During his Monday afternoon press conference, Detroit Lions coach Dan Campbell revealed that three players are expected to return to practice this week.
The first, which was already reported by Jordan Schultz,
is linebacker Malcolm Rodriguez. He is expected to take part in Tuesday’s practice, his first since tearing his ACL last Thanksgiving. Per Schultz, they’re targeting a Week 11 return for Rodriguez against the Philadelphia Eagles.
Campbell also revealed the team started the evaluation clock for safety Daniel Thomas. Thomas suffered a broken forearm during the team’s Week 3 game against the Baltimore Ravens. Despite the fact that the break required surgery, it appears he’s ready to get back on the field. Thomas was a significant contributor on special teams, including the gunner role on the punt coverage team. Since Thomas’ injury, the Lions have had to rely on the likes Thomas Harper and Erick Hallett as safety depth. In their last game, Dominic Lovett and Isaac TeSlaa held the gunner roles.
Finally, Campbell offered promising news on cornerback Terrion Arnold. While the 2024 first-round pick has already returned to practice, he has been limited. Campbell noted his level of participation is expected to increase with the pads coming on Tuesday.
“We’ll take a good look at Arnold. He’s going to practice tomorrow,” Campbell said. “Get him worked in, see how it feels, see how it looks like. He feels good. He says he feels good. He has been running around a little bit, but we’ll be padded up tomorrow, so we’ll get a really good look at him.”
There are still some players we’re waiting to hear on, including Kerby Joseph, Taylor Decker, Sione Vaki, Marcus Davenport, Josh Paschal, Avonte Maddox, and Miles Frazier. But, for now, the cavalcade of returns is coming.
