The Detroit Lions could get a key member of their defensive line back this week. During his weekly radio appearance, Lions coach Dan Campbell expressed optimism that starting defensive end Marcus Davenport could return from injured reserve this week.
“We’re hopeful. We’re hopeful. He looked really good last week,” Campbell told the Costa & Jansen Show with Heather on Tuesday. “We’re getting him some walkthrough reps. We did yesterday, we’re getting him some today.”
This week is a unique challenge to evaluate where Davenport is at, because the Lions are on a short week and won’t be running any full practices.
“We’ll see, it’s just a matter of us saying, ‘Alright, is he ready for this, not being in a practice setting this week, getting ready to go?’” Campbell said. “Now, he did last week, and that’s ultimately what it’ll come down to. How does he feel? Does he feel like he can do this, and he’s ready to go? Does he need one more week to get ready for Dallas? So we’re still talking about all of that, but I do like where he’s at for sure.”
Davenport suffered a shoulder injury in the team’s Week 2 victory over the Chicago Bears and has been on injured reserve since. He returned to practice two weeks ago, including a full practice last Friday and an estimated full walkthrough practice on Monday.
While most of Davenport’s career in Detroit has been defined by injuries—missing 24 games and playing in just four—he does fit exactly what the Lions want in the edge position opposite Aidan Hutchinson. He’s a physical edge setter who has the athleticism to bring it as a pass rusher, too. In his four games with the Lions, he has nine pressures (per PFF) and 1.5 sacks.
This season, the Lions have utilized a variety of players in Davenport’s spot this year, including Al-Quadin Muhammad, Tyler Lacy, Alim McNeill, and Derrick Barnes. But if Davenport can return this week in a huge game against the Packers, the Lions can move those players into more apt-fitting roles on defense.
Campbell finished his answer on Davenport by praising the player’s commitment to getting healthy, despite the poor injury luck as of late.
“He’s come a long way, man. He’s putting in a lot of work to get back. He always does.”
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