Both the Saints and Lions conducted estimated injury reports after not practicing on Wednesday. Week 1 Saints and Lions Practice Report #1 Saints Wednesday: Saints had three players that not practice, including starting Edge Cam Jordan. The ither three are depth palyers, but Alvin Kamara, the backup RB was limited. So overall the Saints are pretty healthy coming in as of now. Lions Wednesday: The Lions listed eight players on the injjury report, and although none are starters, several are expected to have prominent depth roles (Rakestraw, Abney, Izien, Moore and Harper. The good thing is that no one missed practice, just three guys that were limited and the other five practiced in full (including Jimmy Rolder) and should be good to go.

Dan Campbell 09/08/26 Press Event Injury Summary New/Updates: Thomas Harper - Back at Practice Mekhi Wingo/Ben Bartch - Back at Practice Isiah Pacheco - Back at Practice Sam LaPorta - Back at Practice Jimmy Rolder - Back at Practice No Changes/Updates: Brain Branch - Potentially Early September Kerby Joseph - Back with the team doing rehab in the facility. Last true update on knee is that it will linger into the season on same timeline as Branch. Giovani Manu - Added to NFI/Injury List due to previously undisclosed injury form offseason Cade Mays - Mays is sidelined for 8-10 weeks with fractured Wrist (Target Week 5) Transactions N/A Quick Hitters Tom Kennedy will play against the Saints (Campbell slipped up and let that out). Not sure if a PS elevation or if he will be signed as the #53 roster spot Side note, the Lions staff edited out Campbells "oh shit" moment On Jack Campbell being named a captain, Campbell said "Jack is taking this thing over. We've said it from day one." Kerby joseph is back in the building and ramping up. Cannot practice until after Week 2, but can rehab and work with trainers Dan Campbell Press Event Transcript Opening Statement: I'm just going to continue on what I was kind of had started yesterday. Um I do think this is a good staff. I think Kell's done a good job. You know, obviously year two. Um there are still some guys that are there that that I have a lot of respect for and uh you know that I think a lot of Brendan Nugent uh that I coached with Joel Thomas is back there. Um you know those guys I was with them uh really good coaches. Um, Phil Galliano. Um, you know, already talked about Mickey, Jeff Ireland. Got a lot of respect for those guys. Um, you know, and then just some of the players that were there. You know, Erik McCoy, I think he's kind of the glue in there for that old line, man. He's a difference maker at center. And, uh, you know, Ruiz was a pup when I was there, young player, but, you know, he's developed into a good a good guard who obviously can play center. that was um something that he certainly could do. Uh AK (Kamara) I don't think will be ready um obviously but got a lot of respect for him. We talked about Cam Jordan. So just a number of guys man it was good times know what those guys are about. Uh this will be a good challenge for us but there again we're we'll be ready for this. Obviously, as time passes, you built your own thing in Detroit, but you've referenced through the years just even with the backfield, you know, building, you know, yours similar to AK, Ingram and different things that you learned throughout the years of being in New Orleans, just like how much did when you seen the schedule come out, y'all played New Orleans, even though it's been some time away. How much does that place just mean to you? Well, I mean, it means a lot. I mean, that was, you know, had it not been for my time there um with that organization, it's a it's a class act, man. class organization and being with Shawn Payeyton obviously uh I I wouldn't have gotten this opportunity. So, so it means a ton and the environment's got to be right, man. It's got to be the right conditions and we had the right conditions. Uh and you don't forget those, you know, and you try to carry over the things that you feel like are done right that you do right and take them to where you go and that's what we've done here. So, um there's a lot of similarities in that regard. One of those holdover players you didn't mention was Juwan Johnson. you had him as a undrafted rookie who, you know, didn't get a lot of playing time when you were one year. He's become one of the better receiving tight ends in football, but I guess what kind of pride do you take in in his growth or, you know, admiration in his growth as a young player to now? I would love to take credit for that. I cannot I cannot I uh I was we were at the very beginning stages of moving him and he was a receiver. He's very much like Meeks. Um, and he was really a receiver, you know, big skill. Um, and it was kind of, you know, hey man, would you be willing to move? What do you think about that? I don't know, maybe. Yeah, you know. Um, and then the move was made and it was obviously really good for him for his career. He is he's a big skill player. Um, a mismatch player, man. the things where he stays on the move, keep him vertical, he he's uh man, he's got range, he's got length, he can track the ball. Um so, uh he come a long way, but I think that was always the vision for him. So, I'm not surprised where he's gone, you know, cuz we I know when I was there and young, it was like, man, this this kid may be able to develop into, you know, a receiving threat as a tight end slot, you know, and he's been able to do that, but I can't take credit for that. So Is that something you considered when you were making Meeks do that move this off season and going through camp with him? Yeah, I mean, I think that's the vision a little bit. you just, you know, when you see what a guy is, uh, uh, just kind of the skill set, the makeup, um, you know, cuz not everybody can make the move. Everybody wants to, you know, everybody's dying to find those. And every year it's, hey, man, this guy, he's played basketball or he's been a receiver here. We're just going to move him. And, man, you got to be there's a lot more that goes into it than just that. Um, and so we felt like, you know, Meeks has those qualities, man. He's got the wiring for it. He's tough, he's competitive, he's smart. Uh, and obviously his skill set, you know, to be able to work the middle of the field, the seams, the it's intriguing and that's why we wanted to move him. And certainly him being able to play special teams bodes well uh for him and for us. Every season brings its changes and its challenges. Um, what gives you what are you most encouraged about as far as the changes that you've gone through this year with the team? Uh, well, I think, you know, I thought we had a really good off season. You know, I did and we identified things that we felt like we needed to upgrade. I thought we did that. And then I think just our focus getting back to what we do, what we're about. Um, you know, and really competing with each other, testing each other. um you know, the chess game between the coordinators, the offense, the defense, the cutting it loose more on special teams. Um you know, I just thought we identified those issues and went after them. Not only personnel, but just schematically and competitively. You know, I think we got back to some of those things that that were about. I think we had an outstanding training camp and uh and so that that's always going to give me hope, man. and they're again, man, the core of this team. I just know what these guys are about. And to see the growth already of Jack Campbell, you know, and there's some addition by subtraction that that takes place. Penei Sewelll, um, you know, just a few examples of that. So, um, man, I'm Yeah, I feel pretty good right now. You mentioned, uh, both Bar and Mahogany were talking about the week one offensive line yesterday. Are you considering playing them both on Sunday? Yeah, we could. You know, I think uh really this week is going to be um today they're going to they're going to split. You know, I see them splitting on Thursday. I see them splitting on Friday. And then uh if nothing's been decided by then, then maybe they both play. Yeah, we've gotten used to Hutch being pretty disruptive in practice over the last four years. But from the outside looking at it, it just seemed like maybe it was a different kind of disruption this year. I thought he had a terrific camp. just curious where you think he's at heading into his fifth season. I think he's in a really good spot right now. I think he's in a um you know, he just he's always been, in my opinion, a complete defensive end and he's elevated that once again. You know, I think last year what he was able to do coming off the injury he had was impressive. I mean, it was impressive cuz uh that that's a significant injury. Now, the good news is it was a bone, but that's a big that's a you know that's not like the fibula, the small bone on the ankle that he all that this is a significant uh injury and for him to be able to come back as quick as he did and be able to have the impact he did was impressive. Well, he just got another year of a full off-season training. um just man the quickness, the weight, the explosion, the he's always continued to grow his craft and so I think he's prepped to have another big year. Maybe this is the same version of the same answer you gave Carlos, but you know, we look at the topline talent and think that's a big reason for optimism. What is sort of the intangible that you see in your team that's your biggest re reason for optimism for why you can be a Super Bowl contender? Well, you know, the um you know, this is not an answer you guys are going to love, but some of the things that I love about and I mentioned this this morning. Um we know who those guys are. You know what you just said and but it's also those it's those key role players, man. Having Brock Wright back. Brock Wright had an outstanding training camp. Hogan Hattan, Khalil Dorsy, special teams on the edge. Tom Kennedy. Yeah, Tom Kennedy's playing in this game. All right. Uh but those role players are big, you know, and they're the ones that kind of they're a little bit of that glue that binds those premier players together. They got a job to do and they got to be really good in that role and in that job. And I love those these little spots of guys that we got a job for. You know, the McCreary's man. Uh obviously Chuck and Maddox. I just there's I just I like it, man. I think it's what makes teams and it gives you that little extra edge. Is that specific do you think that's typical of the most NFL coaches or do you think because you were kind of in that role yourself, you have a little bit more sympathy or affinity for it? I don't think sympathy is the right word. I think it's important, you know, I think it's important and because the same thing can be said about your offensive line, you know, in certain spots. I mean, we know what Penei Sewell is, but I think, man, you know, Tate Ratledge over there, as he continues to grow, Blake Miller, man, young, hungry players that I think have taken big jumps and will continue to take big jumps. That's inspiring stuff, man. So, um, no, I don't I think you got to have those guys. And of course, if you don't have those other horses, it's tough. We got those guys. and now it's about having the best team. Uh, you know, it's about having the best team cuz I've seen I know there's been some really talented teams out there and they stacked them at all positions and it just didn't quite work the way that everybody hoped it was going to work. Um, and so it's about it's about having the right guys out there on the field and I feel like we do. You mentioned Jack a little bit ago. Uh, he was named the captain for the first time. I'm just wondering um why do you think he's ready for that that responsibility as he enters? Oh, I'm glad you brought that up because I meant to say something about that. I was proud of those guys, man. That's a great honor to be voted. That's voted by their teammates, their peers. Um but Jack and Hutch, Alim McNeil made it. Uh that's well deserved. He earned it. Sewell, Goff, Jack Fox. Uh and uh and so, you know, Jack is Jack has taken this thing over, you know, and we've said it from day one, but everybody to a man respects what Jack Campbell is about. But by the way, he goes about his business, man. It means something to him. The way he works, uh he understands the game plan. He understands what offense is trying to do to him. Uh he is uh snap to whistle all the time. So, anything that Jack says, um, people listen to because he's earned that, you know, by the way he plays, his demeanor and his FBI. We touched on this yesterday, but how much does the way they finished last year get your attention? And does it remind you at all when you guys started to get on a roll here and things started to click? Yeah, I think it's big. I mean, what four out of the last five, you know, they finished pretty hot and, you know, they kind of found their groove and, you know, and I think that's important