The Lions announced their 53-man roster today after releasing 20 players and placing 2 on the injured reserve.  The two players placed on the IR were running backs Brian Calhoun and Aveion Cason.  With both Calhoun and Cason done for the year, you would have thought that Artose Pinner would make the team, but he didn't.  That means the Lions will carry only two running backs going into the regular season.

Here is the full list of the players released today by Detroit:

QB Drew Henson
RB Artose Pinner
WR Ron Bellamy
WR Devale Ellis
WR Brandon Middleton
WR Kenneth Moore
WR John Standeford
TE Clark Harris
OT Jonathan Scott
OG Frank Davis
OG Corey Hulsey
DE Victor DeGrate
DE Rudolph Hardie
LB Darnell Bing
LB Buster Davis
LB Leon Joe
CB Dovonte Edwards
CB Kiwaukee Thomas
S Greg Blue
S LaMarcus Hicks

I'll post a full analysis of what all of this means tomorrow.

• The Lions returned to practice on Tuesday in pads on the outdoor field.  This week's practice routine is similar to one the Lions will follow during the regular season.
• According to Rod Marinelli, wide receiver Devale Ellis will miss "one to two practices" due to a hamstring injury.  Ellis is now on the bubble when it comes to making the team after at one time seeming like a lock to not be cut.  Brandon Middleton is challenging him for the 5th spot at wide receiver, and there's a good chance the Lions may only take 4 receivers anyways, meaning Ellis could be gone by the end of the month.
  
• Even though he was removed from the PUP list over a week ago, tight end Dan Campbell still has not practiced.
• Drew Stanton has gotten much better since training camp opened.  He is improving his passing abilities and is learning to use his running abilities only when necessary.
• The Browns are limping into this Saturday's preseason game at Ford Field.  Derek Anderson suffered a mild concussion on Monday against the Giants, Josh Cribbs has a high ankle sprain, Braylon Edwards will be out as he is still not healthy enough to play after being cleated by a teammate during practice, and former Lion Shaun Rogers missed Monday's game due to soreness in various places.
• Every year this is usually the time when the Kool-Aid is flowing in Lions country.  There is always a great amount of optimism during the summer as all Lions fans are hopeful that this will finally be the year where things are turned around.  Sadly, that year hasn't come yet, but many believe 2008 will bring the Lions a turnaround that at least gets them a record of 8-8.
  
  Message boards and even this site are filled with optimism from some, but I don't think anyone is as drunk on Kool-Aid as Mike O'Hara.  He not only believes the Lions will win 9 games, but he also thinks they could win more.
  

  When the 2008 schedule was released, I wrote the Lions could win nine games. It wasn't a prediction, just a somewhat humorous way of showing how a 9-7 season was possible.
  
  From what I've seen so far, I was wrong. The Lions will win nine games, maybe more. They're super fast on defense, they will build a running game, protect the quarterback and have talent at wide receiver. I say 9-7 is the standard. Whether that earns a playoff spot remains to be seen, but this team will not fall apart, unless shredded by injuries.

  After a couple preseason games I can say that the team looks like they're improving, but a preseason game can only tell me so much.  Hell, a regular season game can only tell me so much.  Remember, after 8 games last year the Lions were 6-2 and nearly every single Lions fan was drinking the Kool-Aid.  I am included in that category as even I began uttering the "p" word (playoffs). 
  
  We all bought into the Lions and in the end were only setting ourselves up for disappointment.  This year if they start 6-2 again, I will wait until the end of the season to pick up the glass of Honolulu Blue-flavored Kool-Aid.  And at the very least, if they win 9 games, I'll be too shocked to be able to drink anything anyways.

