ALLEN PARK — Reinforcements are coming.
On the first day back from the bye week, Detroit Lions head coach Dan Campbell announced Monday the team expects cornerback Terrion Arnold (shoulder), linebacker Malcolm Rodriguez (knee) and safety Daniel Thomas (forearm) to practice this week.
Rodriguez and Thomas are coming off of injured reserve lists, meaning they both will have a 21-day acclimation window before returning to game action. According to Campbell, Rodriguez will return to practice Tuesday, and Thomas’ clock started Monday.
As for Arnold, Campbell said he’s been encouraged by his progress. Arnold was at practice before Detroit’s Week 8 game against Tampa Bay but was deemed a limited participant. This week — when he’s engaging in a full-padded session — will be the real test.
“We’ll take a good look at Arnold. He’s gonna practice tomorrow, get him worked in, see how he feels, see what it looks like,” Campbell said. “He feels good; he says he feels good. And he has been kind of running around a little bit, but we’ll be padded up tomorrow, we’ll get a really good look at him.”
Arnold missed two games after suffering a serious shoulder injury in Detroit’s 37-24 win at Cincinnati on Oct. 5. While the initial outlook was worrisome, he since has received multiple positive updates.
Rodriguez hasn’t seen the field since suffering a season-ending knee injury in last year’s Thanksgiving Day win over the Chicago Bears. He’s in the final season of his four-year rookie contract.
“We’ll start his clock (tomorrow),” Campbell said. “Those are all pretty good things right now, with where we’re at.”
Rodriguez was a “Hard Knocks” star during his 2022 rookie season and was given ample opportunity to make an impact, but his role took a backseat as Derrick Barnes emerged as a starter and the team drafted first-round linebacker Jack Campbell. Still, he proved to be a valuable piece as linebackers dropped like flies last season, making six starts with 43 tackles and two sacks.
The timing of Rodriguez’s impending return is a bonus, too: Detroit just placed linebacker Zach Cunningham (hamstring) on injured reserve due to an injury that he suffered in the Lions’ last game, a 24-9 win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Thomas played in the first three games of Detroit’s 2025 season, primarily on special teams, before suffering a forearm injury that landed him on injured reserve.