As expected, the Lions placed Gosder Cherilus on injured reserve Wednesday, ending his season. Cherilus has been dealing with a knee injury since Thanksgiving, and Dave Birkett reports that he had a form of microfracture surgery done by Dr. James Andrews (a.k.a. the most dreaded name in the Lions locker room). According to Birkett, Cherilus could be out six months because of this surgery, meaning he could miss most of the OTAs and not even be ready until late June or early July.
Taking Cherilus' spot on the roster is cornerback Eric King, who was claimed off waivers by the Lions on Thursday. King played for Detroit last season and was let go during the final round of cuts this year. Because the Lions are hurting for depth so much at cornerback, it's no surprise that Detroit added a guy who can come in and be ready to get playing time as soon as Sunday. (As Chris McCosky points out, three of Detroit's five corners were added to the roster this month, so having a guy that has played in the system was probably a big part of deciding to pick up King, who was let go by Cleveland.)
In other news, Cliff Avril and Chris Houston practiced on Thursday after being out yesterday. Landon Johnson was still out, but not because of his neck. He is dealing with an illness, which is why Houston missed practice on Wednesday. Vinny Ciurciu was also out for Detroit.