The Detroit Lions defensive line has been devastated by injuries recently. After losing several starters–and then some replacement starters–it was good to hear about some injury progress on the Detroit defensive front.
Head coach Dan Campbell provided that on Friday with an update on second-year defensive tackle Brodric Martin. The reserve nose tackle has been sidelined all season, on injured reserve with a knee injury suffered in the final preseason game.
Martin’s activation clock began this week, meaning the Lions have designated Martin to return from I.R. and have 21 days to either activate him or lose him for the remainder of the season. Campbell talked about what he’s seen in the first few days of Martin’s return to practices.
“It’s hard to say. I mean, it was good to see him out there. He looks like he’s fresh, he certainly has fresh legs. So, really that’s the best I can give you. I mean, it’s good to get him out there, it’s good to continue the development of him, to be able to go against our one O-line.”
Campbell continued, offering something of a more concrete timeline,
“He’s out there going against those guys, and then it’s just a matter of, man, do we feel like after this three weeks he can help us, do we feel like he can really help us, is he healthy enough to help, how is he relative to the rest of the guys on the roster, even practice squad? That’s what it’ll be.”
The “after this three weeks” is a telling comment. With Martin’s clock beginning just this week, Campbell’s phrasing makes it seem as if the Lions are willing to wait until the deadline before activating the big defensive tackle. That would push Martin back to being out until Detroit’s Week 12 trip to Indianapolis to play the Colts.