ALLEN PARK -- The Detroit Lions opened the 21-day return windows for edge defender Marcus Davenport and cornerback DJ Reed on Wednesday.
Davenport and Reed were each spotted going through drills, and now have three weeks to work back before being activated.
Last week, Lions coach Dan Campbell said Reed would likely be off the field until early December. He’s been on injured reserve due to a hamstring injury suffered against the Cleveland Browns in Week 4.
The team’s top cornerback is officially back at practice, though, meaning he’ll likely return to game action around or after Thanksgiving.
“Reed is doing well. I don’t know if I can give you that timeline there,” Campbell said last week. “Again, I’d say early December, you know, somewhere in there. But he’s looking good, getting better and better.”
Reed posted one interception, recovered one fumble and added 16 tackles in his four games played. Pro Football Focus ranks Reed 20th among cornerbacks with enough snaps to qualify. He is graded as the fourth-best run defender at his position, something the Lions absolutely love about him. Reed has allowed only 11 receptions on 18 targets and no touchdowns in coverage.
When quarterbacks threw Reed’s way in those four games, he allowed a passer rating of 61.3 in coverage, the seventh-best mark among starting cornerbacks.
With Reed still out and Terrion Arnold in concussion protocol, it could be another game with Amik Robertson and Rock Ya-Sin starting at outside cornerback in Philadelphia this weekend.
Davenport’s status has been up in the air since he suffered a pectoral injury in Week 2 against the Chicago Bears. The Lions have been ultra-confident that they would get Davenport back at some point; they never had a firm timetable for his return.
Campbell was last asked about Davenport after the bye week, doubling down on the belief he’d be back, and that he just wasn’t sure when.
“I am just very confident he is going to be back,” the Lions coach said. “We’re going to get him back here.”
Since Davenport went down, Al-Quadin Muhammad and Tyler Lacy have filled some of the reps opposite Aidan Hutchinson on the defensive edges. Muhammad has been a breakthrough player at 30, and Lacy has continued to find reps as the team’s beloved big defensive end.
The Lions are fourth in the NFL with 30 team sacks in nine games. Hutchinson leads the league with 57 pressures, while Muhammad ranks 28th with 32 of his own. Davenport’s return would give the Lions another big, strong pass rusher to rotate in there.
Davenport has been limited to only eight games played across the last three seasons, though, so expect the Lions to ease him back into action.
The Lions were without safety Kerby Joseph (knee), cornerback Terrion Arnold (concussion protocol), right tackle Penei Sewell, edge Aidan Hutchinson, tight end Brock Wright and running back Sione Vaki.
We’ll know more about specific ailments when the official practice report is published later Wednesday afternoon for Hutchinson, Sewell, Wright and Vaki’s status. Vaki and Wright were spotted working to the side with trainers. The Lions added veteran tight end Anthony Firkser to their practice squad this week, so keep tabs on Wright’s status moving forward, too.
Sewell left Sunday’s game against the Commanders for a spell. But he returned and said it was one of those things that hurt at the time, but kept feeling better the more he played.
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