Jeff Okudah was back at Detroit Lions practice Wednesday, but the team’s issues in the secondary continue to grow.
Desmond Trufant sat out Wednesday’s practice with a hamstring injury he suffered in last week’s season opening loss to the Chicago Bears, and backup Darryl Roberts joined him on the sidelines with a calf injury.
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Roberts played 28 defensive snaps against the Bears, most of them after Trufant left the game in the third quarter.
The Lions (0-1) placed Justin Coleman on injured reserve earlier this week with a hamstring injury he suffered against the Bears, and signed cornerback Chris Jones off the Arizona Cardinals’ practice squad as insurance. Jones was with the Lions briefly as an undrafted free agent in 2018.
Okudah, the third pick in April’s draft, could make his NFL debut Sunday against the Green Bay Packers (1-0) after missing the Bears game with a hamstring injury.
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If Trufant and Roberts can’t play, Okudah, Amani Oruwariye and Tony McRae would be the Lions’ top three cornerbacks.
“We try to cross-train a lot of guys on our team and certainly in the secondary,” Lions coach Matt Patricia said. “Obviously, with corners and safeties, we know that there’s going to be some cross-training packages that we can have with that and have those positions backed up. That’s one way to (deal with injuries), and we obviously have other players on our team that if there’s an emergency situation, we can move over to there.”
Along with Trufant and Roberts, wide receiver Kenny Golladay (hamstring), right tackle Halapoulivaati Vaitai (foot) and tight end Hunter Bryant (hamstring) – all of whom missed the Bears game – did not practice Wednesday.
Fullback Jason Cabinda (ankle), safety C.J. Moore (hamstring) and defensive lineman Nick Williams (shoulder) were limited
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