Allen Park — It was mostly positive news for the Detroit Lions on Sunday as the team opened its training camp, but one player, cornerback Emmanuel Moseley, will start on the physically unable to perform list.
Still recovering from an ACL injury he suffered last October, Moseley had been regularly seen working through some walkthrough drills during the spring, but coach Dan Campbell said the team determined they needed to slow down the defensive back’s rehab.
“Moseley is not here yet,” Campbell said. “He will be. He’s excused. He will start on PUP when he arrives, and it’s probably going to be a little bit longer than we had hoped for. That’s really predicated on the work that was going (on). He was progressing so fast, so we’re just going to put the brakes on a little bit. I don’t want to say a setback, but it will just be a little bit longer.”
Moseley, who signed a one-year, contract in March, is expected to compete with third-year cornerback Jerry Jacobs for a starting job opposite Cam Sutton, another of Detroit’s offseason additions.
On the other end of the spectrum, defensive tackle Levi Onwuzurike has been cleared to start practice and will be slowly worked into the mix, starting with Sunday’s practice.
“Levi is going,” Campbell said. “He’ll get some reps today and we’ll just progress Levi in as we go.”
Onwuzurike, a second-round pick in 2021, has been plagued by back issues since entering the league. He appeared in 16 games as a rookie, logging nearly 400 defensive snaps, but was largely ineffective after missing significant practice time during the offseason program. Seeking to get on track in his second season, he reaggravated the back injury and was sidelined the entire campaign.
jdrogers@detroitnews.com
Twitter: @Justin_Rogers