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Detroit Lions News & Rumors

Minor NFL Transactions: 12/2/20

December 2nd, 2020 at 4:11pm CST by Zachary Links

We’ll keep track of today’s minor moves here:

Buffalo Bills

Denver Broncos

Detroit Lions

Green Bay Packers

Houston Texans

Miami Dolphins

Minnesota Vikings

San Francisco 49ers

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Lions Place Desmond Trufant, Danny Shelton On IR

December 2nd, 2020 at 10:35am CST by Zachary Links

The Lions have placed cornerback Desmond Trufant and defensive tackle Danny Shelton on injured reserve, per a club announcement. With the season winding down and the Lions out of the playoff picture, this could mark the end of their seasons.

The Lions picked up Trufant in March after he was released midway through his five-year, ~$69MM mega-deal with the Falcons. So far, he’s played in just six games under his more reasonable two-year, $21MM deal, which includes $14MM in guarantees. Last year, Trufant compiled four interceptions and seven passes defended despite being limited to only nine games. In 2020, he’s got one interception, four passes defended, and 20 total stops.

Shelton — who entered the league as the No. 12 pick in the 2015 draft — never lived up to his draft status, but he’s built a solid career as a run-stuffer. The 345-pound lineman played a key role with the Pats last year and found a home as the Lions starter this year. Unfortunately, after eleven starts, his season could be done thanks to a knee injury suffered against the Texans.

Down two defensive starters, the Lions will travel to Chicago this weekend to face the Bears.

NFL Practice Squad Updates: 12/1/20

December 1st, 2020 at 7:22pm CST by Zachary Links

We’ll keep track of the NFL’s latest practice squad moves here:

Cleveland Browns

  • Released: CB Stephen Denmark

Detroit Lions

Indianapolis Colts

Minnesota Vikings

  • Released: CB Marcus Sayles

New York Giants

New York Jets

  • Signed: RB Pete Guerriero

Philadelphia Eagles

Pittsburgh Steelers

Washington Football Team

Lions Fire Bob Quinn, Matt Patricia

November 28th, 2020 at 1:48pm CST by Sam Robinson

Two days after the Lions endured a Thanksgiving blowout loss, they are making major changes. The organization announced the firings of Matt Patricia and GM Bob Quinn on Saturday. Offensive coordinator Darrell Bevell will take over as interim head coach, Ian Rapoport of NFL.com tweets. This will be Bevell’s first HC opportunity.

This move is certainly not unexpected, with the Lions on track to miss the playoffs for a fourth straight season. Ownership gave Quinn and Patricia a playoffs-or-bust-themed directive for 2020. After being routed by the Panthers and Texans over the past two weeks, the Lions are well off course.

Patricia’s ouster marks a second former Bill Belichick assistant to be fired in-season. Patricia coached against interim Texans HC Romeo Crennel on Thursday, doing so weeks after Houston canned Bill O’Brien. Patricia did not come especially close to achieving the kind of success O’Brien did and will not finish his third season. The former Patriots DC’s Lions tenure will wrap with a 13-29-1 record.

Quinn determined Jim Caldwell‘s back-to-back 9-7 seasons were not worthy of a fifth year, leading to the former Pats executive bringing in his former coworker. Although the Lions’ swoon last season could be attributed to Matthew Stafford‘s midseason injury, they have no such excuse this year. Stafford has started throughout, and the Lions will enter Week 13 at 4-7. Since Patricia’s hire, the Lions have blown an NFL-most 18 fourth-quarter leads, as Ed Werder of ESPN.com notes (via Twitter).

While Caldwell’s Lions could not build on their 11-5 2014 season, Patricia’s teams did not come close to a worthwhile follow-up effort. The longtime NFL defensive coach has seen his third Detroit defense drop to 30th in points allowed. The regression was not especially steep, with the Lions ranking 28th in defensive DVOA in 2018 and ’19.

Quinn’s firing makes for an interesting NFL GM landscape. Three jobs — in Atlanta, Detroit and Houston — are available before December. Quinn took over for Martin Mayhew in 2016; the Lions did not win 10 games in a season during his tenure.

Lions Rule Out D’Andre Swift

November 26th, 2020 at 11:08am CST by Zachary Links

D’Andre Swift will not play on Thursday afternoon against the Texans, according to NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport (on Twitter). Adrian Peterson, who started in Swift’s stead last week, figures to reprise that role while sharing the workload with Kerryon Johnson.

The Lions have held Swift out of practice ever since he suffered a concussion last week. There was some hope that Swift would be able to go for the Lions’ Thanksgiving game, but team doctors did not give him the green light.

Heading into the draft, many praised Swift as the best running back in this year’s class. The Lions weren’t thought to be targeting an RB early, but couldn’t pass up the opportunity to grab the two-time 1,000-yard rusher at No. 35 overall. The Georgia product has seen his workload increase throughout the year, resulting in 331 yards off of 70 carries. Peterson, meanwhile, leads the team with 389 rushing yards.

