The Detroit Lions’ injury list is small this early in camp, and DJ Reader is already showing some progress.
The Detroit Lions took the field on Thursday with 87 of 89 players on their roster in attendance and practicing in some capacity. The two exceptions were rookie guard Christian Mahogany and defensive tackle DJ Reader. However, the outlook for both players seem promising moving forward.
Mahogany has been dealing with an illness that has held him out of back-to-back training camp practices.
“Mahogany is dealing with an illness right now so that’s why he’s not out there,” coach Dan Campbell said. “As he heals up here, we’ll get him out here and get him going but that’s what’s going on there.”
As for Reader, there was a note of progress from Thursday’s practice. He was out there on the field working with a trainer, running up the hill and doing other sprinting drills with protection around his right leg. Last year with the Bengals, Reader tore his right quad in December.
Campbell noted that Reader’s injury has healed. It’s now just a matter of trusting the leg and conditioning.
“We’re not in any hurry with him, but he’s doing well, he’s getting his strength back,” Campbell said. “The injury has healed, it’s just a matter of getting him to that point where now we feel comfortable getting him out there competing around others.”
Limited players
While the Lions are not required to offer an injury report during training camp, three notable players remain limited in their participation: running back Jahmyr Gibbs, defensive end Marcus Davenport, and defensive back Brian Branch. Gibbs has been limited to walkthroughs and individual drills, while Branch and Davenport have been mostly doing walkthroughs.
Gibbs sat for the spring while dealing with what Campbell called a “soft tissue” injury, while Branch had an offseason clean-up procedure and Davenport continues to work his way back from a high-ankle sprain that also required surgery.
Campbell noted Thursday how important it was that both Branch and Davenport were able to avoid the Physically Unable to Perform (PUP) list.
“We knew that they were not going to be 100%, walk in, day one, doing full practice. But to be able to keep them off of PUP, NFI, any of that so that they can do the walkthroughs, maybe a little bit individual, I think that goes a long way,” Campbell said. “It’s good to have them out there. They’re both doing well.”
Brief scare
While the Lions were working on special teams, Terrion Arnold required some medical treatment on his lower body. But after a few minutes with a trainer, he was back out there during the next set of team drills.