when you go into year two and so they've got a lot of optimism. You know, they've added pieces certainly. They got some firepower on offense and that defense has been what they've lived off of, you know, for a while now. you know, the defense has been a strength of this team and so you add a little potency on the offensive side and it they can become dangerous. And so I think you're always going to see a little bit of knowing what we went from year one to year two and knowing where they're at and what they're coming into and then they got us lined up week one. This will be big for them, you know. Um so yeah, I mean I I think that's always a reminder, but you got to always you got to always step back and say, man, what is it really about? It's about us handling our business and doing things the right way, playing disciplined football and doing it for 60 minutes. Dan, you spoke a lot this training camp about how valuable the reps are for Blake Miller against Aiden Hutchinson. He's likely going to get a lot of looks at Chase Young and just an interesting tidbit. Very similar in size. I think their wingspan's only an inch in comparison off between the two. What do you expect to see from that matchup between Chase Young and Blake Miller? What you need to see from the rookie? Well, I think that what you just said has set him up well for what's to come and it he will continue to grow as this season goes on. Um, and they have similar um they have, you know, similar height, length, some of but they are different in in the way that they play a little bit. Just some of the there's a little nuance to their games that are different. And it'll be great for Blake. That's a good thing. the more the more he faces u some of these guys whether it's length it's speed it's bend it's he'll just continue to grow and um and so I think he's set up well and look he got some from Wonnum on the other side's a totally different player than Hutch is too as a rusher and um and so this this is a good thing you know Blake is set up to go into this game and be ready to go you know I don't expect it to be perfect it doesn't need to be Perfect. Um, but I know he's going to grow and get better every week and every rep. Kerby just got back with the team and what's the Yeah, he's here. Yep. He's doing good. He's ramping up. Transcripts are created with the assist of AI

As Week 1 officially started on Labor Day, the Detroit Lins made several moves to their roster and with players changing numbers to get the ball rolling. Detroit Lions make several roster adjustments prior to Week 1 First up are the transactions, where the previously waived OC Seth McLaughlin and RB Jabari Small were added back to the Lion Practice Squad. This was due to the Lions Promoting LB Jo Bachie to the main 53-man roster from the PS and the placement of OL Mason Miller on the Practice Squad/Injured list. Both McClaughlin and Small were injured at the time of the 53-man cut down, so the Lion waited until they were healthy in order to waive them without injury settlement, clearing them to return to the PS immediately vs having to wait and additional three weeks. The Lions still have one spot open on the main 53-man roster, and Dan Campbell alluded that they knew what they were doing with them, but it appears that spot may be reserved for a WR/KR/PR potentially, whether that is Tom Kennedy or someone from outside the organization. The second update is the announcement was for the Detroit Lions 2026 Captains. This is the first time under Dan Campbell that the Lions have had seven captains. Jared Goff (6th year as captain in Detroit) Amon-Ra St. Brown (4th) Penei Sewell (4th Aidan Hutchinson (3rd) Jack Campbell (1st) Alim McNeill (1st) Jack Fox (1st) The last update comes with some additional Jersey numbers being changed. The first batch came after the initial cut to 53-man roster, and four more changes were announced yesterday. QB Josh Dobbs: 6 to 11 EDGE Derrick Moore: 9 to 8 CB Keith Abney II: 28 to 6 DB Christian Izien: 27 to 5 Four Detroit Lions update Jersey Numbers prior to Week 1.

Dan Campbell 09/07/26 Press Event Dan Campbell kicked off his Day 17 by going strright to questions. Injury Summary New/Updates: Thomas Harper - Will be running around at practice today after dealing with an Ankle injury. No Changes/Updates: Brain Branch - Potentially Early September Kerby Joseph - Back with the team doing rehab in the facility. Last true update on knee is that it will linger into the season on same timeline as Branch. Giovani Manu - Added to NFI/Injury List due to previously undisclosed injury form offseason Cade Mays - Mays is sidelined for 8-10 weeks with fractured Wrist (Target Week 5) Mekhi Wingo/Ben Bartch - Concussion protocol Isiah Pacheco - MCL Strain - Target Week 1 return Sam LaPorta took a shot to the hip in the night practice, and it flared up. Hope to have him for Week 1 Jimmy Rolder - Wasn't ready when camp ended but was not placed on IR and still may linger into the season. Damone Clark - Clark was placed in Season ending IR Transactions Lions waived C Seth McLaughlin and RB Jabari Small Quick Hitters Thomas Harper will be back today at Practice Today's practice will get them moving a bit for New Orleans, but tomorrow will be the big workday for base downs On the Saints, Campbell had praise for them and mentioned they are an improved football team, added some good players and that Mickey Loomis, Kellen Moore and Brandon (Staley) have done a good job. Lots of veterans on the Defense also. Asked about the two open rosters pots, said they have a pretty good idea how they want to fill them, but won't be sharing in the presser Asked about where the team improved in training camp and Campbell said he feels really good going into Week 1, but you really won't know for sure until after Week 5, but Week 1 it's a good barometer of where they are at. Campbell said this year's opener should be better than last year's opener being at home and with the team having more experience under its belt. Said Petzing and Goff are working really well together and they find common ground for things that work for both of them. There is "good give and take" with Petzing providing Clarity and Goff providing input On the addition of DJ Wonnum, Cmapbell said he has had a quiet, steady camp, which is a good thing, and that "I think he's exactly what I expected to get here to this point." Asked about anyone he was proud of on the initial 53-man roster and Campbell spent several minutes raving about Eric O'Neil and how he earned his spot as an EDFA, how smart he is and that he gives them not only defensive help but special teams as well. The Michigan/WMU ending came up and Cmapbell said "I heard. I didn't see it. Staying away from that." He did say that "...if I'm Western Michigan, on to the next one. get locked in on the next one, you know, and because you got no control over what just happened regardless. Doesn't matter...Or you can sit there and sulk in it and worry about it and try to change the rules and then you go into the next game and get your face kicked in." Cmapbell was asked about RB2 and said it will likely be a RB by committee approach with Saylors and Vaki. Dan Campbell Press Event Transcript Opening Statement: Hello. What's up? Okay. Uh, kind of a new season now. Um, really officially tomorrow. Uh, just for us, you know, we'll get them moving a little bit. We had a little intro to New Orleans, but really tomorrow will be our big work day for base downs. Um, but it's good to it's good that it's finally here. You know, I know our players are excited. We're excited um just to get it get it started. Man, this has been a long process just to get back to to training camp and then obviously to this point, which is what it's about to start a new season and you know and uh and get after it. So, we're looking forward to it. This is a this opponent um is it's it's a hungry opponent. It's a new turnover from what I remember when I was there. There's a few holdovers, but most of this is a it's a new roster. Um, and there's a lot of young um, hungry players, talented players. Uh, you could see their progression as the season went on. Last year towards the end of the year, you know, they started playing pretty good, pretty good football minus Atlanta. Uh, that, you know, that last game that defense played really, really good. But, but just the quarterback, uh, there's a level of maturity, composure that you see. Um that looks like that's here to stay, you know, and uh and you know, they they got some potency, you know, and Etiene now who they they got Jawan. Uh I like this O-Line, you know, I think it's a talented offensive line. Um you know, they were banged up last year. They they had a lot of injuries. And then defensively, just um knowing what what it's been, defense has always been a strength there. Uh, and then, you know, Brandon came in, brought their system in, and really didn't miss a beat. You know, uh, it's a good defense, man. They play hard. Chase Young's playing the best football he's played. Um, you know, we'll see if Cam plays. I think we all know what Cam Jordan is. I think, uh, I think Granderson's a really good player, um, up front. I was with him there. And then those backers, you know, Ellis and Warner and Kool-Aid's playing pretty good in the boundary. And um so look, it's a good unit and uh Kellen Moore has done a good job. I know a lot of people there still I know what they're about. Uh Mickey Loomis I got a lot of respect for and and the way he goes about his business and and what they've done. So this will this will be a good opponent. Um but but we got them in our house and we'll be ready to go. Got a couple open roster spots, Dan. Um not unusual to be navigating some different things on cut down day. Do you have a a pretty good idea u plan on what you're going to be doing with those or is this something where you've got to see some competition in practice to to make some decisions here coming up on the weekend? I would say we got a pretty good idea right now. Our eyes are always open. You know, we're always going to be about competition, but but I think we've got a pretty good idea of what we want to do uh going into this game and you never know, things can fluctuate, but but yeah, we know what we want to do. Any you want to share that? No, thanks for asking though. You emerge from training camp with a pretty good idea, same line. Um, about how much your team is improved in your mind, not just in your hope, but in your actual mind that how much they're improved. Yeah, I mean, I I feel good with where we're at going into week one. I feel I have a really good feeling. Um, now that being said, you don't you don't really know. I say it every year, you don't really know what you are until you get to week five. And then you'll really figure out what you are, what you can hang your hat on, what your strengths are, what your your true weaknesses, or what you need to cover up. Um, you know, and some of that comes with injury, but some of it is just the flow of of where you're at, where your guys are at. So, you know, the game one is always a barometer a little bit. You know, it was like like last year we went out the Lambeau and that was a tough one for us, man. But it we knew where we were at at that point, you know, and as bad as it was, it wasn't that bad, but yet we had work to do. Um, so this is no different. This is this is game one, week one. We'll find out a little bit where we're at relative to to the opponent. Um, and then you just take it to the next week and then you'll figure it out over about a month. Uh, last year, week one went so wrong, you know, up front. some of those things that you guys were dealing with. Uh maybe some people are shell shocked, right? They don't want that to happen again. What areas do you think you're so much better at this year that you you feel like you can are more equipped to to Well, we are playing at home. That's always going to help, you know, with a young uh you know, like last year, you know, we were playing with basically two rookies up front and a new center in a in a regard even though Graham had played quite a bit. um you know, so playing at home helps a little bit just in that regard. And then we're a little more experienced. I mean, you know, Tate's got another year under his belt. Um you know, Blake Miller is has taken some pretty good reps up to this point now. He's still It's not like uh he's going to be perfect. Um that that's not what it's about. It just it's about being consistent and getting a little bit better every rep every time you play. Um that's the nature of being a young player. that's that always is going to happen. But, um, you know, and then you got Mahogany, you got Bart over there and, uh, and Juice at center. So, I just I feel like we're we've seen a lot in training camp. We've faced a lot of pressure. We've done a lot of I feel like very stressful, strenuous situations. Uh, we always do a lot, but I felt like, uh, you know, I threw a lot at our coordinators and the team, and I felt