3:15pm: Lions head coach Dan Campbell confirmed (via Dave Birkett of the Detroit Free Press ) that Rodriguez will return to practice this week. The team also opened the practice window for safety Daniel Thomas . He suffered a broken forearm in Week 3 against the Ravens and had surgery at the end of September.
1:40pm: The Lions are designating linebacker Malcolm Rodriguez to return to practice, according to NFL insider Jordan Schultz .
Rodriguez, 26, started the regular season the physically unable to perform list as he worked his way back from an ACL tear suffered on Thanksgiving last year. Detroit is expecting the fourth-year linebacker to take his full 21-day practice window and make his 2025 debut on Sunday Night Foootball in Week 11, per Schultz
. That is a primetime matchup with the Eagles that could be crucial that could be crucial in determining NFC playoff seeding come January.
The 2022 sixth-round pick quickly became a fan favorite on “Hard Knocks,” during his first training camp and started next to Alex Anzalone as a rookie. Rodriguez took a back seat to Jack Campbell and Derrick Barnes in 2023 and was relegated to special teams duties for much of the year. He returned to a starting role last year after Barnes’ season-ending knee injury in September,
Barnes is back to full strength now, so Rodriguez’s role upon his return will likely be similar to 2023. The Lions won’t want to push him coming off a major knee injury, and it may not be wise for him to risk his health in a contract year.
Rodriguez is in the last year of his rookie deal, and a Lions cap table that has gotten more and more expensive may not have room for another off-ball linebacker. Detroit didn’t extend Anzalone before the season, as he desired, but they did re-sign Barnes in the offseason and will have to put aside money for Campbell, who has grown into one of the best linebackers in the league.
Rodriguez will have three weeks to practice with the team before he must be activated to the 53-man roster or revert to season-ending injured reserve.