Tag: James Houston

Lions officially tender James Houston among several transactions

Lions officially tender James Houston among several transactions to start the new NFL league year

The start of the new NFL league year commenced at 4 p.m. ET on Wednesday. The flip to 2024 means transactions that had been pending and long-reported are now able to be made official.

Such was the case for the Detroit Lions with a few deals that had been in the works. Among those were the qualifying tender offers for restricted and exclusive rights free agents on the roster.

MOst of these were already known, but the Lions made it official. They extended qualifying offers to just one of the six eligible restricted free agents. Tight end Brock Wright will be back in Detroit for $2.9 million.

The following restricted free agents are now on the open market and no longer under contractual control or compensation ties to the Lions:

  • CB Jerry Jacobs
  • CB Chase Lucas
  • LB Anthony Pittman
  • LS Scott Daly
  • DT Benito Jones
  • CB Khalil Dorsey

For exclusive rights free agents, or ERFAs, the Lions officially tendered five of the six eligible players. Most notable is EDGE James Houston, whose status had been kept quiet by all parties. Houston will play for the NFL league minimum for the Lions in 2024 and will become a restricted free agent following the season if he’s on the roster in some form for at least six games.

The trade for Carlton Davis and recent re-signings of RB Zonovan Knight, CB Emmanuel Moseley and TE Shane Zylstra were also made official on the league’s transaction wire.

Lions inactives for the NFC Championship game: James Houston will play

Lions inactives for the NFC Championship game: James Houston will play

James Houston is active for the NFC Championship game. No sense in burying the lead story.

For the first time since breaking his ankle in Week 2, Lions EDGE James Houston is active for a game. He is poised to take the field for Detroit in San Francisco against the 49ers.

The Lions had two players previously ruled out on the final injury list with injuries in left guard Jonah Jackson and wide receiver/return specialist Kalif Raymond. Third-string QB Hendon Hooker is also inactive but listed as the emergency QB option. Hooker was questionable with a tooth malady.

The healthy scratches feature several of the usual suspects:

  • CB Steven Gilmore
  • DT Brodric Martin
  • S Tracy Walker
  • EDGE Charles Harris

For the 49ers:

Lions final injury status report for the NFC Championship game

Detroir Lions final injury report for the NFC Championship game

The final Detroit Lions injury status report for Sunday’s NFC Championship game against the San Francisco 49ers could have been worse. Despite some key players missing some practice time during the week, the Lions only ruled out two players.

Both those players, LG Jonah Jackson and WR Kalif Raymond, were anticipated to miss the game in Santa Clara with their injuries. Jackson suffered a knee injury in the Divisional round win over the Buccaneers, while Raymond, who also serves as the Lions’ primary return man, has been out since Week 18.

Two other Lions are questionable. Third-string QB Hendon Hooker has a tooth issue, while CB Chase Lucas earned it for an undisclosed illness.

Center Frank Ragnow will play, barring any setbacks, per head coach Dan Campbell. Rookie tight end Sam LaPorta also did not get an injury designation. LaPorta has played through the pain in both playoff wins thus far.

James Houston also does not carry an injury status designation into the matchup with the 49ers after being a full participant in practice all week. Houston was activated prior to last week’s game but was inactive for the win over the Buccaneers.

Aaron Glenn says Lions EDGE James Houston ‘is very close’ to playing

Detroit DC Aaron Glenn says Lions EDGE James Houston ‘is very close’ to playing in the NFC Championship game

James Houston hasn’t been active for a Detroit Lions game since Week 2. In the loss to the Seahawks back in September, the second-year pass rusher suffered a serious ankle injury.

The Lions activated Houston from the injured reserve prior to the NFC Divisional round game against the Buccaneers, but he was inactive for Sunday’s game. The prolonged absence has many Lions fans crying foul over how the team has handled the 2022 rookie sack phenom.

“I think he’s very close,” Glenn said of Houston. “The thing we want to do is protect that player from himself for the most part.”

Glenn continued,

“I do NOT take injuries lightly. Especially to make sure we listen to the medical department to make sure we bring that player along exactly how he needs to come along.”