like we got what we were looking for out of it. As you watch as you watched Jared and Drew work together this last several months, what have you liked best about that team? I think just their ability to work with each other and uh, and I feel like pull the best out of each other, if you will. You know, I think um you know, Drew brings clarity in some areas, which is good, and that's always going to help Goff, but I think at the same time, Goff has these things that he sees that he likes that he that we're capable of doing with what we have, and he knows he can do it. um to where you know Drew is open to those and we've used some of those and uh you know I think that's a good thing man because I just I think that's how you don't you don't stay still man you continue to grow and we're with where our quarterback is that playing at a high level to be able to continue to test him and push him but also allow input and allow him to do things that even though it may be a little new a new wrinkle that he feels comfortable able trying. Uh, it's a good thing. And then in regard to something Drew wants, he may not love it, but he's willing to go and give it a, you know, give it a go. I think that expands his own horizon. So, I just think it's a good give and take, and I think uh, you know, I think those guys to this point have worked really well together. So much um, work into roster additions before they get here, but what how has DJ Wonnum maybe met expectations to when you signed him? And is there any areas where maybe he's exceeded them? Well, I and DJ's another one. I'm glad we got DJ here. He, you know, and I don't mean this in a bad way. This is a I mean this in a very good way. It's been kind of a quiet just steady training camp for him. I think he's come in and just done his job. I think he's done it. He's been very consistent in what we've asked him to do. There's nothing flashy about it, but man, he's a crafty, sneaky, uh, smart, veteran football player that understands how to play the run, understands how to he's got some slipperiness as a rusher. Um, and I think he's going to compliment Hutch very well on the other side. So, I think he's exactly what I expected to get here to this point. And I love that, man. I you know I told my first taste was what we saw in Minnesota and those times that he would come in and uh he was a rotational player. He played special teams, but I just remember when he came in man, he was one of those guys just a man he's a lunch pail guy that's going to give everything he's got and he plays a smart brand of football and I love that about him. You look at the initial 53-man roster. Was there anybody that you were particularly proud of for just the growth of the guts and the grit that they showed kind of over training camp? There's a number of guys. Um, but I probably the first one I think about is O'Neil. You know, you talk about a guy who was kind of on the outside looking in from the time he got here in spring. Uh, you know, that uh had to kind of defy all odds. He had to find his way to um, you know, he had to make plays every day. He had to catch our eye every day. And he did that every day. whether it was special teams or defense, he did something every day that there's not a coach on any given day that's not saying something good about O'Neil. O'Neil today on this, O'Neal on this and you just you can't ignore it. And so he's the most obvious rookie free agent man comes in and earned his right. It's awesome. That's what we're about. And that's and he's a special teams player, too, by the way. Guy can play special teams, man. Like he's going to be able to give us some valuable reps on a couple of teams. So, um, and then we're not even talking about the defense. You know, there's things on defense. He's just a, you know, he's a pretty smart, he's a smart player, especially for a rookie, man. He's he's got high football intellect and plays hard and, you know, plays the run, plays the pass, can get an edge. So, In general, but um, there was a crazy finish at Michigan this weekend. I don't know if you saw it. I heard. I didn't see it. Staying away from that. Yeah. Well, I was wonder, you know, obviously you had the controversial finish in the playoffs with New Orleans a few years back. Um, wonder if there were any other high school, you know, college games that come to mind and just kind of what you learned about bouncing back from adversity from those situations? No. Um, not necessarily off the top of my head. The only thing I did think about and there again without me seeing anything is, man, if I'm Western Michigan, on to the next one. get locked in on the next one, you know, and because you got no control over what just happened regardless. Doesn't matter. And so the best way to prove your own worth is to knock off the next one, man, and make sure you're ready. That was the only thing I thought of if that was me. Um, that's what we got to be ready for. That was it. Probably easier said than done. Like, how do you get your team to, you know, from situation? You just make it happen. You have to. You got to make it happen. You have no other choice. Or you can sit there and sulk in it and worry about it and try to change the rules and and then you go into the next game and get your face kicked in. So, you know, I'm ready to go. Dave, You were talking earlier about guys working their way onto a roster. Whenever you have Jacob Saylors behind Jahmyr right now, this guy that worked for the UFFL up to this, saw some flashes in in camp in the preseason. How ready do you feel that he is for the opportunity at RB2? Well, I kind of mentioned this to me, it's by committee, too. Now, Vaki, I see Vaki getting some reps, too, now. I mean, I don't see like, okay, well, Saylors is like running back, too. Sailors brings uh special teams value and there's things that he's been able to do. He we've seen more of them, right, than Vaki in games, preseason games, but Vaki's been some pretty good reps in practice. Um, and we know Vaki's a very valuable special teams' player, too. But, but we feel like Vaki's ready to take some of this on, too, as a runner and a pass protector and a receiver. So, um, so we feel good with either one of those guys in there when Jah needs a breather. Really quick on here. When training camp ended, you kind of were in a pickle in terms of injury situation at safety with Harper and then looked like Maddox even got banged up on that final play. Just what does that room look like healthwise? Yeah, well, we feel Harper's going to be running around out there today, you know, um, and then hopefully, you know, everything goes well today. We see him taking more reps tomorrow and and so we're anticipating he'll be ready to go. So we we feel good about that room right now. Transcripts are created with the assist of AI

Welcome to The Grey Manes Monday Morning Rundown, a collection of news and notes form the prior week that impact the Lions, the NFL or whatever else catches my eye. Amon-Ra St. Brown Limited Edition red Bull Can Lions Players, Coaches and Team Brad Holmes and Ray Agnew had their Season Opening Press Conference last week, dropping a few nuggets, but largely not saying a whole lot Amon-ra St. Brown is getting a limited-edition red Bull can available only in Michigan The lions are the 7th youngest team in the NFL by average team age The Detroit Lions new president and CEO Richard Haddad began his new role on 9/1, with Rod Wood staying through October to help with transition Lions held their Food and Beverage Preview Day with the Media last week The Lions waived C Seth McLaughlin and RB Jabari Small without injury designations last week and while neither has been claimed, the Lions have not signed either to the Practice Squad or back-filled those two spots on the active 53-man roster as of Monday Morning. The Lions were still sitting at ~$3.2M over the Cap as of Monday morning, so Holmes will likely reach out to either Alim Mcneil's or Penei Sewell's agents to restructure deals so he can have his usual $15M or so that he like sot have during the season. Rumors, Nuggets and Speculation Vikings are bringing in 35-year-old Kyle Van Noy to reunite with Brian Flores for one last go at it The Patriots actually had an active waiver claim in for Erick Hunter before pulling it back when awarded another LB, but they circled back anyways Emmitt Smith is being sued and accused of cheating investors out of $2.5M for a failed Solar farm project In a not so unexpected development, the Vikings are bringing back S Harrison Smith once again NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell is expected to sign a new Four-year contract extension keeping him at the head of the league until March 31st, 2031 Things I think are Noteworthy A classy move by Tennessee to honor a classy lady Family doesn't matter when arguing over who has the better food Taco Bell is bringing in a Churro Ice Cream Taco for $3.99 for a limited time Tennessee Volunteers Helmet sticker honoring Dolly Parton

Brad Holmes and ray Agnew Season Opening Press Conference Brad Holmes and Ray Agnew held their season opening press conference this morning and provides some insight on roster construction, decisions on players in the offseason and what some of the future my hold. Quick Hitters Holmes multiple times pointed out his appreciate for his staff in identifying players using metrics and other scouting techniques to uncovers guys in the UFL, or in lower rounds Holmes stated that with Terrion Arnold it was unfortunate, kid made a mistake, the Lions did what was best for them and they like the guys they have in the room. Said as they received more information on Arnold and the situation, they felt it was best to waive him. There was a testy back and forth for a few minutes as Dave Birkett of the Free Press was grilling Holmes on when they knew, or should have known, that Arnold wouldn't be around and that the perception is that there should have been a starting level Outside CB replacement brought in. Holmes said multiple times they like the players they have, they brought in Abney and McCreary and re-signed Ya-Sin. Holmes was asked about the WR room being a bit light with only four on the main roster, but essentially that is the way the competition unfolded. Holmes did say "right now or currently" while talking about it, so more moves may be coming at this position. Hlmes mentioned that Rakestraw having the year off to recover form injury helped him get his body in better shape for the NFL despite the two minor injury scares in the preseason. More weight and strength were mentioned. Holmes was asked about Pacheco and why he wasn't put on IR with designation to return on cutdown day and if that was indicative that he may be out for the season. Holmes said the timing was to confirm the injury was something that needed to be on IR, and the hope is to get him back this season, but Pacheco is getting better daily and doing everything to get back on the field. On a question about some of t teams' acquisition of injury prone players Holmes basically said that is part of the risk because the game is physical On Dortch release, Holmes interestingly said that it was a fierce competition and that i adds discomfort, and Dortch was part of that hard decisions and it didn't work out. reading through the lines, there may be some validity (because Holmes talked about culture and intangibles being part of decision making for one guy over maybe a slightly better athlete a couple question later. Holmes said he is hopeful to get deals done for Branch and LaPorta as the plans havent changed, they want to keep those guys around Holmes mention Gill-Howard was impressive as an interior pass rusher, but they were surprised at his violence, and he has been playing well in run game also. No updated timelines on Branch or Joseph returns. Holmes did say that Joseph is in the building, which was new info since last heard from Campbell Brad Holmes and Ray Agnew Press Event Transcript Opening Statement Brad Holmes: Um, good to see everybody. Uh, can y'all hear? Check. I don't know if this is working or not, but okay, it's fine. Um, I don't think this mic is working, but anyways, uh, good to see everybody. Um, want to first off, um, I want to thank all the players for all their efforts. um really all uh it's been over 90 obviously just because of all the guys that we brought in and out but um want to thank for all their efforts um not just training camp but the past you know let's say five or 6 months that they've been preparing to get ready for this moment so um really appreciate their efforts or sacrifice especially for this camp um felt like the competition was pretty fierce and um you know guys that put in all that time and effort and to get ready for this moment especially ones that uh we unfortunately couldn't keep. Um, you know, it's hard. Um, obviously I thought Dan did a great job managing the camp. Um, even going all the way back to um, right after the draft, you know, the phases of the offseason program, OTAs, um, just had everything