Final practice reports are in, and the Lions will be fully healthy with all hands not on a reserve list available for the game. The Packers lost starting defender for the game in a mid-week practice injury but will also have everyone that isn't on a Reserve list available other than him. Week 7 Final Injury Report Packers Friday: It was revealed mid-monring that starting LB, 2nd leading tackler and green dot wearing Zaire Franklin will miss the game due to an injury suffered in practice yesterday. Others that are questionable are WR Bo Melton, CB St-Juste, DT Jordan Riley and starting OG Aaron Banks. Everyone else including Love, Van-Ness Golden and Cisse are good to go. Thursday: Most everyone from the estimate stayed the same, but QB Jordan Love elevated to a Full Practice. What did change was both Edge Lukas Vban ness (Illness) and LB Zaire Franklin (shin) showing up as limited after not being on the estimate yesterday. Likely nothing to keep them out, but tomorrow's report will tell. Wednesday: Packers report appears to be mainly recovery from their game last weekend as multiple starters including Love, Watson, Golden, Williams, Cisse and Banks were all LP, with only backup WR Bo Melton not participating. A handful of other backups also would have been limited. Lions Friday: Cade Mays and Brian Branch are listed as questionable but were FP all week. Rock Ya-Sin was also a FP today, so it's likely that all three will be available and the Lions will only make inactive players that won't see the field due to their place on the depth chart. Thursday: No changes, Ya-Sin was limited with his Hammy and both Branch and Mays are on track to be activated off their respective lists. Wednesday: The Lions had an estimated report today due to a walkthrough, but they are incredibly healthy coming out of the bye week, with Rock Ya-Sin the only member who was limited with his hamstring, while both Cade Mays and Brian Branch would have been Full Participants. Both Branch and Mays will be activated at some point this week and play Sunday.

The Lions had a bye in Week 6, but there is still some revelry going on for the absolutely dominating win in the dessert against the Cardinals in Week 5. The offense looked great, and the defense started to look...dare I say...competent? With the return of Brian Branch this week and better CB play due to getting back to more man-t-man sets, the defense will need another strong game against a Packers team that lives to draw flags and throw it deep and may get its running game going with the return of Jacobs form the Commish exempt list. This is a very similar matchup on paper to the Jets game, with a Top 12 Defense against the Lions Top 3 offense. The Packers are running thin on the DL and at LB, but they have some great safeties and disruption off the edge with their edge rushers. The Lions are fully healthy on offense and get Cade Mays back, so the expectation is that there will be a lot of running and play action against Gannon's defense to basically out-score the Packers. Jordan Love will be throwing it deep plenty and often, as the Packers have drawn some of the most downfield penalties in the NFL and will test the Lions LBs, Safeties and CBs. As mentioned in Week 5, the officiating can be a significant wildcard, as the crew is led by Alex Moore, who is in year two of being a Referee and his crew is no 2 in the league in penalties thrown er game, Conversely, the Packers are one of the most penalized teams in the league, and the Lions are at home, so should be an advantage to Detroit. Personally, I expect a lot of offense in this one with the game possibly turning on a big play by the defense or special teams. Packers at Lions Tale of the tape Back in Week 5, the entire Grey Manes staff picked the Lions over the Cardinals and the race tightened up even more. Out of that game came a new leader, as Dan has the tiebreaker currently nailing how many points scored the Lions had so far in 2026, with Brent matching his record and off by a single point, while Mickey (4) and Chris (15) are within striking distance due to the tiebreaker. Mike is still looking for a break to get back in it, but if he does his pts for the tiebreaker are only off by 10. The Grey Manes Lions Prediction - Week 7 All of us felt this was a game the Lions would win, and our picks this week reflect that, although the defense improvements against seen against the Cardinals aren't fully convincing to everyone yet. Everyone picked the Lions, and we all have them scoring between 30-28 pts on offense and giving up 23-35 on defense, so a close game looks on tap. Mickey The Lions are on track to allow over 5000 yards through the air. The opponents have a 106.3 passer rating. Joe Burrow has a passer rating of 104.4, Patrick Mahomes is 103.1 and Josh Allen is 102.1. So, pretty much every chump that plays against the Lions comes out better than any of those guys. That’s scary. The Packer D woke up last week against the Cowboys and