Houston was a full participant in Wednesday’s practice, though it was a walkthrough. Given how poorly Romeo Okwara and John Cominsky fared at the EDGE role opposite Aidan Hutchinson in the Buccaneers game, it seems safe to say that if Glenn, the medical staff and the Lions coaches think Houston is capable of playing, he’ll be on the field in San Francisco for the NFC Championship game.

Lions inactives vs. Buccaneers: James Houston will not play

Lions inactives vs. Buccaneers: James Houston will not play while Sam LaPorta is active

There was one big question lingering over the Detroit Lions and their inactive player list for Sunday’s playoff matchup with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers:

Would James Houston be active?

Detroit activated Houston from injured reserve during the week, but the second-year pass rusher was listed as questionable for the NFC Divisional Round game with the ankle injury that has kept him sidelined since September.

And it will continue to keep Houston out. He’s one of the seven inactive Lions for the game.

Houston and Kalif Raymond are the injury-related inactive players. Tight end Sam LaPorta was listed as questionable but he will play.

Lions final injury report for divisional round game vs. Buccaneers

Lions final injury report for divisional round game vs. Buccaneers has one player out and two more questoinable

The final Detroit Lions injury report for the Divisional Round matchup with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers is a pretty light one for the home team. The Lions only ruled out one player due to injury, with two others questionable after Friday’s practice.

Wide receiver and primary return specialist Kalif Raymond will miss his second consecutive game with a knee injury. Raymond was injured in the Week 18 win over the Minnesota Vikings. He did not practice at all during the week.

Tight end Sam LaPorta and EDGE James Houston are each listed as questionable. LaPorta was limited in the final two days of practice with his knee injury, also suffered in the regular-season finale against the Vikings. Houston, activated off the injured reserve on Thursday, is still dealing with the ankle injury he suffered in Week 2.

All other Lions players were full participants in the final two days of practice and none carry any injury designation status for Sunday’s game.

James Houston is activated from Lions injured reserve

The Lions activated Houston at the deadline to decide, waiving Julian Okwara to make room

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.

Lions bring back DL to the practice squad

Lions bring back rookie DL Chris Smith to the practice squad

As the Lions nation anxiously awaits word on the fate of EDGE James Houston, the team did make a roster move involving the defense on Wednesday. The team announced it has brought rookie DT Chris Smith back to the practice squad.

It’s the third stint on the practice squad in Detroit for Smith. He joined the team as an undrafted rookie free agent out of Notre Dame. Smith showed some ability as an undersized (he’s 290 pounds) interior rusher during training camp. He never signed with any other NFL team after being released from the Lions practice squad twice during the season.

The Lions had an opening on the practice squad after last weekend’s roster moves. Detroit will determine the fate of Houston on Thursday; the pass rusher’s activation window from injured reserve ends on that day. The Lions must either activate him to the 53-man roster or else Houston’s season is over.

Lions final injury report for Week 18: No Jamo in the finale

Lions final injury report for Week 18: 3 Lions are ruled out including WR Jameson Williams

The final Detroit Lions injury status report for Detroit’s Week 18 matchup with the Minnesota Vikings is now out. The Lions officially ruled out three players due to injury, with four more listed as questionable for Sunday’s regular-season finale.

Wide receiver Jameson Williams is the most notable player ruled out. Williams suffered an ankle injury in the Week 17 loss to Dallas and did not practice all week. Tight end Brock Wright will miss his third straight game with a hip injury.

Also ruled out: EDGE James Houston. As head coach Dan Campbell indicated during the week, Houston is not ready yet to be activated off injured reserve.

Two other players currently on injured reserve are listed as questionable. Defensive tackle Alim McNeill and safety C.J. Gardner-Johnson are not yet activated, though that status could change before Sunday. Defensive tackle Benito Jones (illness) is also listed as questionable.

All three starting offensive linemen who missed various practice time during the week — LT Taylor Decker, RG Graham Glasgow and C Frank Ragnow — do not carry any injury designation into the game.

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.”