Detroit Lions elevate 2 wide receivers for Buccaneers game

The Detroit Lions announced that they’ve elevated 2 wide receivers for Sunday’s game against the Buccaneers.

The Detroit Lions announced the elevations of two wide receivers for Sunday’s game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Both Tom Kennedy and Tim Patrick are now eligible to play on Sunday, joining the rest of the wide receiving crew: Amon-Ra St. Brown, Jameson Williams, and Kalif Raymond.

The Lions are a little banged up at the receiver position, with rookie Isaiah Williams already declared out, and Jameson Williams questionable with an ankle injury. At this point, there’s no reason to expect Jameson Williams to miss Sunday’s game, as he practiced (in a limited fashion) all three days this week.

That said, Kennedy gives the Lions some extra insurance at every wideout position. Earlier in the week, offensive coordinator Ben Johnson explained why they elevated Kennedy from the practice squad last week.

“He’s a little bit of a blankie for us because we know if something were to happen, he can play X, F, Z, he can play every spot at the receiver spot,” Johnson said. “We feel really good about what he can bring to the table, and I think that gave him the nod last week.”

It’s worth noting that this is already Kennedy’s second elevation from the practice squad. Players are only allowed to be elevated three times per season. So if Detroit uses Kennedy’s final elevation next week, the only way he’ll be able to play for Detroit the rest of the season is if he’s signed to the 53-man roster.

The more intriguing call-up from the practice squad is Patrick, who signed with the Lions after the Broncos released him in the team’s final cutdowns. Patrick is a six-year vet who has started 37 games over his career. He’s lost the last two seasons to serious injuries (torn ACL in 2022, torn Achilles in 2023), but prior to those injuries, he had put together back-to-back 700-yard seasons with a collective 11 touchdowns.

Patrick is the Lions’ leading candidate to take over the WR-X role, but it’s unclear how big a role that will be, given that he’s only been with the team for two-and-a-half weeks.