currently leads the NFL in interceptions and is 3rd in lowest percentage of drives ending in a score. But, they haven’t played an offense like the Lions. In those same stats – Detroit has yet to throw an interception. Due to Goff staying pick-free, the Lions offense has the lowest percentage of drives ending in a turnover. Detroit’s offense is second in the league in drives ending in a score, scoring on over 50% of our possessions (52.8 to be exact). The Packer front 7 is banged up and I expect Jahmyr Gibbs to have a big game and Goff to then rely on the play-action passes to carve up the Packers. Detroit 30, Green Bay 24 Dan Do you like barn burners? What about games where your nerves and heart get traumatized due to back and forth scoring and lead changes? Then there is a good chane this Lions and Packers game will be for you. So many storylines, with the Packers injuries mounting to key players, return of Packers Josh Jacobs and Brian Branch and Case Mays for Detroit, a neophyte officiating crew that is super pass happy and an undisciplined Packers team that is 2nd to last in the NFL in penalties. Expect a shootout, with TEs and WRs running free all over the field with plenty of scoring and the occasional defensive stop, and a game that could very well be decided by a single defensive or specials teams play. Lions 31, Packers 28 Brent The Lions head into the Green Bay game with positive momentum. The Packers are equally hot beating the Bears like a drum forcing Johnson to eat crow at mid-filed post game. Then, the Packers soundly beat the Cowboys. The Packers come into Motown having won three in a row. The Lions, coming off a bye week and wearing their black uniforms, look to start the division games with a home win. The Lions are 6-2 in the last eight against the Green team and MCDC is 2-2-1 in the last five games after a bye. In the end, this boils down to two key points, the Lions ability to stop the pack with their porous defense, and the Lions offense to be prepared to outscore the Packers. If the Lions do what they can do offensively, this is a win. Brian Branch being back, gives me more confidence in the Lions ability to periodically stop Green Bay. Lions 38, Green Bay 35 Mike The Lions are coming off of a bye week which will bring 2 different starters to the team one we are very familiar with and the other not so much. Brian Branch makes his return to the playing field this Sunday hoping to help an ailing defense find some level ground. Cade Mays is making his Lions regular season debut in a much different scenario. The Lions O-Line has been ranked and performed highly most of the young season and have been as high as the #1 Oline in the NFL AND Juice Scruggs has been rated as the #1 Center in the NFL according to various sources. So why not replace Scruggs with a guy who hasn't played a regular season snap? I mean what could go wrong? All of that said this is going to be another shoot out for the Lions. Lions 31, Packers 30 Chris Dan Campbell's Lions are 2-2-1 coming out of a bye since 2021 and 2-1 over the last three seasons. A healthier Detroit has used the extra week well, while Green Bay is on a short turnaround after a Sunday night game. The matchup tilts Detroit's way. Even though Josh Jacobs will get some carries, the Packers are averaging 2.9 yards per carry, so Jordan Love will have to throw into a Lions pass rush with an already NFL best 20 sacks in only 5 games. It'll be a touchdown win with a few nervous moments, as Lions wins tend to be. Lions 30, Packers 23

the second practice report of the week brought no changes to the Lions other than the report was not an estimate and they remain extremely healthy. The Packers saw most of the list stay the same but had had a couple of surprising defensive starters added to the list, but it's unlikely they will be long-term issues. Week 7 Thursday Practice Report Packers Thursday: Most everyone from the estimate stayed the same, but QB Jordan Love elevated to a Full Practice. What did change was both Edge Lukas Vban ness (Illness) and LB Zaire Franklin (shin) showing up as limited after not being on the estimate yesterday. Likely nothing to keep them out, but tomorrow's report will tell. Wednesday: Packers report appears to be mainly recovery from their game last weekend as multiple starters including Love, Watson, Golden, Williams, Cisse and Banks were all LP, with only backup WR Bo Melton not participating. A handful of other backups also would have been limited. Lions Thursday: No changes, Ya-Sin was limited with his Hammy and both Branch and Mays are on track to be activated off their respective lists. Wednesday: The Lions had an estimated report today due to a walkthrough, but they are incredibly healthy coming out of the bye week, with Rock Ya-Sin the only member who was limited with his hamstring, while both Cade Mays and Brian Branch would have been Full Participants. Both Branch and Mays will be activated at some point this week and play Sunday.