uh, kind of married up very nicely with the management of everything, getting the necessary work in uh, getting the guys prepared. So, um I mean he's always he's always done a great job about that. And then really the whole coaching staff really um you know um you know you can bring the competition in, but to have those guys to play fast, to compete hard, um those guys getting pushed, um it's I mean it's golden evaluation opportunities to look at those guys. So, um everybody did a great job. Personnel department, it's a big time for us um you know, around this time of the year. Um so a lot of hard work goes into this process of you know kind of monitoring the entire league um around this time and really I mean so many people to name to have a successful training camp so you know um our performance staff our trainers operations grounds crew everybody uh was really too many to name but it's all hands-on deck um take any questions Just to get the Terrion Arnold stuff out of the way first you know I think there was a uh kind of like a lingering question just about whether you guys did enough to insure yourself at that position given what he was dealing with in the off season and maybe you know we you know a lot of people thought that it was inevitable that he was going to you know get arrested. Um so as you look back did you did you Terrion taking him at his word? Did you guys do enough investigation, or do you think you fell short if at all in that regard? Both with Terrion decision to not get more insurance at the position and just to you know take him at his word that nothing was going to happen to Oh yeah. I mean um look the whole the whole situation um obviously was unfortunate. Um you know look kid made a mistake. uh the more information that we got um throughout the process, you know, that was the result of us doing what the best and right thing was for the club, which was to move on and move forward. Um appreciate everything that that he did, but um I think with respect of the present right now, um to focus on the guys that we have here and uh we like the guys that we have right now in in that room. So, um I hope that answers the question. I guess I was curious when that was going on if you did enough as you look back to ensure yourself for this instance that he's not there. Like could you have made another acquisition in free agency in the draft to, you know, backs stop that this was going to happen in the spring? It seemed like you didn't think that that Terion was, you know, you thought he would be a part of this organization. HOLMES: No, that's that that didn't go into the decision of what we did in this past offseason. Again, like I said, we like the guys that we have in this room. AGNEW: I think those guys I mean a little bit more respect for what those guys have done and what they can do in the football in the National Football League. Those guys that played a lot of football and uh so we feel good about those guys. I think one area where you maybe a little bit lighter than you have been in in past seasons is that the receiver room obviously have some elevations with Kennedy and some guys on the practice squad, but maybe just the decision to have four guys. What you like about that room, its makeup, and kind of how you went through that process of creating that room. HOLMES: Yeah, I um yeah, four is obviously a little bit on the lighter side. Uh that's just where we're at right now um today currently, but um but I do like the different flavors in that room. Um you know, obviously we all know, you know, St. Brown and J Mo and, you know, Tesla. Um, you know, I know he dropped a couple of balls in a preseason game, but I thought he had a good camp, too. Um, you know, just the little things that he does in the run game, which those aren't little things, actually. Those are really big things that he does in in the run game. And I thought that he improves with his route running, his releases, all those things. So, um, you know, was pleased with his camp as well. But um you know uh I thought Tom Kennedy you know um like you mentioned you know he had a that's why he's still part of our 69 currently right now um you know he was able to add some special teams to his repertoire um he kind of did a little bit of that last year um being but you know we all know the versatility that he has and then I thought Tay Martin uh did a really good job in terms of you know a guy that you know and credit our personnel staff in terms of man scouring the UFL making sure all those guys are looked at. Um, you know, there there's mechanics of even bringing those guys in and when you can even sign those guys in terms of in relation to the completion of their season. Um, so, um, I give a lot of credit to those guys in terms of being patient, uh, sticking to the process and finding a guy like him to bring in. But he just he made it relatively easy throughout camp in terms of, uh, his contributions in the run game, his contributions on special teams, and he showed the ability to win 1on1's. Um, and so when you're doing all those components at that position, um, you know, especially when you're looking at towards the back end, um, you know, it's you can fit in right here. A little bit more on the cornerback room, Brad. I think on the outside, we can see the high floor with Rock and DJ. I'm curious you're if you could expound a little bit more on the confidence you have in the depth. Um, particularly with Ennis maybe had a couple, you know, injury scares, I guess, obviously with the durability history. Um and the Nickel situation has seemed like it's kind of gone to the finish line with its fluidity there as well. HOLMES: Yeah. Um obviously we like we like the depth that we have behind like you said. Um you know DJ and Rock um look Rock played really good football for us last year. He's had a really good camp this year. Um, you know, and then, you know, Ennis, I'm just glad that he, you know, his health is, you know, is been better and, um, you know, he's had a chance to go out there and compete and he's gotten better throughout the camp. Um, he has a lot of ability. He's got a lot of stuff in his body where he can play sticky. Um, you know, I thought his run game stuff improved. He showed that throughout the preseason as well. Um and so and I think it was him missing last year, he was able to really get his body in a lot better shape in terms of his strength development and a little bit of weight uh added to him. So um I think it actually helped as much as you know you look at he missed all that time. Um so we like those guys. We liked uh you know being able to bring Roger McCreary back. He's played a lot of football um both inside and a little bit outside. Um, I would actually argue that some of the stuff that he did on the outside was um, what he did last year on the outside may have been a little bit more appealing than what he did inside um, at his first stop. So, um, really like him. And then, you know, us being able to, uh, draft Keith Abney, um, he, um, he's been a quick study in terms of his instincts, his toughness, um, his ability to, um, to do a lot of, he's a football player. So, um, when you really like think about you look at the totality of the group, you still got Dorsey, you know, that's been, you know, I think he's one of the better gunners, um, in in in the league. And, um, I just I think overall I think we have a good group there. I just have to circle back one last time on Terrion just since we're on the cornerback just so I don't leave this left unsaid or asked. Um, what did you guys do to uh affirm his story that he told you Uh you know after he was uh after he was implicated in the incident before he was arrested? Did you guys investigate? Did you just take him at his word? What did you guys do to HOLMES: No, it's just we had a lot of information that was coming in uh that we were privy to and then we just uh you know made sure that we did not ignore any of the information and we looked at it and then um we came to the decision to move on and move forward after we you know had enough information. I guess the information that changed was just him getting arrested. You didn't know that that was a possibility before. There was nothing I mean, you didn't have a sense that that could have been the case and you didn't, you know, you know, again, I think a lot of people think you should have done more in the cornerback room. He was a starter last year and you didn't I know. HOLMES: Are you saying to not get a another young starting outside corner that was on another team? Is that is that what you're asking? I'm asking if you could have done more in retrospect to ensure the position, you know, given that this, you know, he's no longer part of HOLMES: Dave, I've asked I've answered multiple times. We like the guys that we have in the room right now. So, are you saying because we didn't get another young outside starting corner from another team or did because we didn't pick one in the first round? Is that is that what you're asking? I'm asking if you thought you should have done more with free agency or the draft or one of those avenues to acquire players to acquire another cornerback. HOLMES: We did bring players in. We did we did draft a corner. We did bring a corner in free agency. Yeah, I that's we did resign a corner. So that's why I'm asking you. Cuz you're saying that we didn't we didn't do anything. So Terrion was an outside corner. You signed Roger who played a lot in slot. You just talked about him obviously. You know Keith the same thing. So it seemed like you lost the starting slot uh outside cornerback without adding another cal starting caliber outside quarterback. HOLMES: That's what I asked you. I was like are you saying we didn't do anything because we didn't do that what you just said? Well, that's I guess that's what I'm saying. That that is the perception that maybe there could have been more done at that position. HOLMES: We like the guys we have. We like what we've done and we feel good about what's in the room right now. You didn't uh use one of the IR to return spots on Pacheco despite the fact you had one available. Does that indicate a concern that he might not be back at all this season? HOLMES: Um no. I think well Pacheco look, he's doing everything that he can uh to get um to get back. Uh we're still excited about him to get back and um you know um you know he's on we didn't do it uh we didn't use those one of those spots before cut downs but uh he's on there now. Quick follow up on that. What's a time on his potential return? HOLMES: Uh look I don't want to put a time on it right now. Um I'll just say that look he's steadily feeling better. Um and you know um he's again he's doing everything that he can to get back and we're excited to get him back when he's health At some point this season? HOLMES: That's the hope. Delay Brad just because you were waiting on additional information with the IR decision from Sunday to Tuesday. Were you just waiting on more information before moving him to IR? HOLMES: Yeah, with the information that we had that's why we decided to do it uh when we did it. Yeah Brad. Obviously Jamo is the exception, but with Pacheco, Davenport, you can even go Hooker, Pascal, you guys have drafted a lot of guys that had injury histories. Can you talk about how that those decisions are made and how deep into their past injuries? Are they injury prone guys? HOLMES: Um, look, um, football's a physical game and injuries occur. Um and so um you know in injuries are yeah some guys have had them in the past some have not. Um you know you can sign a player that's never really missed much time and something can happen at any point. So um you know you just understand the risk um when whenever you make an acquisition of any player and know that you know anything can happen at any time. Um that's that that's our job up here to make sure that we have um you know succession plans um and different um points where you can pivot um in place in case that happens. Their history. You guys know think about that before you acquire them, whether it's draft or free games. Correct. HOLMES: Yeah. Just curious, uh, and this question is for Ray as well, like what do you know about this roster today that you didn't know mid July? AGNEW: I would say uh I won't say it's something I didn't know, but I think this is one of the most competitive uh rosters we've had. Uh I think the competition is still going on. Guys are still competing. Uh you know, so that's the one thing I would say uh that I wouldn't say I don't know, but you know, different than in the past that all the position battles and the competition and some of it is still going on as the year goes on. Just curious what you what maybe for both of you just what you thought of the defensive line play throughout the uh the preseason. The Alim looks back to kind of his old self. Hutch was dominant at time. Just you see that maybe as a developing strength of this football team, the depth that you guys have up front, obviously kept a