Six Lions players missed practice on Wednesday, five of whom are starters.

On offense, the Lions were missing Matthew Stafford, Jahvid Best and Nate Burleson. All are recovering from injuries and were unable to practice. We already know Stafford is out, and Best is going to have to play through the pain of a turf toe injury if he wants to see action on Sunday. Burleson is still coming back from an apparent high ankle sprain, so it's unclear where exactly he stands health-wise.

On defense, the Lions were missing DeAndre Levy and Louis Delmas. Levy is dealing with multiple injuries after getting banged up against Minnesota, so his status for Sunday is up in the air. Delmas likely sat out just to take a day off like he usually does, so I expect him to be good to go on Sunday.

The sixth player out was Aaron Brown. With both he and Best banged up, depth is thin at the running back position, which is why there's a high possibility that Kevin Smith will be active for the first time all season on Sunday.