The Detroit Lions placed Alex Anzalone on injured reserve Monday, but they did sign a new, veteran linebacker to the practice squad.
The Detroit Lions announced a few roster moves on Monday morning in the wake of a couple of new injuries.
After breaking his forearm against the Jacksonville Jaguars, linebacker Alex Anzalone has been placed on injured reserve. He’ll miss a minimum of four games, but according to coach Dan Campbell, Anzalone is expected to miss six-to-eight weeks.
In order to help Detroit’s thin linebacker room, the Lions also announced they have signed David Long. Long is a former sixth-round pick for the Tennessee Titans. In his first three years in the league, he was mostly a special teams player, but he became a full-time starter for the Titans in his final season. In total, he played in 50 games for Tennessee, starting about half of those (26), amassed 230 tackles, 15 tackles for loss, and 14 passes defended over that four-year span.
When his rookie deal was up, Long signed a two-year, $11 million deal with the Miami Dolphins. He was named a captain for 2024, but under a new defensive coordinator, he proved to be a poor fit and he lost his starting job. The Dolphins waived him last week.
At 5-foot-11, 225 pounds, Long certainly falls into the “undersized” category of linebackers, but he can be a big help for Detroit’s third linebacker role. For his career, he has 15 passes defended and four interceptions. Prior to this year, he was an excellent run defender. He earned a PFF run defense grade of 89.0 in 2022 and 92.6 in 2023 (which led all NFL linebackers who played at least 20% of their team’s defensive snaps).
In short, the Lions got a well-rounded veteran linebacker with 75 games of experience who can also contribute on special teams.
In addition to these moves, the Lions activated Ifeatu Melifonwu from injured reserve, but on Monday, coach Dan Campbell indicated that he is going to miss significant time with a new finger injury. So Melifonwu is expected to go right back on injured reserve, where he’ll miss at least another four games.
Melifonwu’s activation from IR is the first of eight available to the team during the regular season (they get an additional two slots during the postseason). If Melifonwu is able to return from IR this season for a second time, he would account for another spot.
