- Michael Rothstein of ESPN.com says that Lions fans should not expect any shakeups in the club’s defensive coaching staff this year, even if the defense continues to struggle. Rothstein notes that Teryl Austin is a good coordinator and that the team has shown improvement in some areas–like its pass rush and in total yards allowed–and the fact that Austin’s unit has been ravaged by injury gives him a bit of a pass.
- Speaking of injured Lions, Dave Birkett of the Detroit Free Press tweets that Detroit could try to make DeAndre Levy restructure his contract at the end of the year. Levy is set to count $8.39MM against the cap, and the Lions would be on the hook for $7.2MM in dead money if they were to cut Levy.
- We learned earlier today that the Raiders were going to prioritize a new contract for Derek Carr this offseason, and former NFL agent Joel Corry tweets that Matthew Stafford would be wise to wait and see what type of deal Carr gets before entering into extension talks with the Lions.
The Lions tried out free agent linebackers Sam Barrington and Sio Moore, according to Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk (Twitter link). Those two have been on the market since the Chiefs cut them Monday.
Before joining the Chiefs via waivers prior to Week 1, Barrington spent the first three seasons of his career with the Packers – one of the Lions’ NFC North rivals. Barrington suited up for 14 games and made seven starts in 2014, but he combined for just eight appearances in his other two seasons in Green Bay. Only one of those appearances came last year for Barrington, who suffered a major foot injury in Week 1. He ended up logging two appearances with the Chiefs before they parted with him.
Moore lasted less than a month in Kansas City, which signed him shortly after the Colts waived him Oct. 4. Moore only saw action in one of the Chiefs’ games, and he didn’t record a statistic in KC after beginning the year with 30 tackles in Indianapolis. The 26-year-old’s best seasons were his first two in the NFL – 2013 and ’14 – as he combined for 26 appearances (22 starts), 140 tackles, 7.5 sacks and two forced fumbles with the Raiders. Oakland, which used a third-round pick on Moore, then traded him to Indy for a sixth-rounder prior to last season and the Liberia-born defender hasn’t had much success since.
It’s currently unclear if the Lions are interested in signing either Barrington or Moore. The DeAndre Levy-less club made other changes to its linebacker group late last month in re-signing Josh Bynes and trading Kyle Van Noy to the Patriots.
Could Ameer Abdullah return from IR this season? Lions coach Jim Caldwell told reporters today that he’s not ruling it out (Twitter link via ESPN.com’s Michael Rothstein). 
There are two important caveats to keep in mind with Caldwell’s comments. One is that linebacker Jon Bostic returned to the practice field this week and was seen running on Wednesday. The Lions can only bring one player back from IR and Bostic certainly seems primed to be that guy. Secondly, Caldwell is notoriously coy when it comes to his interactions with the media. Publicly, he says he’s not shutting the door on Abdullah coming back, but that should perhaps be taken with a grain of driveway salt.
In the first month of the season, Abdullah was diagnosed with a torn ligament in his left foot. Typically, that injury is a season-ender. Heading into the season, the Lions were hopeful that Abdullah would anchor their backfield, but he was ultimately shut down after two appearances.
Since then, the Lions have shuffled through a number of different looks in the backfield as Theo Riddick and Dwayne Washington have also dealt with injuries. Assuming everyone is healthy for Sunday, the Lions will be starting Riddick with Washington, mid-season pickup Justin Forsett, and the agile Zach Zenner in support.
Since hitting the free agent market, Marcel Reece has yet to find a taker to give him a second chance. But several teams have been interested, with the Bengals being the latest after working out the veteran fullback today, Doug Kyed of NESN.com tweets.
The Bengals worked out Reece, along with their former defensive end Wallace Gilberry, defensive tackle Jordan Hill and tight end Justice Cunningham, according to ESPN.com’s Adam Caplan (Twitter links).
Cut by the Raiders on the heels of his PED suspension ending in September, the eighth-year fullback worked out for the Patriots and Jets over the past five weeks but has not played this season. The 31-year-old Reece made the Pro Bowl from 2012-14 and was a consistent outlet option for Derek Carr and previous Raiders passers during his time in Oakland.
Cincinnati does not employ a traditional fullback presently but does house four tight ends.
Gilberry signed a one-year deal with the Lions this offseason but was cut last month. The 31-year-old pass-rusher played for the Bengals from 2012-15, starting in 19 games for the team and recording 16.5 of his 35.5 career sacks with Cincinnati. He’s played in four games this season, starting one.
- Caplan reports (via Twitter) that the Lions hosted a number of players this afternoon: tight end Matthew Mulligan, linebackers Ben Jacobs and Trevor Bates, and cornerbacks Crezdon Butler and Jeremiah McKinnon.