Name: Alex Moore Age: 43 Promoted To Referee: 2025 Graphic Courtesy of Football Zebras Last Game: 10/08/26 TB @ DAL The Tampa Bay Buccaneers committed 14 penalties for 92 yards. They were flagged a total of 14 times. The Dallas Cowboys committed 7 penalties for 57 yards. They were flagged a total of 7 times. Together there were 21 penalties for 149 yards. There were 21 total flags in this game. Last Lions Game: 01/21/24 – TB 23 @ DET 31 (Divisional Playoffs) Alex Moore last worked a Lions game as an Umpire on Bill Vinovich's crew The Tampa Bay Buccaneers committed 5 penalties for 33 yards. They were flagged a total of 5 times. The Detroit Lions committed 3 penalties for 17 yards. They were flagged a total of 3 times. Together there were 8 penalties for 50 yards. There were 8 total flags in this game. Week 7 Penalty Tale of the Tape Packers and Lions Notable This will be the first Detroit Lions game that Alex Moore has worked since being promoted to referee. His last game was in the 2023 season in the Divisional Playoff Round in the Lions win over Tampba Bay when he was the umpire on Bill Vinovich's Crew. Moore's crew is very flag happy, but primarily against the away team for the game they are officiating. The crew ranks top 3 in all major categories, which for teams like Green Bay (31st in Penalties and the away team), in theory should not bode well. Both the Lions and Packers have trouble with Offensive Holding and False starts, so with Ford Field being loud, expect the Packers and their revamped OL to get a few of those, while the Lions with Cade Mays starting likely will pick up some holding due to miscommunication as he settles in. The other note is that the Packers have a tendency to be the beneficiary of the most downfield DPIU and Holding penalties in the league, which are also top 5 calls for this crew, so Detroit's revamped secondary with Branch coming back and more man-to-man will have to be sticky without being all over Golden, Watson and Kraft. Regardless, i expect a LOT of flags on the turf at Ford Field Sunday, which has been a theme across the league and especially with this crew.

The Lions had a walkthrough and estimated report today coming off their bye in Week 7 and are about as healthy as they could hope to be at this point in the season. Three starters appeared, although two are coming off PUP and IR, and will be active this week. The Packers also had a walkthrough and quite a few players that would have been limited, but only one that wouldn't have practiced. Week 7 Wednesday Practice Report Packers Wednesday: Packers report appears to be mainly recovery from their game last weekend as multiple starters including Love, Watson, Golden, Williams, Cisse and Banks were all LP, with only backup WR Bo Melton not participating. A handful of other backups also would have been limited. Lions Wednesday: The Lions had an estimated report today due to a walkthrough, but they are incredibly healthy coming out of the bye week, with Rock Ya-Sin the only member who was limited with his hamstring, while both Cade Mays and Brian Branch would have been Full Participants. Both Branch and Mays will be activated at some point this week and play Sunday.

