On Tuesday, the Lions held their initial practice of Week 1, giving their players Wednesday off as they prepare to take on the Los Angeles Rams on “Sunday Night Football.” But, because the NFL does not mandate an injury report until four days before a team’s game, we didn’t get our first official Week 1 injury report until Wednesday.
Furthermore, because there was no actual practice on Wednesday, all participation levels for this report were estimates based on coaches’ opinions of what each player would have been capable of doing if they had a practice today.
Let’s take a look at the Lions’ first injury report of the 2024 season.
Injured reserve, Non-Football injury list
G Christian Mahogany (Illness, mono) — NFI list, eligible to return in Week 5
DT Brodric Martin (knee) — injured reserve, eligible to return in Week 5
DL John Cominsky (MCL) — injured reserve, eligible to return in Week 5
CB Emmanuel Moseley (pec) — injured reserve, eligible to return in Week 5
It was revealed on Wednesday that Mahogany has been dealing with mononucleosis (often called mono) during training camp, which is why he has missed so much practice time. He landed on the Lions NFI/Illness/reserve list, meaning that he can’t practice for, at a minimum, another four weeks.
Martin injured his knee in the final preseason game and was placed on injured reserve at cutdowns. In the locker room following the game, he was hopeful for a quick return, though he is not eligible to rejoin the team until after Week 4, at the earliest.
Cominsky and Moseley were injured early in training camp and are not expected to be able to return to the field until late in the season, even though they are technically eligible to return in Week 5.
Estimated no practice
S Loren Strickland (thumb)
Not much is known about Strickland’s injury at this time beyond the fact that he was also not practicing on Tuesday. Hopefully, we will learn more later this week when coach Dan Campbell speaks with the media on Friday.
Estimated limited practice
DT DJ Reader (quad) — Week 2 target return date, but Lions keeping the door open
S Ifeatu Melifonwu (ankle) — status for Week 1 “unclear”
Reader has been projected to return to game action in Week 2 for a few weeks now, but on Wednesday, Campbell indicated there may be a chance the Lions prized free agent is ready to play this week.
“So, yes, there’s still a chance,” Campbell said of Reader possibly playing this week. I’ll know more probably after tomorrow than I do right now. He’s doing well. He’s doing well.”
Reader is not out of the woods yet but there are encouraging signs.
Melifonwu practicing is an upgrade from what our own Jeremy Reisman reported on Tuesday when the safety missed practice. Melifonwu has been dealing with an ankle injury for a while now and his recovery process is taking longer than expected, so any level of practice is a good sign.
“It’s really something that’s just been lingering, even before (the Chiefs preseason game),” coach Dan Campbell said earlier this week. “It’s slow-moving, that’s all. It’s slow healing and take it as it comes.”
No longer reported as dealing with injury
RB Jahmyr Gibbs (hamstring)
RB Craig Reynolds (lower body)
TE Sam LaPorta (hamstring)
RG Kevin Zeitler (shoulder)
RT Penei Sewell (foot)
LT Dan Skipper (ankle)
EDGE James Houston (knee)
MIKE/WILL Malcolm Rodriguez (undisclosed)
CB Carlton Davis (hamstring)
CB Terrion Arnold* (pec)
NB/CB Amik Robertson (undisclosed)
CB/NB Ennis Rakestraw* (ankle)
Gibbs returning to practice is the big news this week, as his presence gives the Lions offense an extra kick of explosiveness. The Lions have taken it very slow with Gibbs this training camp, making sure not to push him too hard, but now he’s at the stage where they want him to cut it loose, so he’ll be game-ready and avoid any set-backs.
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