Checking in on the Detroit Lions players who are expected to return from their injury lists in Week 10.
The Detroit Lions presently have 11 players on injured reserve, and while four of them are deemed season-ending injuries, another five players, including another new name this week: Jason Cabinda, are eligible to return at any moment.
Cabinda was theoretically eligible to return in Week 9, but the process was pushed up a week due to the team’s bye week.
Here’s an updated look at the Lions’ injured players and when they’ll be able to return. Players in bold are currently eligible.
As a reminder, NFL teams are only allowed to return eight players off injured reserve throughout a season, and the Lions have returned three players during the first ten weeks: Julian Okwara in Week 5, CB/KR Josh Paschal in Week 6 and Khalil Dorsey in Week 7. As a result, the Lions have only five more chances to bring injured reserve players back to the active roster.
None of the five current players eligible to return appear to be on the horizon. Hendon Hooker informed Dave Birkett of the Free Press that he’s around 90% recovered from his ACL injury and that he’ll return when he’s ready. The injuries suffered by C.J. Gardner-Johnson, James Houston, and Matt Nelson all necessitated surgery, and their chances of returning appear to be slim—if at all.
Cabinda may be the most likely to return, but little is known about his current situation. Cabinda remained on the active roster for two weeks after injuring his knee, missing six practices, before being placed on injured reserve, implying coaches/medical staff thought he was fine may be on the verge of returning within that timeframe. However, his final landing on IR shows that he either experienced a setback or that they believed he wasn’t improving quickly enough and required a period of rest/recovery.
One thing to keep in mind is that the Lions placed Daly on injured reserve last week, and if they thought Cabinda—or any of the other eligible players on this list—were close to returning, they would have kept that position available for them. Instead, they signed UDFA rookie Trevor Nowaske off the practice squad as their seventh off-the-field linebacker.
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