The Detroit Lions finally held an actual practice Thursday, and their Week 1 injury picture did not get any worse.
Detroit listed Christian Izien, Derrick Moore and Mekhi Wingo as limited participants for the second consecutive day ahead of Sunday’s opener against the New Orleans Saints. Keith Abney II, Thomas Harper, Trevor Nowaske, Ennis Rakestraw Jr. and Jimmy Rolder were all full participants again.
That is essentially the best development available short of removing names from the report completely.
Wednesday’s participation levels were only estimates because the Lions did not practice. Thursday gave Detroit its first real look at how those eight players handled a normal workload, and nobody moved from full participation to limited or from limited to out. The Lions’ official Sept. 10 practice report keeps the same three players at limited and five at full.
Moore, Izien and Wingo Remain the Three to Watch
Moore’s hamstring remains the most notable new injury from this week because Detroit expects the second-round rookie to contribute immediately to its defensive-line rotation.
Izien’s groin has been a longer-running concern. His availability for the opener was already uncertain in late August when Detroit learned the versatile defensive back could miss Week 1. Two straight limited designations are encouraging compared with where things stood then, but Detroit has not yet cleared him for Sunday.
Wingo also remained limited with a groin issue.
The good news is that Thursday produced no setbacks among the five full participants. Harper, Rakestraw, Abney, Nowaske and Rolder all maintained the same status they received on Wednesday’s initial Week 1 injury report.
Detroit Lions Injury Report
| Player | Position | Injury | Wednesday* | Thursday | Friday | Game Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Christian Izien | DB | Groin | LP | LP | ||
| Derrick Moore | EDGE | Hamstring | LP | LP | ||
| Mekhi Wingo | DL | Groin | LP | LP | ||
| Keith Abney II | CB | Hand | FP | FP | ||
| Thomas Harper | S | Ankle | FP | FP | ||
| Trevor Nowaske | LB | Knee | FP | FP | ||
| Ennis Rakestraw Jr. | CB | Ankle | FP | FP | ||
| Jimmy Rolder | LB | Hamstring | FP | FP |
*The Lions did not practice Wednesday. Wednesday participation designations were estimates.
Friday is now the important checkpoint.
Detroit’s official injury report page will provide the final practice participation levels and, more importantly, game-status designations for Sunday. That is when questionable, doubtful or out labels can turn a manageable midweek injury into an actual lineup problem.
For now, Detroit has three limited players and nobody trending backward.
After the injury issues that followed this roster through August, the Lions will gladly take boring.
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