With bye weeks and international games ongoing, we see more games spread out over the US areas than ever before. The Bills, Jaguars, Chargers and Commanders will be off this week on their byes. The week kicks off Thursday with NE@CHI on Amazon Prime Video (and on local channels in these markets) with the usual duo of Al Michaels and Kirk Herbstret will be on the call. The Sunday games kick off in the morning with PIT@NO in Paris on the NFLN (and local affiliates in those markets) followed by the CBS Regional Single and FOX regional Early and Late Games in the afternoon. The Sunday Night Football game on NBC is KC@SEA with Mike Titico and Chris Collingsworth, and the week ends with DAL@WAS on Monday night football on ABC/ESPN. Joe Buck and troy Aikman will be on the call. The CBS single games are CIN@BAL, IND@MIN, CLE@TEN, MIA@NYJ and DEN@ARZ (late.) The FOX early games are SF@ATL, NYG@HOU, TB@CAR, with the FOX late games being GB@DET (~80% of country) and LAR@LAV. The Lions will have Kevin Burkhardt and Tom Brady on the call with Erin Andrews and Tom Rinaldi on sidelines. Byes: Buffalo, Jacksonville, LA Chargers, Washington NATIONAL BROADCASTS Thursday 8:00 ET: New England @ Chicago (Amazon Prime Video) Al Michaels, Kirk Herbstreit also WCVB/ABC Boston, WFLD/FOX Chicago Sunday 9:30 AM ET: Pittsburgh vs New Orleans (in Paris) (NFLN) Dave Pasch, Kurt Warner, Jason Kelce also WTAE/ABC Pittsburgh, WDSU/NBC New Orleans Sunday 8:00 ET: Kansas City @ Seattle (NBC) Mike Tirico, Cris Collinsworth Monday 8:00 ET: Dallas @ Philadelphia (ESPN / ABC) Joe Buck, Troy Aikman CBS Single FOX Early FOX Late All listings are unofficial and subject to change. Check back often for updates.  Courtesy of the folks at 506 Sports

Welcome to Mickey's Musings, my weekly notebook where we skip the linear narrative and dive straight into three completely unrelated, but entirely fascinating storylines that are bouncing around in my head. How do we handle a bye week? Especially one coming off probably the best all around Lions’ game of the season. Whatever happened to “strike while the iron is hot”? Well, each of us had to find our own way to survive a week without a Lions game. Let’s get into our three topics and I’ll tie them together later as I share how I managed the bye week. Topic # 1: Moses Guthrie Probably only the most die-hard Gen-X movie fan will remember the movie and even fewer will know the character by name only. I’ll give you clue – Doctor J, Julius Erving, played Moses Guthrie in the movie. The movie? The Fish that Saved Pittsburgh The Fish that Saved Pittsburgh In the film, Dr. J. plays the frustrated superstar Moses Guthrie for the fictional Pittsburgh Pythons, a team so dysfunctional, so terrible, the coach and every other player on the roster quit midseason. In true 1970’s fashion – the decade where any schlub in a powder blue leisure suit would walk up to a woman at the bar and say, “What’s your sign?” – the team is re-constructed entirely out of players that share an astrological sign with Guthrie. There were open tryouts where the first requirement was a birthday between February 19 and March 20. After the tryouts the new look Pythons became known as the Pittsburgh Pisces, led by Guthrie. He was the only legitimate player on a team as the rest of the roster consisted of a preacher that left his congregation mid sermon to attend tryouts, a 40 year old that fired up old-school two handed set shots, an ex-con, a radio DJ that spoke entirely in rhymes and a musclebound overly intense player that rarely spoke throughout the movie. The team went on a run to qualify for the playoffs. They made it all the way to the Championship and Guthrie addressed the team with a pre-game speech. He said, “You’re talking about Shitty bounce after Shitty bounce just to get TO the bridge. No many alive should stop you from crossing over.” Topic # 2: Frankenmuth I’m sure everyone has heard of and/or been to Frankenmuth. For those of you that haven’t - Imagine a place where traditional German dirndls meet the Great Lakes, and you’ll find Frankenmuth. Affectionately known as "Little Bavaria," the place looks