The Detroit Lions returned to the practice field Wednesday after a much needed respite.
Detroit’s bye week took place back in Week 5. The highly-anticipated contest against the Buffalo Bills will be the team’s 10th week playing in a row, so any time off is valued by the coaching staff and the roster.
On Wednesday, key members of their defensive line were spotted participating in the portion of practice that was open to the media.
Defensive tackle Alim McNeill was an active participant in practice on Wednesday. McNeill had been in concussion protocol after leaving Thursday’s win over the Green Bay Packers.
The fourth-year N.C. State product was initially cleared to return and did so, but was ruled out after halftime. Levi Onwuzurike, Josh Paschal and Taylor Decker were all also participating during the open portion of practice.
DJ Reader was not participating during the open individual period, but rather was spotted working on the side with trainers.
Dan Campbell had previously said Onwuzurike would be down on Wednesday, and that more information on Reader would be available on Thursday.
“Levi’s gonna be down but he’s gonna practice tomorrow,” Campbell explained to reporters. “That’s not a negative. Mac will be out there today. Paschal may run around, we’ll see what he’s got. And then Reader, if anything comes down it’ll be tomorrow.”
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These returns are a positive sign, especially with the Lions‘ depleted defensive line. Last week, players like Myles Adams and Jonah Williams were required to play big roles against Green Bay, despite being signed less than a week prior to the game.
As the Lions welcome in one of the AFC’s best teams, they have a chance to push their win streak to 12 games and continue to assert themselves as one of the NFL’s best teams. At 10-3, the Bills are coming off a loss to the Los Angeles Rams but feature plenty of talent and are the only team to defeat the Kansas City Chiefs this season.
Because Campbell wants to see the team be sharper with its execution, the Lions conducted a padded practice on Wednesday.
