Arlington, Texas — The Detroit Lions had hoped keeping D’Andre Swift on the shelf the two weeks prior to the bye would be enough to get the dual-threat running back after the break, but lingering shoulder and ankle injuries will keep him on the lineup against the Dallas Cowboys.
Swift suffered the ankle sprain in the season opener, but was managing to play through the pain, prior to injuring his shoulder in Week 3. Through three games, he had racked up more than 300 yards from scrimmage and three touchdowns. While he remains out, Jamaal Williams will continue to shoulder most of the backfield load, supplemented by Craig Reynolds and Justin Jackson.
Also inactive for the Lions are defensive tackle Michael Brockers, defensive end Charles Harris, cornerback Will Harris, safety Ifeatu Melifonwu, offensive tackle Matt Nelson and defensive lineman Demetrius Taylor.
Charles Harris, Melifonwu and Nelson had been ruled out Friday, while Will Harris had unexpectedly popped up on Friday’s injury report with a hip issue and had been listed as questionable for Sunday’s game.
Brockers, meanwhile, is a surprising healthy scratch. The defensive captain has missed just one game since joining the Lions via trade ahead of the 2021 season. But his playing time had already been cut significantly. Through five games, he was seeing action on 32% of the team’s defensive snaps compared to 54.5% a year ago.
With Brockers out, the Lions will lean more heavily on a pair of young, returning players. John Cominsky, who missed the past three games with a broken thumb, and rookie Josh Paschal, who will be making his season debut after undergoing surgery to repair a sports hernia this offseason, will be looked at to pick up the slack along the interior of Detroit’s defensive line.
jdrogers@detroitnews.com
Twitter: @Justin_Rogers