled out with an ankle injury

The injury-related changes continue to shift the Detroit Lions roster at the last minute every week. For Week 12, the Lions have lost a key cornerback.

Primary slot corner AJ Parker has been placed on injured reserve with an ankle injury. Parker was already ruled out for the Week 12 game, one of five Lions who are out with injury for Thursday’s game against the Chicago Bears.

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The Lions opted to replace his roster spot by elevating OL Parker Ehinger from the practice squad. Ehinger has previous NFL starting experience and can play guard or tackle. Two of the players who are out are starting RG Halapoulivaati Vaitai and swing tackle Matt Nelson, so adding Ehinger bolsters the depth chart.

Lions place Da’Shawn Hand on IR, sign OL Tommy Kraemer to active roster

It is Hand’s fifth trip to injured reserve since the start of the 2018 season

No, this is not a duplicate post. But it sure has the feel of something we’ve written before, unfortunately.

The Detroit Lions have placed defensive end Da’Shawn Hand on the injured reserve list with a groin injury. He was removed from the Lions’ Week 12 injury list with the roster move. Hand played just three games in 2021, recording two total tackles in between stints on the IR. It is Hand’s fifth trip to injured reserve since the start of the 2018 season, when he was a fourth-round pick out of Alabama.

To replace Hand on the 53-man roster, the Lions signed rookie offensive lineman Tommy Kraemer. The undrafted guard/center from Notre Dame played 33 reps as a practice squad elevation in Week 11 after starting right guard Halapoulivaati Vaitai left with a concussion. Vaitai is not expected to play against the Chicago Bears on Thanksgiving.

Lions officially waive Corey Ballentine and Kevin Strong

Both players cleared waivers and Strong could be back with the practice squad soon

Two widely reported Detroit Lions roster moves became official with the expected releases of defensive end Kevin Strong and cornerback/return man Corey Ballentine. The moves appeared on the NFL’s transaction log.

Both Ballentine and Strong were subject to waiver claims for the other 31 NFL teams, though neither was claimed. The Lions can bring them back to the team’s practice squad, and that’s a distinct possibility for Strong. The coaching staff has repeatedly praised the third-year pro throughout the summer.

A stint on injured reserve with a thigh wound slowed Strong’s progress. Both players were activated from the IR in the last two weeks prior to being waived.

Strong paid his respect to the Lions in a social media post.

Lions re-sign OT Dan Skipper to practice squad

Skipper spent the offseason with the Lions and has been on and off the team multiple times in the last four seasons

The Detroit Lions are bringing back Dan Skipper to the team’s practice squad. As first reported by Dave Birkett of the Free Press, Skipper has signed with the team to bolster the offensive line depth.

Skipper rejoins the Lions after a stint on the Las Vegas Raiders practice squad. The 6-foot-10 tackle has been on and off the Lions roster multiple times since the 2017 season, including several stints on the practice squad. Skipper was with the Lions this offseason but suffered an injury in the final preseason game, later being waived off injured reserve. In nine career games on the Lions active roster, Skipper has played just 19 total offensive snaps.

Skipper is back because there is growing concern over starting left tackle Taylor Decker, who missed Thursday’s practice with an elbow injury. Decker made his 2021 debut in the Week 10 tie with Pittsburgh, returning from a finger injury that cost him the first eight games. Matt Nelson, the starting right tackle in Decker’s absence (with Penei Sewell at LT), is dealing with an ankle injury suffered in Sunday’s tie.

Skipper knows the offense and can fill in on either side in a pinch. Expect him to be elevated to the active roster for Sunday’s game in Cleveland.

Lions activate CB/KR Corey Ballentine from IR

Lions activate CB/KR Corey Ballentine from injured reserve and released CB Parnell Motley from the practice squad

The Detroit Lions activated a player from injured reserve on Thursday, but it wasn’t necessarily the player most expected to make his return. Cornerback and return specialist Corey Ballentine was activated from the IR after earlier being designated to return.

Ballentine suffered a hamstring injury in the Week 5 loss to the Minnesota Vikings. The third-year DB played exclusively on special teams prior to his injury.

Quarterback Tim Boyle remains on the IR/designated to return list even though he’s taken the first-team reps in practices this week with starting QB Jared Goff sidelined with an oblique injury. Boyle has not played since injuring his thumb in the preseason and has been on the IR all year. Boyle is expected to be activated but has not as of yet.

The Lions had a roster spot open after waiving wide receiver Geronimo Allison earlier this week. They will need to make another to activate Boyle.

On the practice squad front, the Lions released CB Parnell Motley. Allison rejoined the team’s practice squad on Wednesday.

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Lions waive WR Geronimo Allison

Lions waive WR Geronimo Allison and make changes to the protected practice squad

Geronimo Allison’s time with the Detroit Lions has come to an end. The Lions released the veteran wideout on Tuesday.

Allison did not pan out as hoped when the Lions signed him as a free agent before the 2020 season. The former Packer opted out of the 2020 campaign. He played sparingly in time between the active roster and practice squad in Detroit this season. Allison failed to catch a pass in three games with the Lions.

Allison is subject to waiver claims from other teams.

Practice Squad Changes

After adding kicker Riley Patterson to the active roster, the Lions also signed K Aldrick Rosas to the practice squad. And they felt strong enough about the journeyman kicker to protect him with this week’s practice squad group.

Rosas joins DT Bruce Hector, QB Steven Montez and TE Shane Zylstra with this week’s protected class.

In addition, the team terminated the practice squad contract of K Ryan Santoso.