The Detroit Lions announced on Saturday that they have elevated safety Jalen Mills for their Sunday night game against the Carolina Panthers in Week 4.
This is the second straight week Mills has been called up from the practice squad as the Lions navigate a bunch of injuries at safety. Brian Branch and Kerby Joseph remain on the physically unable to perform list, while Avonte Maddox and Thomas Harper landed on injured reserve this past week. The good news for the Lions is that Branch’s return seems
imminent.
“He’s close. Yep, he’s close,” Lions coach Dan Campbell said earlier this week. “He’s ready to go. [I’m] tired of listening to him. So, I mean that in a good way. Man, he’s put in a ton of work, and he looks really good. He’s close.”
Mills joins starters Chuck Clark and Christian Izien, who played well last week against the Jets, but the Lions secondary remains a problem and has struggled through the first three weeks of the season.
Mills, who rejoined the Lions’ practice squad ahead of Week 3, adds another experienced body(122 games, 92 starts) to a defense that needs some stability.