like a living cuckoo clock, complete with Alpine architecture, horse-drawn carriages, and the melodic chimes of the Frankenmuth Glockenspiel. That doesn’t even mention Bronners! Bronner's is the world’s largest Christmas store, open 361 days per year. You can go to the Frankenmuth Brewery and have a pint of “The Hef” – German Hefeweizen, their gold medal winning German wheat ale then head to Zehnders for the famous chicken dinners and afterwards take a walk across the street to the wooden bridge and down to the river area. Frankenmuth is a delightfully campy Midwest escape where hospitality is served with a side of polka. Frankenmuth, Zender's and Bronner's Topic # 3: Dryer Lint Nearly 15,000 home fires per year are attributed to dryers with over a third of those being due to the accumulation of dryer lint. Other than those 10 seconds you spend peeling it off the lint screen, did you ever really think about dryer lint? If you think about it, shouldn’t our clothes be smaller each time they dry? I mean, the lint is literally tiny pieces of clothing. So, when my shirt doesn’t fit, it probably isn’t the extra trip to the desert table at Golden Corral, it is because I washed and dried my clothes! It had nothing to do with skipping my morning workout….4 days this week….it is because it was raining and I couldn’t hang my laundry in the backyard to dry. (Does anyone still have clotheslines and put their clothes out after they wash them?) As Jon Lovitz’ character Tommy Flanagan used to say, “Yeahhhhh, that’s the TICKET!” Jon Lovitz’ as Tommy Flanagan on SNL Going back to the beginning I shared that quote from Moses Guthrie. Since it is the Lion’s bye week, there was no grit to fill my weekend. I feel that “Shitty bounce” he referred to is just that - having no football that I really cared to watch! But…I also officially found my bridge. To cross over that bridge, I took up professional lint sculpting. I spent my football-less weekend channeling all my hyper-fixated energy into molding a life-sized Dan Campbell out of dryer lint. Once the masterpiece was secure in my trunk, I drove straight to Frankenmuth. I crossed the actual wooden Holz-Brücke covered bridge, checked into the Bavarian Inn, threw on a full authentic German lederhosen, and scarfed down an all-you-can-eat chicken dinner. If Dan Campbell couldn't give me grit this week, a mountain of mashed potatoes, gravy, and buttered noodles as I sat in full 19th-century Bavarian attire had to do. OK, maybe that’s not exactly how my weekend went, but it was close. I did watch the Bears and saw their offense come untracked with Caleb Williams back at the helm and I did see the Packer defense take down the Cowboys. But, it’s all good, we’re ready. Bring on the Packers. Go Lions.

Detroit Lions Center Cade Mays Not too deep into the 2025 season, both the Detroit Lions and the Lions fanbase realized there was a significant problem at Center for the team after the sudden retirement of Frank Ragnow. The handpicked stopgap, Graham Glasgow, wasn't playing well and ultimately ended up getting hurt. This led to 2025 essentially being a rotation of players at the position that led to communication issues, guys in Goff's face constantly and poor overall play on the OL. The signing of Cade Mays during the 2026 Free Agency period was supposed to help correct that, and while he wasn't the "best" Center on the market, he was the best fit for what the Lions like to do with their running game. So, with three years and $25M in hand, Mays was expected to come in and stabilize the IOL and help get the Lions OL back on a path to where they were in 2024 when Ragnow was still on the team. Things appeared on the right track right up to the point where Mays went down with a broken wrist in training camp, leading to the entire Lions fanbase holding their breath that it wasn't season ending. The semi-good news came that it would require an IR stint, but he would be back within 8-10 weeks, putting him on track for the Week 7 showdown with the Green Bay Packers. As expected, Mays 21-day window opened last week, and he is on track to be activated off the reserve list