lot of guys there. Just your thoughts on that unit particularly for both. AGNEW: Yeah, I would say uh it's a strong point of the defense. Uh Alem uh he played as good as anybody in the league right now. Uh and Hutch is Hutch is the real deal off the edge. And Tyliek's grown into a heck of a football player. Uh you know, Wonnum, DJ Wonnum is bringing that veteran presence. Uh along with uh Derek Moore, the young kid we drafted for Michigan. I think that group is going to be very vital for us this year and uh I think they're going to put up a strong effort. Uh I really excited about that group. One more on the defensive line. Can you uh just walk us through the acquisition of Eric O'Neil? I mean obviously he had a really good summer and you know somebody that popped, what you liked about him, why it was important to keep him on the roster. HOLMES: Um, and I was going to just add on to what Ray was saying. Just there was there's a emphasis um to we wanted to add more juice and more ability to get after the quarterback um this past cycle. But Eric O'Neil, look, there's always when you get into undrafted free agency. Um there there's always a handful of guys that you know that you want to make sure you really get um for various type of reasons and Eric O'Neal was one of those guys. Um as much as the chaos was going around with cuz undrafted franchise is always a little bit of controlled chaos to a degree. Um, but I never forget Brian Hudspeth was on the phone with him and like as much chaos as going on, I'm got my ear right next to Hudspeth cuz I knew he was on the phone with him like let's make sure we get this done. Um, he's just a very um he's a very high motor player. He's very instinctive. Um he's a he's a better athlete than his numbers um may indicate. and um he gets the most out of himself and um he's just one of those guys that we knew that he was going to fit right in here in terms of uh what we're about from a culture standpoint and he took advantage of his opportunities and it worked out well for him. I just want to ask you about Greg Dortch. Sounded like he was a little surprised by the move too. Just what went into that decision there, the four wide receivers and kind of landed on the group that you did with him on the outside? HOLMES: Yeah, look, um, the whole time we were just like we wanted to add as much competition as possible, uh, this whole off season. Um, and look, when you add as much competition as possible, I thought it was fierce competition. Um, you know, that's it's it adds more discomfort, you know, uh, but it also entails harder decisions. And so that really all it was is just, you know, he was just he was just in he was part of that competition and, um, unfortunately it just it didn't work out. So that's why we made the moves we made. This question for kind of for both of y'all. Y'all been around Jared Golf pretty much his whole career. You know, going into the season, new offensive coordinator, revamping the line. Just speak to the confidence level in you guys with him going into the season with all the changes around him that he can't help you guys turn around the trip. AGNEW: JG, look, we we've known JG since he was a kid. Um, one thing that's not known about that guy, I think is a little underrated for him. He's extremely tough man. you know, he's a tough, resilient guy and uh you know, I expect nothing but good things from Jared this year. I mean, I got nothing but good things to say about Jared. So, HOLMES: yeah. Um look, when we when Jared first got here, we knew that um he still had upside to him. Um, and knowing his wiring and knowing how much it means to him and how important it is. Um, I think that combination uh is just it's been amazing that the growth is still going like he he's uh I feel like he's he gets better every year still at this point in his career. Um but just his comfort, you know, yeah, we have some familiar weapons around him, but um but that was, you know, one of the big things about adding Drew Petzing is, you know, just making sure that um that they were going to vibe. And um it's been it's been a seamless transition. Um you know, and I'm really excited about, you know, um not only you know, what Petzing is going to bring, but Jared, you know, with Petzing, I think it's going to be big for us. Um, this question is for both of you. You both throughout the whole, you know, time you guys have been here, you talked about finding guys that want to be a Detroit line that fit the team's culture. From what you can share from a roster building strategy, whether it's through, you know, the drafting, free agency, or looking at the trademark, what goes into the building a roster strategy like that you can that you can share with us that people on the outside may not, you know, know that goes into it? AGNEW: Well, without going into too many too many details, but uh I would say uh like the intangible part is really, you know, we got to do tough, smart, you know, like guys that that that gritty guys that like football, that love football, and we don't want guys that like what football do for them, you know, we want guys that love ball, uh and love to play football. So, I think that's the main ingredient, the intangibles. HOLMES: Yeah, I would say um just to piggyback on what Ray said, um we will we will uh sacrifice or compromise on talent um for those intangible qualities. Um you know, there might be a guy that has a little bit more speed or length or, you know, talent, but if he doesn't meet the standards from a um what we call football character and um intangible quality standpoint, then we know it's going to be a hard fit here. How hard are those decisions to make when it comes down to that? HOLMES: I No, I think they're easy decisions. Uh when a guy doesn't have those things and he doesn't have those things, even if he has um a baseline of talent, um if the guy doesn't fit, he doesn't fit. And we've always been aligned on that since day one. And um like I said, it actually makes the decision a little bit easier. Yeah. Um the offensive line was obviously a big goal to get ready by the start of the season. Um, just kind of curious how comfortable you are with where that unit is, particularly at left guard where I think maybe injuries forced you out of a competition that you were looking forward towards. HOLMES: Yeah. No, it's a good question. Um, look, we're really excited about that group. Um, you know, obviously we got a lot younger and um, you know, a lot of guys had a lot of opportunities to um to grow that we're already excited for. So, um, you know, starting with, you know, like Blake, you know, like he's gotten better and better and better, uh, every single day, which is that's kind of what we expected. So, kind of really like where he's at. Um, you know, and obviously, you know, we all know that Christian Mahogany, you know, has starter level ability. He's he he's shown that, but obviously wanted we wanted to increase the competition there. Um, I know Bart hasn't been out there as much, but when he was out there, he was good. Like he performed well. Um he just wasn't he wasn't able to be out there as much. But um I would say last week with the practices, the scrimmage, and that preseason game, um you know, he uh earned his spot. And um you know, and look, we still had guys like Scruggs that was going to be in that spot. It's just the unfortunate injury to Cade kind of forced Scruggs into that kind of used to be guard center and kind of center only. So, that was kind of one piece of the competition, but it was good to um finally see Miles Frasier out there. Um, you know, he's I mean, he's not a rookie, but kind of, you know, he just didn't have a whole lot last year. So, this is kind of his first year really having an off season, having a whole training camp, and he was able to show some things uh not just at guard, but some versatility at tackle as well. Just because we won't talk to you for a few months on the four extensions you were looking to get done this off. You got two of those done. Um I'm curious just how uniquely difficult the Gibbs one was just with the Bijan factor kind of in there and the time there. And then are you still um you know hopeful on Sam and Brian regardless of the timetable? HOLMES: Yeah. Um, so, uh, starting with Gibbs, um, yeah, there like all of them are unique, especially when it gets up to that magnitude from a, um, from a financial standpoint. And it was just unique that both of those guys were kind of happening at the same time. So, um, it was just more of kind of just being patient like we already knew what we wanted to do. Um, you know, and you just had to see who was going to get done first and you got to kind of adjust and pivot off of that. Um but uh we still want to those other two we still want to keep those guys around. Those plans hadn't changed. Um you know there's a couple of factors that you know um that we still got to sort through but um but in terms of us wanting those guys around absolutely we hopefully we can get that done. Just real quick the moving from a space eating defensive tackle maybe more some of the quick transition guy like Sky Gill-Howard. How much was that kind of connected to the nickel in moving to migrating to maybe the nickel and also the issues I guess that you might have in the secondary with you know Brian and Kirby being out. HOLMES: Yeah. Uh look regardless of what our situation's going to be uh in the secondary. We wanted to add more juice. Um look we have guys that can play the run obviously and look we say it all the time. He look you got to earn the right to pass rush. So, you can't just have all pass rushers from out the gate, but you can't stop the run if you're just getting gashed all day. You don't need to throw the ball, but we've done a good job and Shep's done a great job just in terms from a run defensive standpoint and there and his structures and how we deploy that personnel. We wanted to add more juice regardless. Um, guys like um Gill-Howard, did you mention Yeah, just mentioned him. Guys like Gil Howard, um that was one of the first things that you see when you watch his tape. Um my first thought was he's could be an impact um you know what do you call like a DPR kind of sub rusher but because of his innate violence um that he's wired with then he's actually been a little bit better in the run game than probably what we even anticipated. Not that it was bad in college, but NFL is a different story, you know, and so if you have 650 pounds coming on you, it's hard, but because of how he's built because he can bend and he's he has this innate violence and hand usage, he gives himself a chance. So, um but yeah, that was um that was a that was a guy that we always had appreciation for, affinity for. Um uh and also I got to give our um our analytics department a shout out too because they were able to find some signal on you know guys like him and you know a couple other guys that were able to acquire couple other guys. Justin asked about Brian. Are you uh how confident when will he be back? Him and Kirby and how confident are you that they'll be the same players after uh Well, um, we still have confidence that, you know, they can come back. You just can't really give a exact timeline. Um, but yeah, I mean, they're both here. They're rehabbing. They're working hard. Just can't offer timeline, but yeah. Um, yeah, the hopes is to have both of them back at some point. Transcript compiled with assistance of AI

After making the necessary roster moves, waivers and releases yesterday to get down to the initial 53-man roster, the Detroit Lions announced today the initial members of their 2026 practice squad with the roster type added. Of note, the Lions did not claim anyone nor were they awarded anyone they may have claimed. With the 14 players signe below, the Lions can add any type of PS player they need with the last two TE Thomas Gordon Rookie OT Devin Cochran Veteran <=9 Gms CB Nick Whiteside Rookie or <=2 DL Tyre West Rookie CB Aamaris Brown Rookie DL Chris Smith Rookie or <=2 LB Joe Bachie Veteran 2+ DL Ben Stille Veteran 2+ WR Tom Kennedy Veteran 2+ OL Mason Miller Rookie QB Luke ALtmyer Rookie Elijah Klein Veteran 2+ WR Lucky Jackson Rookie LB Amen Ogbongbemiga Veteran 2+ EDGE Anthony Lucas Rookie Dominic Lovett Rookie UPDATED 9/1/26 Some Names that are surprises they are not back WR Domnic Lovett - Signed to PS on 9/1/26 TE Ty Conklin - Signed to Main Roster on 9/1/26 LB Erick Hunter The Lions also lost a few players to other teams: LB Troy Reeder - NYJ WR Greg Dortch - BUF Practice Squad Roster Type Rookie - Rookies, or players who have not accrued one season of NFL experience Rookie or <=2 - A maximum of four players who earned no more than two accrued NFL seasons Veteran <=9 Gms - Any player who was not active for nine regular-season games or more during their accrued seasons Veteran 2+ - Six players who've earned more than two accrued NFL seasons. IPP - NFL International Pathway Player which is one foreign born player can be the 17th Practice Squad member.