The Lions will also be without wide receivers Kenny Golladay and Danny Amendola today. To fill the gap, they will turn to new addition Mohamed Sanu.

Minor NFL Transactions: 11/25/20

November 25th, 2020 at 7:56pm CST by Sam Robinson

Here are Wednesday’s minor moves:

Baltimore Ravens

Dallas Cowboys

Detroit Lions

Green Bay Packers

Houston Texans

Jacksonville Jaguars

Washington Football Team

Lions To Promote Mohamed Sanu

November 21st, 2020 at 3:02pm CST by Sam Robinson

After two weeks on the Lions’ practice squad, Mohamed Sanu is set to return to game action. The Lions are promoting the veteran wide receiver, Tom Pelissero of NFL.com tweets.

Sanu played in three games for the injury-depleted 49ers this season but did not make much of an impact. He may have another chance to play a key role Sunday, with the Lions down both Kenny Golladay and Danny Amendola. This will be Golladay’s third straight absence.

Prior to the Patriots sending a second-round pick to the Falcons for Sanu, he had enjoyed a solid run of production in Cincinnati and Atlanta. Sanu fared well as a Julio Jones supporting-caster, but after the Falcons drafted Calvin Ridley, they moved on from their previous WR2. Sanu did not fare as well in New England and wound up a cap casualty this offseason.

The 31-year-old receiver will interestingly reunite with Marvin Jones, with the former Bengal teammates now doubling as by far Matthew Stafford‘s most accomplished wideouts. Jones and Sanu played together from 2012-15, but A.J. Green‘s sidekicks parted ways in the ’16 offseason when Jones signed with Detroit and Sanu landed in Atlanta.

The Lions also promoted defensive lineman Frank Herron from their practice squad.

Injury Notes: Stafford, Bridgewater, Bears

November 17th, 2020 at 6:59pm CST by Ben Levine

Matthew Stafford is dealing with a hand injury, but there’s hope the ailment won’t sideline the veteran. NFL.com’s Tom Pelissero reports (via Twitter) that the Lions quarterback suffered a “partial tear in a ligament in the thumb on his throwing hand.”

The team will evaluate Stafford’s ability to throw the ball throughout the week, but it’s expected that Stafford will ultimately be in uniform on Sunday against the Panthers.

2019 aside, Stafford has been remarkably durable throughout his NFL career. Prior to his season-ending injury last season, Stafford had appeared in 136 consecutive regular season contests, the sixth-longest mark in NFL history. The 32-year-old has had a solid comeback season for the 4-5-0 Lions, completing 63.7-percent of his passes for 2,403 yards, 17 touchdowns, and seven interceptions.

If Stafford were to miss any time, the Lions would likely turn to backups Chase Daniel or David Blough.

Let’s check out some more injury notes from around the league…

  • Speaking of Lions/Panthers, Teddy Bridgewater‘s MCL sprain “is consider minor,” according to Pelissero (via Twitter). The Panthers quarterback is expected to practice on a limited basis at tomorrow’s practice, and as the reporter notes, head coach Matt Rhule had previously expressed optimism that Bridgewater will play against the Lions. Bridgewater suffered the injury during the fourth quarter of his team’s loss to the Buccaneers on Sunday.
  • Despite being carted off the field yesterday, Bears quarterback Nick Foles could be available following his team’s bye. While the veteran is dealing with both hip and glute injuries, coach Matt Nagy said Foles should be alright. “It wasn’t as bad as we once thought,” Nagy said (via Gene Chamberlain of the Associated Press). “He’ll be working through that here as we go, keeping an eye on that, kind of day to day.”
  • While Foles could play against the Packers in two weeks, Nagy wasn’t so confident that backup Mitch Trubisky will be in uniform. “I think there’s a possibility, but I don’t know that for sure,” Nagy said. “I think it’s going to be day by day. I don’t know if he knows that. So we’ll just keep an eye on that.” The former second-overall pick has seen only one snap since Week 3.

Minor NFL Transactions: 11/14/20

November 14th, 2020 at 4:50pm CST by Sam Robinson

Here are Saturday’s minor moves:

Arizona Cardinals

Atlanta Falcons

Baltimore Ravens

Carolina Panthers

Denver Broncos

Detroit Lions

Jacksonville Jaguars

Los Angeles Chargers

Los Angeles Rams

Minnesota Vikings

New England Patriots

Philadelphia Eagles

Pittsburgh Steelers

San Francisco 49ers

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Washington Football Team 

NFL Practice Squad Updates: 11/11/20

November 11th, 2020 at 1:49pm CST by Zachary Links

We’ll keep track of today’s practice squad moves here:

Cincinnati Bengals

Detroit Lions

Los Angeles Rams

New England Patriots

New York Jets

Pittsburgh Steelers

Seattle Seahawks

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