and put on the main roster prior to Green Bay, leading to this unexpected dilema of where does he play and who does he replace? Since he went out, Juice Scruggs, who was a sweetener in the David Montgomery trade, has played like one of the best Centers in the NFL, leading all NFL Centers in PFF grade (75.6). Detroit Lions OL vs Arizona Cardinals 09/18/26 So, what do the Lions do with Mays? Do they replace one of the best centers in the NFL with a guy coming off a broken wrist? Do they put May at one of the starting Guard spots where Christian Mahogany (2nd of 58 Guards per PFF) and Tate Ratledge (12th of 58 Guards per PFF) are ranked near the top of the charts and disrupt the Lions OL, which is currently ranked #1 overall by PFF and coming off back-to-back Ol of the Week awards? Furthering that question, who do the Lions cut to make room for Mays on the active roster? Only the Lions know the answers to who they will introduce Mays into the lineup, but I suspect that they will activate him prior to Green Bay, not start him so as not disrupt the continuity of the OL and maybe get him a series or two depending on how the game is flowing. It is likely there will be injuries or possibly poor play at the IOL, and that is when Mays will find his way into the starting lineup. As for who is waived to make room, all signs indicate that OC Seth McLaughlin will be the odd man out on the roster when Mays is activated (unless Bartch is put on IR) with the intent to bring him back to the Practice Squad. Regardless of what happens, the Lions have a good problem on their hands with better depth and injury coverage across the IOL where they won't need to relay on guys like Trystan Colon, Kingsley Eguakun, Kayode Awosika and Chris Hubbard.

Welcome to The Grey Manes Monday Morning Rundown, a collection of news and notes from the prior week that impact the Lions, the NFL or whatever else catches my eye. Lions Fan Fest Lineup in Germany Lions Players, Coaches and Team The Lions Fan Fest in Munich will feature Big Sean and Kevin Saunderson Keith Abney is the second youngest Lions player to record an interception Lions Rookie Skyler Gill-Howard turned 24 last week Jared Gof turned 32 last week as well. Brock Wright was elected as Lions NFLPA Rep for the second year in a row. The first Ford Field on the road in Arizona attracted Lions Fans from 22 states and provinces Jahmyr Gibbs was named NFC Offensive Player of the Week for Week 5 win at Arizona FOCO has a new Jahmyr Gibbs Boblle Head for Preorder, its a 25 under 25 for $80 with limited run of 126 Rumors, Nuggets and Speculation Troy Aikman confirmed he will be leaving ESPN after the Super Bowl 61 broadcast, becoming a free agent. Fox also may have a Free Agent leaving, as Greg Olsen's (analyst on Fox's #2 team) contract is up after the season and extension talks are not occurring The NFL continues to have an Official and flag problem on its hands Former Lions CJ Gardenr-Johnson continues to show why he keeps getting bounced off teams every year The Rams tried to build/buy a super team; they are sitting at 2-4 and look in complete disarray JJ McCarthy came in for the Giants down 24 in the 4th quarter and lit up a Saints Defense in prevent and sports media is fawning over his 11-21 243 1/1 performance like he is a Hall of Famer The Rams fired their last kicker for missing a FG and their new kicker got knocked out of the game trying to make a tackle in the 1st Qtr forcing their Punter to handle kicks Things I think are Noteworthy There are food mashups that are fantastic...then there are those that beg the question "What are we even doing here?" Halloween is nearing, and so are the limited-time specialty drinks K.I.T.T. was so mad he is no longer the only flying car he turned in his SAG card Unlikely mashup of Wingstop and Sour Patch Kids