Welcome to The Grey Manes Monday Morning Rundown, a collection of news and notes form the prior week that impact the Lions, the NFL or whatever else catches my eye. Lions Players, Coaches and Team The Initial Detroit Lions 2025 53-man roster was announced, but it's likely that Brad Holmes is not done yet Part of the roster cuts included moving five players to Reserve lists, including Mays, Branch and Joseph. The NFL Detroit Lions Rivalry jersey is here, and it has major Carolina Panther vibes to it continuing the underwhelming response to this entire project More changes to the Lions roster with RB Raheem Blackshear and WR Cedrick Wilson on Reserve/Injured and signing of DB Jason Taylor and RB Roydell Williams. Devin Booker and Nike are partnering to drop a new Detroit Lions themed Nike Book 2 shoe coming September 4th and will list for $155. Jahmyr Gibbs comes in at #9 on the NFLs top 100 list The Fox Sports writers had Jared Goff at #10 in their top 10 rankings of QBs, seemingly a bit low with some of the guys immediately in front of him Rumors, Nuggets and Speculation Packers RB Josh Jacobs was placed on the Commissioners exempt list indefinitely while his legal troubles play out The Packers also made two trades at the deadline, including finding a new RB Aaron Donald returned to the Rams for one last go around with Myles Garrett, cementing their status as Super Bowl favorites Four teams kept four QBs on their rosters at initial cuts, including the Vikings Things I think are Noteworthy KFC may win the "worst mashup" award for this abomination of Oreo, mashed potatoes and Chicken...Launched only in China on 8/28 A pivotal storyline form Goodfellas was reincarnated last week in real life involving liquid gold In Summer of 2028, Cole Trickle will return

After a few hours past the 6PM deadline, the Detroit Lions finally released their initial 53-man roster for the 2026 season, and it had several surprises on it in both the cuts and the keeps. Now, before we get too far down the rabbit hole, there is likely some roster management going on with some of the cuts, and it is likely that Holmes is not done, as he may look to pick up some players that were waived or released by other teams. Brent and Chris did a live reaction show while waiting on the roster to be dropped. So on to the initial 53-Man Roster: The Detroit Lions Initial 53-Man Roster effective 08/30/26 In order to get to the initial 53, the Lions started the process with several players being moved/waived from Reserve lists, that do not count again the total: OC Cade Mays moved to reserve Injured/Designated for Return List OL Giovanni Manu moved to the Reserve/Non-Football Injury List S Brian Branch moved to the Reserve/Physically Unable to Perform List S Kerby Joseph moved to the Reserve/Physically Unable to Perform List OL Michael Niese waived from Reserve/Injured with an injury settlement The following players were released and do not go through waivers DL Myles Adams LB Joe Bachie WR Greg Dortch DL Ben Stille LB Amen Ogbongbemiga WR Tom Kennedy TE Tyler Conklin LB Troy Reeder RB Trayveon Williams The following players were waived and must clear waivers before being able to be signed to the Practice Squad: QB Luke Altmyer OL Devin Cochran TE Thomas Gordon CB Ekow Boye-Doe WR Tarik Black OL Gus Hartwig LB Erick Hunter DB Aamaris Brown WR Malik Cunningham G Mason Miller EDGE Anthony Lucas CB Bump Cooper Jr. WR Lucky Jackson G Melvin Priestly DL Chris Smith CB Nick Whiteside WR Dominic Lovett OL Colby Sorsdal DL Tyre West CB Eric Scott Jr. RB Roydell Williams TE Zach Horton S Jason Taylor II S Dan Jackson So, the final tally was four (4) moved to reserve Lists, one (1) waived with injury settlement, nine (9) released, and 24 Waived to get from 91 to 53. Waiver claims will be announced at 1pm EST today (8/31) and teams can begin singing players to their practice squads immediately after. SEO image created with AI

Day 16 of training camp was a padded practice that saw lots of situational ad 11 on 11 work. There are three training camp practices left after today. Detroit Lions QB Jared Goff chased by DE Aidan Hutchinson - Jeff Nguyen/Detroit Lions Injury Updates Updates from those in attendance along with Dan Campbell presser from the morning. Below is the list of existing and new situations since last practice of players not participating. The list of those not practicing, limited or exiting early S Brian Branch, S Kerby Joseph, RB Isiah Pacheco, OC Cade Mays, LB Jimmy Rolder, OL Michael Niese, S Dan Jackson, CB Christian Izien, S Thomas Harper, DB Nick Whiteside (Left), LB Trevor Nowaske (Left) New/Updates: Kerby Joseph (PUP) - Still away from team after leaving to handle personal matter. Cambell said he is doing well, but last true update on knee is that it will linger into the season on same timeline as Branch. Damone Clark - Campbell said that Clark is done indefinitely with his undisclosed injury. Thomas Harper - Dealing with Ankle injury, likely missing another week LB Damone Clark - Placed on Reserve/Injured RB Raheem Blackshear - Placed on Reserve/Injured and potentially waived with an injury settlement OG Ben Bartch - Back at practice coming off concussion protocol TE Sam LaPorta - Back at practice coming off hip issue RB Jabari Small - Concussion protocol OL Michael Niese - Lower body injury OL Miles Frazier - Undisclosed S Dan Jackson - Undisclosed DB Christian Izien - Undisclosed Existing (No Changes) S Brian Branch (PUP) Both are targeted for return around September Branch for second practice in a row was running and cutting OT Giovani Manu (NFI/Injury) Campbell said that Manu had a previous injury over the summer that wasn't disclosed. He came off practice field not feeling good and after checking it out, put him on the list. It's a 12–14-week timeline, putting it between Week 7-9 of the NFL season if he is still on the team. EDGE/DE Peyton Turner Per Dan Campbell, Turner has a stiff back and was not supposed to be serious Has missed all of training camp, likely putting his roster spot in jeopardy OC Cade Mays Mays is sidelined for 8-10 weeks with fractured Wrist (Target Week 5) DT Mekhi Wingo In Concussion protocol, no return date RB Isiah Pacheco MCL Strain - Target Week 1 return Left Practice DB Nick Whiteside Left with what appears to be cramps LB Trevor Nowaske Left with knee injury, walked off field on his own Transactions Placed RB Raheem Blackshear and WR Cedrick Wilson on Reserve/Injured and signed DB Jason Taylor and RB Roydell Williams. Lions signed OL Gus Hartwig and placed Damone Clark on Reserve/Injured. Had RB Kareem Hunt in for a visit Tryouts with DBs Shaun Jolly and Eric Scott and released RB Raheem Blackshear with an injury Settlement Training Camp Day 17 Observations from the Lions Media General Observations Day 17 was a padded practice with contact Lions came into practice a beat-up group, with multiple players sitting out, including five safeties. Nick Whiteside was moved inside to S/Nickel, but appeared to get cramps and didn't finish the practice. Trevor Nowaske also left early with what appeared to be a knee injury, but walked into the facility on his own Ben Bartch and Sam LaPorta returned to practice, with Bartch running with the 2nd teamers at LG and LaPorta appearing to get most of a normal workload coming off the hip issue Mason Miller was at Center but swapped out for Necomer Hartwig after a bad exchange with Dobbs Bulk of practice was 11-on-11 work, with another strong showing for the defense Skyler Gill-Howard saw a lot of 1st team reps Josh Dobbs continues to get third team snaps and didn't get a single snap in situational drills Ben Bartch just leveled Devin White ona screen play, showing why he was brought to Detroit One-on-ones were a toss-up with the defensive guys holding a slight edge With Izien not practicing, rookie Keith Abney received almost all of the 1st team nickel reps today Bates was observed being 7 of 9 on FGs with two misses around 49 yards Situational work to close out practice Situation 1 - Tie Game, starting at own 40 with :51 on the clock and all three timeouts 1st Team: Incomplete pass, short gain to Gibbs and a a screen to St Brown moved the chains. Gibs gained five, then incomplete passes (PBU) and Bates nailed a 60-yarder with distance to spare 2nd Team: Altmyer to Martin on an out route gained 21 and they were in Bates range after two snaps. Vaki rushed for seven and the clock was milked to :03 left, then Bates drilled a 47-yarder Situation 2 - Ball at opponents 19, 3:31 on the clock and trailing by none (needing two scores) 1st Team: Offense eventually scored a TD after nine snaps, which included some St Brown not at his best and Gibbs laying out for 16-yard completion to the two while working out of the slot. After a few more snaps, Goff snuck it in behind Scruggs and Mahogany. The offense was given the ball back at their own 16 with 1:42 on the clock and one timeout. Hutch and the defense destroyed the last series, with two sacks and a Gibbs deflection that ended the day and practices with a DJ Reed INT. Detroit Lions Hutchinson, Abney, Williams, Reed and Miller Photos - Jeff Nguyen - Detroit Lions Dan Campbell Day 17 Press Conference Dan Campbell was at the podium to start Day 17 and offered up some injury updates, talked about position battles that are still unsettled, had high praise for a couple of players and waded briefly into the nonsense fo NFL guys getting cut and going back to college. You can check out the full transcript here and the quick hitters and video below: Dan Campbell Day 17 Press Conference Quick Hitters Updated injuries of Harper, Clark and Kerby Joseph Talked through the balance needed to get the team ready for New Orleans while still identifying the last of the roster guys and competition on the back end of position groups. Likes the new jerseys, saw them a couple years ago and hasn't seen them since Campbell is a big black and grey guy... The O-Line and D-Line are the most up in the air right now with identifying the final roster spots. Campbell was lamenting the amount of talent they have on DLine and some of those guys won't be here Campbell also casually said that there may be Lions backups not on the roster currently. Was asked about Ben Stille and mentioned what a great job he has been doing and how versatile he was, also saying that versatility is key and there was a comparison to former Lion DLineman John Comminsky and how versatile he was. Campbell said he gave Gill-Howard the "Sun Bleach" nickname on day one when he saw his frosted tips. There was some back and forth about potentially drafting smaller D-Lineman due to moving to more of a nickel-based system, but Campbell didn't really give a straightforward answer other than to say they draft and play the best players. Nickel role is still a competition between Izien, McCreary and Abney, and will not neccesarrily be a single-player role but be based on the needs of the defense who is out there. Campbell also tossed out Whiteside if he makes the team as an option. Campbell didn't want to wade into the NFL cut back to College issue that is going on other than say that he hates to see guys who are invested in and likely will continue to get invested in go back and start over. But understands where they are coming from. His response indicated that he is surprised that is where we are at today. Media Scrums with Players The Lions had media availability with DB Roger McCreary Detroit Lions DB Roger McCreary DB Roger McCReary Opening Statement: You know, have guys like DJ who already been here, Tay, a vet guy, and just add on veteran guys like Chuck and everybody. I feel like that's a great addition. Guys who have experience and once they finally come together to come out and play, I feel like that's a complete package right there. What does this final week of camp and the final preseason game mean to you? Um, it's same. I would say the same as the first second game. Just showing what I got. I mean, still got to go out there and compete. Like I said, the position is still open. So, ain't nothing solid or nothing. No starters out there yet. They just want to see who the best man out there and go get the starting spot for real. I mean, how much uh you know, again, from a from a just even understanding what they want schematically, I mean, just like the how much how much growth has there been for you, I guess, from just even the mental standpoint this week? Yeah, I would say um yeah, I mean, I would say it was a little bit different, you know, had to adjust to the coaching style in the practice. You know, like I said, they practice hard and this is one of the tough practice. I'm not gonna lie. So it was just me by adjusting to that and just the type of coach Shep is, you know, he's a guy who played the game. So he going to give you that tough love. He going to argue, gonna cuss you out, do all that. But he just want to see you be great. That's why I see on the back end. So it's just all about me being coachable, but just going out there and just play. It really raises the bar to prepare for the regular season, does it not? Oh, most definitely. This already feel like a season. I'm not going to lie. Like how they practice and just the coaches and everything. That's just how they practice though. Basically telling you like what you what you practice, that's how you going to be in the game. So I truly understand that and I truly see why we present like this. The Lions third preseason game is at Lucas Oil Field against the Indianapolis Colts on Thursday Aug 22nd at 12pm. Transcripts are created with an assist from AI