• Before getting into last night's game, it should be noted that training camp is officially over.  The Lions are off today and will start having only one practice a day when they return to Allen Park.
• Calvin Johnson is a beast.  He towered over Leon Hall to make a catch to start the game and then got into the endzone by outrunning the Bengals' secondary later on.  I'm starting to realize why Roy Williams picked Johnson for his fantasy team.
• Through two preseason games, Jon Kitna's quarterback rating is a perfect 158.3.  He has only thrown one incompletion so far this preseason (it was against the Giants) and has 2 touchdowns to go along with 182 yards.  The best pair of stats is that he has 0 interceptions and hasn't been sacked yet, either.
• Drew Stanton definitely played better than Dan Orlovsky.  Stanton made a great TD pass and then executed a perfect naked bootleg that also resulted in a TD.  Orlovsky didn't play awful, but he certainly could have done better.  Many of his passes were thrown right into coverage, and he just couldn't catch a break when he tried to run a bootleg.  All three times (that I remember) Orlovsky ran a bootleg there was a defender immediately in his face.  He did a nice job of throwing the ball away, at least, as he didn't get a single intentional grounding penalty.
• Punter Nick Harris has always been an asset for the Lions, and last night he showed us why he is so important.  One of his punts actually rolled out of bounds at the 1-yard line, leaving the Bengals with little room to work with.  Although the punt was outstanding, the defense did let Cincinnati go 99 yards down the field to score a touchdown.  Earlier in the game, Harris had a punt downed at the 2-yard line by Mike Furrey, but Cincy got to start on their own 20 due to Furrey getting a penalty for being the first player to touch the ball after stepping out of bounds.
• Rookies Kevin Smith and Jerome Felton started last night.  Smith is already looking like the Lions' best running back, and Felton stepped in for an injured Jon Bradley, who didn't play at all against the Bengals.  I guess that means I'll have to revise my next roster prediction as it appears Felton will make the team as the second FB.
• Tatum Bell has really been disappointing so far this preseason.  He hasn't looked all that impressive, and honestly, Artose Pinner has outperformed him.  I would be surprised if Bell ended up getting cut, but then again, when others are playing better than you, your roster spot shouldn't be locked up.
• The running game as a whole still isn't coming off as something that will be a strength this season, but it was much better against the Bengals.  Rather than getting stuffed for only a short gain like they did against the Giants, the Lions did move the ball on the ground at some points in last night's game.  Kevin Smith and Artose Pinner played well, and as I said, Tatum Bell still didn't look all that good.  Brian Calhoun didn't do horrible, but he did put the ball on the ground, although Dan Orlovsky did recover the fumble.
• Rookie Gosder Cherilus played both right and left tackle against the Bengals.
• Wide receiver Ron Bellamy got a concussion during the game.
• Although it was assumed that Devale Ellis would be the Lions' 5th wide receiver if they take that many on the 53-man roster, he is getting challenged by Brandon Middleton.  Middleton had a 50-yard TD reception against Cincinnati and tried returning a kickoff.  The very fact that he was back there means that he could take Ellis' spot on the roster as he has versatility.  I don't think it will happen, but a lot could change in the next couple of weeks.
• Speaking of wide receivers, John Standeford really played well.  He is a big long shot to make the team, but he is making his case on the field.
• Chad Johnson strained his left shoulder when Brian Kelly ripped the ball out of his hands for an interception.  Johnson left the game and went into the locker room to get x-rays and an MRI (both turned out to be negative).
  

• I was going to have this post up earlier today to talk about yesterday's practice, but my Internet stopped working and I didn't get the post up in time before going to the scrimmage today.  Because of that, this post will discuss the happenings from both Friday and Saturday.
• Beginning with Friday first, the Lions had a full practice in the morning and a special teams session in the afternoon.  Both practices were done in shorts and helmets only, meaning this is the second time this week that Rod Marinelli gave his players a day without pads and hitting.
• Today was "Black and Blue Fan Day" in Allen Park.  The Lions had a practice that incorporated a scrimmage, if you can even call it that.  Although they wore full pads, there was very little hitting going on, which was a disappointment to many of the 1,561 fans that showed up (that number was provided by the Lions, so take it for what it's worth).
  