The NFL season has officially hit the 1/3 mark in Week 16, and that means bye weeks are in full swing, international games are ongoing and injuries are starting to impact teams that had Super Bowl Aspirations. The Bengals, Lions, Dolphins and Vikings will be off this week on their byes. The week kicks off Thursday with SEA@DEN on Amazon Prime Video (and on local channels in these markets) with the usual duo of Al Michaels and Kirk Herbstret will be on the call. The Sunday games kick off in the morning with HOU@JAX in London on the NFLN (and local affiliates in those markets) followed by the CBS Regional Early and Late Games and FOX regional Single Game in the afternoon. The Sunday Night Football game on NBC is DAL@GB with Mike Titico and Chris Collingsworth, and the week ends with WAS@SF on Monday night football on ABC/ESPN. Joe Buck and troy Aikman will be on the call. The CBS early games are CAR@PHI, PIT@TB and NYJ@NE. with the CBS Late being BUF@LAV and LAC@KC. The FOX single games are CHI@ATL, NO@NYG, BAL@CLE, TEN@IND (all early) and ARZ@LAR (Late.) No Lions this week, so Jonathan Vilma gets to irritate Titan and Colts fans this week. Byes: Cincinnati, Detroit, Miami, Minnesota NATIONAL BROADCASTS Thursday 8:00 ET: Seattle @ Denver (Amazon Prime Video) Al Michaels, Kirk Herbstreit also KCPQ/FOX Seattle, KMGH/ABC Denver Sunday 9:30 AM ET: Houston vs Jacksonville (NFLN) in London) Bob Wischusen, Louis Riddick also KTRK/ABC Houston, WFOX/FOX Jacksonville Sunday 8:00 ET: Dallas @ Green Bay (NBC) Mike Tirico, Cris Collinsworth Monday 8:00 ET: Washington @ San Francisco (ESPN / ABC) Joe Buck, Troy Aikman CBS Early CBS Late FOX Single All listings are unofficial and subject to change. Check back often for updates.  Courtesy of the folks at 506 Sports

Welcome to Mickey's Musings, my weekly notebook where we skip the linear narrative and dive straight into three completely unrelated, but entirely fascinating storylines that are bouncing around in my head. This is Week 5 of the season and I’ve yet to make any running references in this column. I’m sure people that know me would think that is shocking. Running is my “drug of choice” and in addition to the physical benefits, I utilize it for sanity and my mental well being. Often, during discussions at work, I will preface things with statements such as, “I thought of this while I was running this morning.” Whenever I put together a presentation for work or when I was involved as a volunteer with the youth group at my church and wanted to share with the kids – it would come together when putting in my early morning miles. A few years ago, the eulogy I gave at my mom’s funeral was composed as I pounded the streets of Traverse City. That all being said, this past Sunday was one of my favorite races – the Chicago Marathon. I’ve run the race five times. This summer I was coming off a surgery, so I didn’t participate, but I am already signed up for 2027. The reason I love Chicago is the energy. It is a 26.2 mile party with spectators 3 or 4 deep across the entire course. Most races, even the big city ones, have areas that are kind of dead cheering wise, but not Chicago. When things get tough during a marathon it is the crowd energy that can carry you through rough patches. As such, Chicago has some of the best signs made by spectators. For inspiration, and for the distraction, during marathons I always read as many signs as I can. Two that stood out to me from my last Chicago Marathon in 2024: “Keep pushing, I brought the eye candy (And by eye candy, Eye mean eye will be eating a Hershey’s Bar at Mile 21)” and another that said “You didn’t train to be eye candy. You trained to kick some a$$ in a marathon!” Chicago Marathon I was reminded of those signs as I listened to Dan Campbell last week. He was discussing the Cardinal’s offense, specifically their running game, and he said, “They’re going to give you eye candy. They’re going to do movement. They’re trying to make you to move just a little bit, to where you get off.” Well, the Lions didn’t fall for that “eye candy.” The Cardinal’s new running back, number three overall pick Jeremiyah Love, picked up 22 yards on 12 carries. The eye candy may as well been a bag of nasty Candy Corn that nobody wanted. The Golden Girls is topic number two. It is one of those shows that often is on at my house when we are just looking for mindless TV, or background noise. The other night was an episode from Season 