Kevin Jones Likely Staying on PUP List

by Sean Yuille on Aug 30, 2007 6:29 PM EDT in News Comment 0 comments

It looks as though Tatum Bell will be the Lions' starting running back when the season starts.

Kevin Jones is likely going to stay on the PUP list after meeting with the doctor that performed surgery on him. Although his injury is healing, both the doctor and the Lions would rather be careful and wait.

According to a source close to the situation, the surgeon who performed the Lisfranc surgery on the left foot of running back Kevin Jones has agreed with Lions trainers that Jones should start the season on the Physically Unable to Perform list. Dr. Richard Anderson re-examined Jones this afternoon and then discussed the situation with Lions officials.

Because the Lions have a bye week in the sixth week of the season, Jones will only miss five games. Jones will be eligible to return on Oct. 21 in the home game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

The reason I used the wording of "likely staying on the PUP list" is because the Lions have until Saturday to make a decision. They haven't formally announced anything yet, but all signs point to Jones remaining on the PUP list.

This worries me in one respect because if the running game suffers horribly, Detroit can't do anything about it really until Jones returns after 6 weeks. At the same time, I'm glad Detroit is taking its time with Jones. Rushing him back on the field could hurt him in the long run, which hurts Detroit even more. As long as he returns at full health and is ready to roll after 6 weeks, it'll be fine. Now I just hope that Tatum Bell steps it up to fill the void now presented. He has to perform well, otherwise Detroit will be very 1-dimensional.

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