While the Detroit Lions’ injury list continues to grow, there is some potential good news on the horizon. It begins with Brian Branch and Kerby Joseph, who continue to show signs of progress toward returning to the field, but there are also a few players whose injuries may not be as serious as they look.
We break it all down below with our Day 5 training camp injury report.
Note: All injury designations are unofficial based on my own observations unless otherwise stated.
Returned to practice:
- RT Blake Miller (unknown)
Miller didn’t miss Sunday’s
practice, but he was limited to individual drills. Dan Campbell said on Monday that they were being precautious and he would be a full go during Monday’s practice. He was taking every visible right tackle first-team rep during the first padded practice of camp. While the job seems safely his over veteran Larry Borom, Campbell continued to preach caution until we see everyone in pads.
“We like where Blake (is), we feel like has gotten a little bit better every day, and that’s a good thing,” Campbell said Monday. “Larry’s played in this league. But now here we go, now it’s real. So, we can talk about how good somebody looks, how much better they get without pads on. Well, now the pads are on. So yeah, anybody’s got a shot. So, we’ll see what it looks like. My gut tells me that Blake’s going to continue to grow, but we’ll see.”
Not practicing:
- RB Jahmyr Gibbs (not-injury related)
- TE Milles Kitselman (leg)
- OT Giovanni Manu (NFI)
- EDGE Derrick Moore (groin)
- EDGE Payton Turner (back)
- LB Jimmy Rolder (leg)
Campbell gave full injury updates on Miles Kitselman and Derrick Moore. Kitselman is expected to miss significant time, while Moore’s timetable is more optimistic with a minor strain that should sideline him 7-10 days.
Still no sign of Payton Turner, who only lasted a day in training camp before a back injury. It’s worth noting, at the time, Campbell did not believe it was serious.
“He’s got a little bit of a stiff back, so just got that, but we don’t think that’ll be anything serious,” Campbell said last Thursay.
Out, but working with trainers
- G Ben Bartch (undisclosed)
- TE Tyler Conklin (PUP, calf)
- S Kerby Joseph (PUP, knee)
- S Brian Branch (PUP, Achilles)
Conklin continues to put in serious work with trainers and appears to be one of the players closer to returning from injury. Bartch missed a second straight day of practice with an undisclosed injury.
But the significant news here comes from Brian Branch getting his first on-field work during training camp. It was just a relatively short session with a trainer (15-20 minutes, by my estimate), but he was moving at a good speed and doing some change of direction things.
Remember that early in camp, Campbell broke the news that Branch could return to practice as soon as the end of training camp.
“Branch is doing well. His will be—obviously PUP, there’s no setbacks,” Campbell said. “Take it as it comes and we’ll see. I’m sure late training camp, maybe early September he can start practicing. We’ll see.”
If he returns to practice and avoids the regular season PUP, it would mean he would not have to sit the first four games of the season, although it still seems unlikely he’ll be ready for Week 1.
Kerby Joseph’s trainer work lasted significantly longer than Branch’s, and he continues to work up a good sweat.
Left practice early
- RB Sione Vaki (eye)
- TE Anthony Firkser (leg)
- WR Lawrence Keys (leg)
On the second play of full team padded practice, Vaki took a carry and stayed down for a considerable amount of time, forcing the team to move further down field to continue the drills. Eventually, he exited the field and did not return to practice. The team reported that he got poked in the eye. Jacob Saylors bumped to RB2 for the rest of the day with Gibbs and Vaki out.
On the final play of an early 11-on-11 session, Firkser limped off the field with a leg injury. He was not able to make his way to the building on his own, so he was carted inside the facility.
I did not see Lawrence Keys’ injury and can only go off the team report of a “leg” injury.