7 where Dorothy was lamenting to Sophia, her mother, about a legal situation with her ex-husband Stan. Sophia dispelled her Sicilian wisdom with this exchange: The Golden Girls Season 7 Sophia: “See what I have on my feet?” Dorothy: “Your regular old shoes.” Sophia: “And do you know why? Because old lady shoes are me. Like it or not, they’re a part of my life. It’s like it is with you and Stan. Do you understand what I’m saying?” Dorothy then replies, “You’re saying that in some ways, Stan belongs in my life.” What did the Lions do against the Cardinals after the first three drives resulted in three punts? They got down to basics, just like those old lady shoes. Gibbs off tackle and after a big play and a penalty got them in the red zone it was Gibbs off the right side for 16 and then two consecutive runs to pound it in. After that the next few drives featured Jahmyr doing his thing and a heavy dose of Amon-Ra St Brown. I’m not comparing those two to a pair of old-lady shoes. But, when they’re part of our offense’s life, things are much better. Our last topic this week is Samuel Clemens, aka Mark Twain – the legendary author, humorist and lecturer. In 1897 the 62 year old Twain was living in London. His cousin, James Ross Clemens, had been ill and on June 1, 1897 the New York Herald ran a dramatic story claiming that Twain was in London, "grievously ill and possibly dying," with a shattered intellect and in dire financial poverty. Other papers quickly picked up the rumor, and some even went so far as to draft or print his obituary. The next day a reporter from the New York Journal tracked down Twain to verify the gossip. He delivered a quote many of us have heard some variation of, “The report of my death was an exaggeration.” Mark Twain Quote Man, isn’t that true about our Lions?!? Prior to the season, I’m sure many of us would have predicted this game to be a 45-21 Detroit victory. But, after watching Tyler Shough, Bryce Young and Geno Smith slice and dice our secondary like they were working the grill at Benihana’s would any of us have been surprised to see Jacoby Brissette follow suit? Sure, it was only one week. Sure, it was the Arizona Friggin’ Cardinals. But, with a bye week coming up, we have at least two full weeks where we know that the death of the 2026 season was an exaggeration. Go Lions.

Welcome to The Grey Manes Monday Morning Rundown, a collection of news and notes from the prior week that impact the Lions, the NFL or whatever else catches my eye. Peneri Sewell celebrated his 26th Birthday on Oct 9th Lions Players, Coaches and Team Happy 26th Birthday to the best OL in the NFL! Amon-Ra St Brown passed Johnie Morton for third all-time in Lions Receiving Yards at Carolina Jake Bates passed Jim Martin for 5th most FGs in team history, and his 9 FGs of 54+ yards rank second in team history (Matt Prater) Jahmyr Gibbs picked up an endorsement deal with Abercrombie & Fitch The Lions are introducing a new Fan Membership platform for fans worldwide to join called One Pride Worldwide The Lions added an International Pathway Player to their practice squad in former Commander DL Jeffrey M’ba. This allows them to have 17 guys instead of 16. The Lions hit a slew of new personal bests, NFL records and team Records during the win over the Arizona Cardinals. Rumors, Nuggets and Speculation Two NFL Officials were suspended for altercations with NFL players during Week 4 NFL officiating is now under the microscope, and the results this year are not pretty at the most critical times of games. TV Teddy would be proud... NFL and NFLPA worked to clarify sportsmanship issues that result in a penalty for celebrations and make clear exactly what would and would not be legal moving forward Things I think are Noteworthy Five Red Wings games (if you can take it) will actually be on Free OTA stations this season Cade Cunningham will get a new "Leatherface" sneaker from Nike dropping on Oct 23rd for $145 The first Bojangles with a full bar and live band just opened on the Las vegas Strip Stadium Eats...a two pound "Fall Classic Burger" courtesy of the Chicago White Sox Fall Classic Burger