[SOURCE LINK]
The Lions announced that defensive lineman Armonty Bryant has been hit with a three-game suspension. Bryant already served a four-game PED suspension to start the season, but this is a separate ban for a separate incident. 
Over the summer, Bryant pleaded guilty to an amended charge of attempted drug possession, a first-degree misdemeanor. He was originally charged with felony drug possession after he was caught with Adderall and Oxycodone. After serving 68 days of probation, he’ll now be sidelined from NFL action until next month.
The Browns surprised many when they cut Bryant on Oct. 3, the day he was slated to return from his first suspension. Cleveland brass didn’t feel that he was worth the headaches, but the Lions decided to roll the dice on him. Bryant, 26, enjoyed something of a breakout season in 2015, racking up career-highs in sacks (5.5), tackles (40), and forced fumbles (two). In four games for Detroit, Bryant racked up five total tackles and three sacks.
The Lions released a statement on Bryant moments ago:
“When we signed Armonty, we knew additional discipline from the NFL was a possibility due to an incident that occurred in 2015. Since joining our team, Armonty has met our expectations on and off the field.”
In related news, the Lions signed tight end Matthew Mulligan and placed fellow tight end Cole Wick on IR.
The Buccaneers didn’t waive Johnthan Banks after all. After telling the cornerback that he would be dropped from the roster yesterday, the Bucs have instead traded him to the Lions, according to Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (on Twitter). In exchange, Tampa Bay will receive a conditional seventh-round pick for 2018. 
Banks, a second round pick of the Bucs in the 2013 draft, hasn’t done much in the last four years. Already in a limited role under Lovie Smith in 2015, Banks hardly played for head coach Dirk Koetter this season.
Star cornerback Darius Slay was held out of Sunday’s game with an injury and Banks is likely being brought in as a depth signing. There’s no word yet on Slay’s status for this upcoming Sunday against the Vikings.
Johnson Bademosi stepped into the starting lineup over the weekend and he turned in a strong performance even though Detroit was not victorious against the Texans. In that game, Bademosi picked off Brock Osweiler late in the second quarter, stopping the Texans deep down the field.
Jim Caldwell‘s seat was looking pretty hot earlier this month, but talk of a coaching change in Detroit has cooled now that the Lions are on a three-game winning streak. However, things change quickly in the NFL and there’s no guarantee that Caldwell will be back in 2017 if the Lions cannot keep it up in the second half. If there is a head coaching change, Chris Mortensen of ESPN.com hears that Lions GM Bob Quinn would probably consider Patriots defensive coordinator Matt Patricia to Patriots offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels. 
In a scenario where McDaniels was hired as the Lions’ head coach, current offensive coordinator Jim Bob Cooter would probably be squeezed out. Given how well Cooter has worked with quarterback Matthew Stafford, the Lions are likely eager to hang on to their OC. And, at the young age of 32, Cooter can probably be kept as OC for at least a few more years.
Of course, the Lions are going to have to make a serious commitment to keep Stafford in place as he excels in his contract year.
Lions tight end Eric Ebron is expected to start practicing this week, a source tells Adam Caplan of ESPN.com (on Twitter). If he doesn’t suffer any setbacks, he’ll play on Sunday against the Texans. 
Ebron has been dealing with knee and ankle injuries which have hampered him throughout the season. After playing in the Lions’ first four games, Ebron was shut down to avoid further damage. In those four weeks of action, Ebron caught 18 of 25 targets for 210 yards and one touchdown.
The former first-round pick had 47 receptions for 537 yards and five touchdowns in 2015, which were all career highs. This year, with Calvin Johnson out of the picture, Detroit was banking on Ebron taking on an even larger role. Once he’s healthy, we’re expecting to see Matthew Stafford throw plenty of passes in his direction.
Right now, free agent pickup Marvin Jones stands as the team’s leading receiver with 33 catches for 623 yards and four touchdowns. He’s also averaging an eye-popping 18.9 yards per catch. Jones may see less targets with Ebron on the field, but the tight end’s presence should also ease the defensive pressure on him.
The Lions are 4-3 heading into Sunday’s game at Houston.
- The Seahawks auditioned defensive end Wallace Gilberry, per Caplan (Twitter link). Gilberry was released off the Lions’ injured reserve earlier in October.
- The Lions worked out offensive guards Jake Bernstein and Isame Faciane before signing fellow OG Matt Rotheram to their practice squad, tweets Balzer. Faciane was cut by the Vikings following a DUI arrest earlier this month.