Dan Campbell Camp Day 17 Press Event 08/25/26 Dan Campbell kicked off his Day 17 by going strright to questions. Injury Summary New/Updates: Kerby Joseph - Still away from team after leaving to handle personal matter. Cambell said he is doing well, but last true update on knee is that it will linger into the season on same timeline as Branch. Damone Clark - Campbell said that Clark is done indefinitely with his undisclosed injury. Thomas Harper - Dealing with Ankle injury, likely missing another week No Changes/Updates: Branch - Potentially Early September Peyton Turner - Has not practiced all camp despite a "minor" stiff back Giovani Manu - Added to NFI/Injury List due to previously undisclosed injury form offseason Cade Mays - Mays is sidelined for 8-10 weeks with fractured Wrist (Target Week 5) Mekhi Wingo - Concussion protocol Isiah Pacheco - MCL Strain - Target Week 1 return Sam LaPorta took a shot to the hip in the night practice, and it flared up. Hope to have him for Week 1 Jimmy Rolder will NOT be ready by the time camp ends (four more practices) and may linger into the season. Ben Bartch is in concussion protocol Transactions Placed RB Raheem Blackshear and WR Cedrick Wilson on Reserve/Injured and signed DB Jason Taylor and RB Roydell Williams. Lions signed OL Gus Hartwig and placed Damone Clark on Reserve/Injured. Had RB Kareem Hunt in for a visit Quick Hitters Updated injuries of Harper, Clark and Kerby Joseph Talked through the balance needed to get the team ready for New Orleans while still identifying the last of the roster guys and competition on the back end of position groups. Likes the new jerseys, saw them a couple years ago and hasn't seen them since Campbell is a big black and grey guy... The O-Line and D-Line are the most up in the air right now with identifying the final roster spots. Campbell was lamenting the amount of talent they have on DLine and some of those guys won't be here Campbell also casually said that there may be Lions backups not on the roster currently. Was asked about Ben Stille and mentioned what a great job he has been doing and how versatile he was, also saying that versatility is key and there was a comparison to former Lion DLineman John Comminsky and how versatile he was. Campbell said he gave Gill-Howard the "Sun Bleach" nickname on day one when he saw his frosted tips. There was some back and forth about potentially drafting smaller D-Lineman due to moving to more of a nickel-based system, but Campbell didn't really give a straightforward answer other than to say they draft and play the best players. Nickel role is still a competition between Izien, McCreary and Abney, and will not neccesarrily be a single-player role but be based on the needs of the defense who is out there. Campbell also tossed out Whiteside if he makes the team as an option. Campbell didn't want to wade into the NFL cut back to College issue that is going on other than say that he hates to see guys who are invested in and likely will continue to get invested in go back and start over. But understands where they are coming from. His response indicated that he is surprised that is where we are at today. Dan Campbell Press Event Transcript Opening Statement: How's everybody doing? Good. Questions. Um, couple injury questions. Uh, Thomas Harper missed the game in the practice before and then we haven't seen Damone Clark on the practice field for quite some time. Um, is he may be close to getting back out there? No, Demone will be he's he is done indefinitely. So, um, this injury took place. Shoot, man. three weeks ago, I guess, two weeks ago. Um so unfortunately, um it's significant enough to where he he'll be out definitely. And then um Harper has an ankle, you know, it's just how fast uh could he be ready this weekend? I think it's unlikely, but you never know, you know. So, what is sort of the goal to accomplish this week? You got to kind of get the starters ready, but then there's still a few, you know, jobs on the line, I guess, for some of the back end guys. How do you balance those two? Tricky. It is tricky, but I do think number one, the focus is on getting this team prepared to play the season and us to be the best version of ourselves. That's number one. Number two is we still have spots available on this roster that we're going to need to fill with guys that are here right now that we think have an opportunity, but we don't know who that is. So, there are there are real spots still available. Um and with that not just spots those guys could be playing for a significant time. Okay. he is roster and there's a chance if he makes his roster he's going to play for us a few snaps a game or he's you know what I mean? So that that's important too. That's kind of the next step in this. So, um so you have to balance a little bit of that. But ultimately um I also know you know I'm really I'm trying to get this team ready for New Orleans um physically um you know mentally, emotionally, all of those things. We're not diving into them yet. We're not game playing, but I just know we have to start um working on us a little bit here to get ourselves sharpened up. A lot of excitement with the new jerseys released. What's your early thoughts on them? I know y'all won't wear them in week eight, but Yeah, I think uh I like them. I mean, I think they look pretty good. I mean, I saw them two years ago. I haven't seen them since. Are they out? I um it Yeah, I like them, you know. I mean, to me, uh, I think they look good. I think our guys will like them. You know, anything's a little bit unique. I kind of like the gray grayish. You guys know me. I like black. I like gray. I like um So, I think it looks good, man. Those helmets are always uh pretty cool. So, You mentioned uh roster spots and starting spots. What are some of the positions that have the most room for moving and shaking over the this last week? It's a good question. Um, man, look, the Dline room is um that one is I mean that can go anyway right now. It really can. I mean, there's a number of guys in there. The hard thing is you can't keep all those guys. You just can't. Not without uh it hurting the rest of your roster. And there's some good players in there. And uh there's some veterans, there's some young guys, there's raw talent, there's but there's things in there uh that you really like. And that thing is up in the air right now in a number of spots. Um that's probably the most significant. um you know back into the O-line uh is always going to be up and that there might not even I say that there's a chance that player's not even here yet either. So it's not just here, it's also with the other 31 teams. Uh that's a competition right now with somebody that might not even be in the building. Um those are big receivers still back into that receiver room is still pretty big right now. So look, there's still spots available. There's it it's interesting. The D line room is the most interesting. It's just top to bottom. There's a ton of good players in there. We feel like Specifically to that group, Dan. Um guy that joined midstream and just seems to kind of be steadily climbing the rep chart. Uh Ben Stille. Uh what have you liked about him and you know, where does his I guess chances still fall in this thing? He's a pro. Uh smart, you know, really smart. He's got versatility. Strong. uh very strong. He can shed blocks, you know, shock shed, make plays, kind of knows himself, you know, knows what he is, knows his own limitations and can play fast enough to cover up for some of those, but that's what's the intrigue with him is the versatility, man. He can play some big end. We think he can play the nose certainly and then three if you needed it. So, um, the more you can do and the more that you can prove you can do, it's that that is always going to help your case. Yeah. Does he remind you of Commish (John Cominsky) at all just in his demeanor and versatility on the defensive line? I would say that's fair. He's um I think that's fair. I think he's a much more and believe me, Commish was a jacked up this guy's even more he's more suited inside out. Kamish was a little more three big end that could swing on some other things, but there the versatility is real. Uh we feel like when you just kind of watch it and what they're able to do and I think that's a that's a fair comparison of the versatility Since Will mentioned Commish. Can we just uh drill down on the Sun Bleach nickname? Was that you that came up with that? How did that one come about? Well, that was just first day he showed up in camp. I just saw the golden tips and I said, "Oh, the sun bleached it, huh?" And uh so he's been sun bleach ever since. He's done a good job, man. Kids worked his tail off and just keeps getting better and better. All those guys do. You give a player a nickname, not just you, but whoever. Like that's sort of endearing, right? I mean, any of those guys. Commish, right? A guy. Yeah. I mean, yeah, I would say so. I mean, I don't give nicknames. I don't like you. But that doesn't mean that if you didn't get a nickname that I'm not I don't like this guy. You're just freaking whatever. Bart. Uh so but yeah, you know, I like to have a good time. The defense migrating more towards nickel. How did that change the kind of defensive tackle? Well, you wanted you wanted it. See, obviously it see you drafted uh Gil Howard. He's a little bit smaller than the typical guys that you've had before. I mean like Reader and Lopez. Here's what I would say. We always try to do the best we can with this and Brad does an unbelievable job. You know, he does every year he has every year. And I mean, as a matter of fact, he's grinding right now. I mean, the guy is just he's a grinder. He's a grinder. I mean, he is going to watch everything he can over any and every player. And he is not going to recommend or say something about a player that does not he has not seen, you know. Um, but I think with that, to answer your question, um, man, who are the best players, the most impactful players we think that have a shot to come in here and compete? Okay, Gill-Howard is one of