ALLEN PARK -- confident in that regard, but they still don’t have a timetable for the veteran pass rusher’s return.
Davenport is eligible to be activated from injured reserve this week. But Dan Campbell doesn’t see that happening just yet as the veteran continues to recover from a pectoral injury.
“I would say nothing new on Davenport,” Campbell said on Tuesday. “He is improving, but I can’t give you a definitive, ‘This is when he’s gonna be back.’
“I am just very confident he is gonna be back. We’re going to get him back here. I can’t tell you an exact date there.”
Davenport suffered an injury in the Week 2 win against the Chicago Bears. He notched a sack on Bears quarterback Caleb Williams, and hurt himself in the process and hasn’t been seen on the field since. The 29-year-old has been limited to only four games during his two seasons in Detroit.
And while getting Davenport back would be a big boost to the depth at edge defender. The Lions have been more than fine since losing Davenport, getting big-time showings from Al-Quadin Muhammad and Aidan Hutchinson returning to ultra-elite form.
Hutchinson leads the league with 48 pressures created through seven games. Muhammad ranks inside the top 20, too, posting 27 pressures of his own. The return of Alim McNeill before the bye week was a massive boost to the defensive line.
Hutchinson is seeing double teams and chips at a high rate this season, no surprise. He’s been chip-blocked the fifth-most time in the league, and has dominated one-on-one situations. So, getting more pieces back in the trenches to free the star pass rusher up even more is a potential boost to the already-humming operation.
Getting Davenport back would give the Lions a pure power pass rusher just like they desire on the other side of Hutchinson. But defensive coordinator Kelvin Sheppard has found ways to create pressure, with Hutchinson and Muhammad leading the way.
In other injury news, the Lions will have second-year running back Sione Vaki (groin) back at practice for the first time in a month. Left tackle Taylor Decker practiced on Monday and will get the day off on Tuesday, but should be back to end the week.
Decker returned to action before the bye week, re-taking his spot in the starting lineup after missing two games. Vaki has not played since the Lions went to Baltimore, but they hope to have him ready to go against the Minnesota Vikings this weekend.
We’ll have more in Tuesday afternoon’s practice report.
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