• There still have been no changes to the PUP list, meaning Daniel Bullocks, Dan Campbell, Shaun McDonald, and Edwin Mulitalo all were unable to practice yet again.  Defensive tackle Langston Moore also didn't practice today, along with Cory Redding, Teddy Lehman, and Artose Pinner.  Moore spent most of the practice working with a coach off to the side and jogging around.  Also, going back to Friday, Tatum Bell missed practice due to personal reasons.
• Buster Davis left practice after getting hit in the head, but is expected to be fine.
• Bill Ford Jr. seems to get it as he knows the Lions have to start winning now.  He also is someone that doesn't seem to care for Matt Millen, so that's a plus in my book.
• Kevin Smith revealed that he desperately wanted to wear the #24 as that was his college number, but it would have costed him too much.  Instead, he is wearing Kevin Jones' former #34.
• Jon Kitna has an understanding of why the second half of last season was so bad.
• Devale Ellis realized that to make the team he would have to improve his returning skills, so he did just that.
• Yardbarker provided some history on how each NFL franchise got its name. (HT: Highlight Reel)
• Some writer picked the Lions to win the NFC North.  Uhh, why?
• Tickets for Thursday's preseason opener against the Giants are still available.  If all the tickets aren't sold by Monday, then the Lions will have to request an extension in hopes of preventing the game from being blacked out.  It is very likely the game will be blacked out, though, meaning it would air on tape delay rather than be shown live on CBS Detroit.
• Both practices on Monday will be open to the public.  The morning session begins at 8:35 a.m. and the afternoon one at 4:30 p.m.
• There is no practice at all tomorrow, which is a first since training camp began.
• The Patriots signed former Lions offensive lineman Barry Stokes.
• I'll post some pictures and my observations from today's fan day event on Sunday.

• Both of the Lions' two practices yesterday were held outdoors and in helmets and shorts (shells).  To some people in Michigan, the fact that the morning practice was outdoors comes as a surprise as a nasty storm system went through the lower thumb area around 7:00 a.m. yesterday.  It was north of the Allen Park area (I think), though, so that's why the practice was outdoors.
• The Lions signed kicker/punter Eddie Johnson to add depth to both positions.  As I said earlier this week, any kickers and punters not named Jason Hanson or Nick Harris strictly are in training camp for depth purposes and will be gone by the end of August.
  
• To make room for Johnson, the Lions released wide receiver Eric Fowler.  Fowler, who is from the state of Michigan and played football at Grand Valley State, was just signed on Sunday.
• Rod Marinelli explained why the Lions didn't practice in pads at all on Wednesday.
  

  "I'm conscious of the 80, really it's not even 80 when you get down with PUP's, we're down to about 70, I'll let you ask Dean (Kleinschmidt) exactly the numbers-71 or 72. But we just got bumped up in the offensive line a little bit yesterday. Hey, I'd like to get back in them tomorrow, I just have to space it out a little bit more right now. I don't like getting out of them. I think if you're trying to run the football, that's something important to have. We've got to be smart, too. We've got a game in a week, too, that we've got to be able to finish with second and third groups."

• Defensive tackle Langston Moore sprained his right shoulder on Monday and is basically day-to-day. 
  
• Ernie Sims' injury isn't improving a whole lot, and he will miss the Lions first preseason game.  Also, Dominic Raiola missed his first Lions practice in eight years due to a sprained ankle.
• Speaking of Detroit's first preseason game, it is a week from today, which is hard to believe.  Then again, it's hard to believe it's nearly August already.
• Tom Kowalski wonders why Daniel Bullocks is still on the PUP list and believes Calvin Johnson is going to have a big season.
• Rookie linebacker Jordon Dizon picked off a Jon Kitna pass thanks to being in the wrong place at the right time.
• Offensive linemen Manny Ramirez and Chris Patrick missed practice due to injuries.  Ramirez could be out as long as a week or so, and Patrick may be done for the entire preseason.
• Receivers Devale Ellis and Mike Furrey collided during a punt return.