those people, right? Just like Wingo was a couple of years ago and uh certainly Mac and Levi and we got Lacy last year and we can keep going. Chris Smith. All right. Yeah, Nickel. But ultimately, Shep's done a good job. Just like Drew, man, what is our best personnel group? Who are the best players? And let's ask them to do what they do well. Now, they're going to have to do some of the things maybe they don't do as well, but they're not going to major in that. Somebody else can do some of those things. And so, we will we're going to find the best personnel for us and that's what we'll play in too. So, not only roster, but look, yeah, nickel, we'd like to, but if we're not suited for nickel right now because of whatever an injury or this, man, we'll play base. We'll play it the whole game. We'll play dime. We'll play dollar. We'll play we're going to put the best guys out there that we think give us a chance. So, we're not handcuffed by that. But I mean, as far as like with the nickel though, I mean, do you have to play, you know, stylistically a little different like with the defensive line because, you know Not necessarily because we can package those guys and it doesn't mean that an offense can't, okay, hey, that's a lighter group. We're going to run the ball. Well, yeah, we somebody's going to run it. They should. We would do that to people, too. But, uh, they're not going to make a living of that. And if they do those things, then something that might not suit you. You got to be able to, you know, you got to hold your own. You got to hold your own at times. So, um, am I answering your question? We'll package those guys. Profile player, you know, for a defensive line, does it change a little bit because you want maybe the players to shoot the gaps more? No, no, no. We don't shoot gaps. Yeah, we we don't shoot gaps here. Now, rush is different. You tell me at second long we can pin our ears back or and we can get some keys. Yeah, rush. But we don't we don't shoot gaps, man. We're not doing that now. We'll we'll by pressure we move, but then we get back in the gaps, stuff like that. We're Yeah, we're a different scheme than some of the stuff that, you know, other teams run. That's just us. Is there anything new with Kerby? I haven't seen him as much here lately. Uh nothing new. He's doing well. Nothing new. He's not here right now. He will be though. Topic of the nickel job, Dan. Does that still feel like a three-horse race between Christian, Roger, and Keith? And do you guys prefer to have like a single starter there? Are you open to having multiple guys fill that role based on opponent matchups, down and distance, all that stuff? Yeah, I would say yes, it's still open. And and yes, we'll use whoever we think is best by down and distance or personnel or who whoever it is. It could be any one of those guys potentially if they make it or, you know, or could even be a guy like Whiteside. Let's say he makes it. Maybe he's one of those pieces that he's put in there for a certain down or whoever that player is or they're playing 12 personnel or they're you just, you know, that's where you're we're trying to figure out some of this is we how do we build this roster? What can they do? Where can we assume can we get them to the game? Um that that's kind of part of the trick with all this. I know you have a a lot going on. So I don't know how closely you follow this, but there's a player or two who signed contract. You got a lot going on. I do. Cuz if you did, we wouldn't even be doing this right now. Dave, you'd let me get up there. No, keep going. There's a player or two that have signed NFL contracts that are going back to college. I don't know. I'm staying out of that. I I have no comment. I don't even know what to do with that. I just I think that's uh Well, look, from our perspective, it's that's it's crazy cuz you know, you giving a guy an opportunity and you're like, "Hey, man. This guy's got room to grow and is he going to make it? Is he not? It's close." Um and then and then they leave. you know, you just you try to develop a guy that just took off, you know, I don't know. Um, but you put yourself in their shoes. I can kind of see that, too. If I'm that guy, that player, and I don't think I'm going to make it, and I don't know, man. It's crazy, right? It's unbelievable. If you had gone back to college for the 2000 season, what would that have looked like for you? Well, I can't run anyway. It wouldn't matter. Wouldn't it change anything? Transcripts are created with the assist of AI

Updated 08/25/26 8:45 AM EST As the Lions continue working through training camp and the preseason, here is the status by position of the players that the staff of The Grey Manes thinks will ultimately comprise the initial 53-man roster. The number in parenthesis after each position and unit indicates The Grey Manes expected targeted number for each. Detroit Lions QB Luke Altmyer warms up at Ford Field - Jeff Nguyen/Detroit Lions OFFENSE (24) Quarterback (2^) On The Team: Jared Goff Bubble: Luke Altmyer, Josh Dobbs Cut/Practice Squad: N/A Reserve List*: Teddy Bridgewater Analysis: Jared Goff will have a backup QB, and it will be either Josh Dobbs or Luke Altmyer. However, there could be some roster gymnastics done here and both Altmyer and Dobbs could be cut to get to the 53-man limit. However, Dobbs is not subject to waivers, so a handshake deal would bring him back in order to allow the Lions to move guys to IR after keeping on the initial roster. Most likely, Dobbs will be the backup and Altmyer to PS unless they need to put someone on IR and Dobbs is willing to work with the team. Running back (4) On The Team: Jahmyr Gibbs, Isiah Pacheco, Sione Vaki Bubble: Jacob Saylors, Jabari Smalls Cut/Practice Squad: Trayveon Williams, Roydell Williams Reserve List*: Raheem Blackshear Analysis: The pecking order after the first three is pretty clear and a healthy Jacob Saylors will likely fill that last role. However, Smalls has made strides in camp, and he could be a surprise keep as the fourth RB. Regardless, Saylors, Smalls and Blackshear are all candidates for the practice squad if they don't make the final roster. Wide Receiver (5) On The Team: Amon-Ra St. Brown, Jameson Williams, Isaac TeSlaa, Greg Dortch Bubble: Tom Kennedy, Tay Martin, Domnic Lovett Cut/Practice Squad: Lucky Jackson, Malik Cunningham, Tarik Black, Reserve List*: Kendrick Law, Cedrick Wilson Analysis: Choosing to keep five or six WRs was one of the most difficult choices due to special team's needs, but ultimately, I think they will stick with five, choosing between Kennedy and Martin for that last spot, especially if Vet Cedrick Wilson's knee will cause him to miss time. Look for the rest of the cuts to be PS candidates, with at least 2-3 joining. *Updated to reflect Cedrick Wilson moved to Reserve/Injure Tight End (4) On The Team: Sam LaPorta, Brock Wright, Tyler Conklin Bubble: Jackson Meeks Cut/Practice Squad: Thomas Gordon, Zach Horton Reserve List: Miles Kitselman, Anthony Firkser Analysis: Jackson Meeks may very well be roster #54 (although I think he makes the initial 53) here and the hardest cut of any player on the team. He brings a sense of value at both TE and as an outside WR option, but special teams may be the reason he is on the cut list. He and Thomas Gordon (Horton was already cut once and brought back) would likely get the nod on the practice squad if they are not claimed. Offensive Line (9) On The Team: OT Penei Sewell, OT Blake Miller, OG Christian Mahogany, OG Tate Ratledge, IOL Juice Scruggs, OT Larry Borom Bubble: OL Miles Frazier, OC Seth McLaughlin, OG Ben Bartch, OT Devin Cochrane, OT Colby Sorsdal Cut/Practice Squad: OC Michael Niese, OG Melvin Priestly, OG Mason Miller Reserve List: Giovanni Manu, Cade Mays (DtoR**) Analysis: Mays will likely be put on the IR-Designated to return at the cutdown (one of two) so that the Lions do not have to keep him on the roster before moving him to IR. The top six are locked in, with the last three likely coming from the five bubble guys. This battle will come down to versatility and what the players can offers, meaning Frazier is likely in being able to play all line positions except center, and McLughlin has shown promise at Center and can play Guard, leaving Cochrane, Sorsdal and an injured Bartch battling it out for the last spot. If Bartch clears concussion protocol, he is likely in. DT Skyler Gill-Howard in action at Ford Field vs Washington Commanders - Jeff Nguyen/Detroit Lions DEFENSE (26) Defensive Line (9) On The Team: DE Aidan Hutchinson, DT Tyliek Williams, DT Alim McNeil, DE DJ Wonnum, DE Derrick Moore, DL Tyler Lacy, DT Chris Smith, DE Ahmed Hassanein Bubble: DT Ben Stille, DL Skyler Gill-Howard, DE Anthony Lucas, DE Eric O'Neil Cut/Practice Squad: DT Tyre West, DE Payton Turner Reserve List: DT Aidan Keanaaina Analysis: This is another tough spot, as several guys have been showing out i camp and will be hard to cut. Gill-Howard, O'Neil and Lucas along with Stille all are battling for the ninth and final spot. Most likely, of they are not claimed, all of them will be considered for the PS that do end up getting cut. I personally believe that Gill-Howrd will land the last spot over O'Neil. Linebackers (6) On The Team: Jack Campbell, Derrick Barnes, Devin White, Malcolm Rodriguez, Trevor Nowaske Bubble: Joe Bachie, Troy Reeder, Erick Hunter, Amen Ogbongbemiga Cut/Practice Squad: Damone Clark Reserve List: Jimmy Rolder (DtoR**), Analysis: Rolder is the second IR to return candidate (along with Mays) that won't count against the 53-man cap but must miss the first four weeks of the season. After that, I think the first five spots of six are locked down, with Bachie, Reeder, Ogbongbemiga and Hunter battling for that sixth and final spot based on their Special Teams ability. Whoever is cut, likely will be invited to the PS, but Clark appears to have missed way too much time to make the roster. Cornerbacks (7) On The Team: DJ Reed, Rock Ya-Sin, Roger McCreary, Keith Abney Bubble: Ennis Rakestraw, Nick Whiteside, Amaris Brown (NCB), Kkalil Dorsey, Cut/Practice Squad: Ryan Cooper, Ekow Boye-Doe Reserve List: N/A Analysis: I expect the Lions to keep seven CBs with guys like Izien and Maddox having the ability to switch positions between Safety and CB as needed. The first five feel like locks, with Rakestraw, Whiteside and Dorsey (for his steady CB work and STs presence) likely getting the nod over Brown, Cooper and Boye-Doe. Safeties (4) On The Team: Chuck Clark, Thomas Harper, Avonte Maddox and Christian Izien Bubble: Dan Jackson Cut/Practice Squad: Jason Taylor II Reserve List: Brian Branch (PUP), Kerby Josephy (PUP) Analysis: Both Branch and Joseph can be moved from the PUP to the Reserve PUP at cutdown, which means they won't count against the 53-man total, but they would have to miss the first four weeks of the season. That leaves the Lions keeping all the remaining safeties except Dan Jackson, with Izien filling that hybrid Safety/Nickel role. Jackson will go to the PS if he is not claimed. SPECIAL TEAMS (3) Kicker/Punter/Long Snapper On The Team: Jake Bates (K), Hogan Hattan (LS), Jack Fox (P) Bubble: N/A Cut/Practice Squad: N/A Reserve List*: N/A Analysis: The Lions will run back the same three specialists for the third year in a row now, banking on consistency and continuity for the team. *Reserve list players do not count toward final 53-man roster **DtoR = Designated to return. Up to two players can be placed on IR as designated to return without having to use a 53-man roster spot before putting them on IR. Must miss four games ^If the Lions need a player to be on the initial 53-man roster at cutdown day, but move them to IR after, then could cut Dobbs, and then bring him back (as a vested players he doesn't go through waivers) while keeping that injured player on the initial 53.