The six players not named Ndamukong Suh that didn't practice today are in fact members of the Lions' PUP list. Just a reminder, the six players are TE Brandon Pettigrew, TE Will Heller, DE Jared DeVries, CB Jack Williams, S Ko Simpson and S Louis Delmas.
Jim Schwartz had this to say about why Delmas is on the PUP list.
He’s still recovering from the groin injury he suffered at minicamp. He’s healed, but he’s been behind in conditioning because he didn’t get a chance to condition the way that he should of before camp because he was letting his groin heal. What we’ll do with him is keep him on the side and work him into shape. The last thing we want to do is take a guy that’s healing and looking good and all of a sudden put him out too quick. I don’t want to put any kind of time table on it but he’ll be back pretty soon."
In short: Delmas just needs to work on conditioning, so it's more about getting into shape than the injury itself. That is why he is on the PUP list for now.
Schwartz also commented on why Kevin Smith isn't on the PUP list. Considering he, like a few players, is still recovering from an ACL injury, that news was a bit surprising.
"Kevin Smith was considered to go on the PUP, but he's been here an awful lot and he's done an awful lot and he's recovered well. He was able to go in and go pretty much without any limitations. All of our ACL guys will just be one-a-day when they do get back in full. All those guys, we're just being cautious with. I don't know of anything that is going to be super long term."
To me, this is great news. Many have already written Smith off, but if this is any indication, he is more than ready to put up a fight to keep his starting job at running back.
For more on what Schwartz said and for a look at Matthew Stafford's post-practice comments, click here and here. Also, a full rundown of Tom Lewand's comments on Ndamukong Suh can be found here.
The Lions have released a position-by-position breakdown of their roster. One of the interesting things I noticed is that Manny Ramirez is listed as a "G/C," meaning he will be getting work at both guard and center during camp. The other potentially interesting thing is that Dylan Gandy is not on the roster, although I think that's probably just a mistake. He's still on the regular roster page, and he hasn't been released as far as I can tell.
A few of you have asked about Ryan Stamper and Randy Phillips, who were in town for physicals and a workout earlier this week. I haven't heard anything about either of them so far, but the fact that they haven't been signed indicates they probably won't be. If the Lions were going to bring them in, chances are they would have done it before camp got underway. Since one practice is in the books, I can't say I like their chances of being added to the roster.
Tom Kowalski thinks the NFL's decision to suspend Tom Lewand for 30 days is too severe considering Bill Belichick wasn't even suspended at all for his role in Spygate. What's more, according to Kowalski, nobody in the NFL has ever before been suspended for a first-time incident involving alcohol, yet Lewand got 30 days. Kowalski thinks part of the problem is that the Lions "are easy to slap around" due to William Clay Ford not being "part of the good ol' boy network" in the league.
In a separate post made by Kowalski, he passed along a rumor that Ndamukong Suh wants even more money than what Sam Bradford got. Not only would that shatter the contract Matthew Stafford got last year, but it would set an NFL record. If that is true (and I stress that's a big if), it is beyond ridiculous.
In conjunction with the NFL Minority Internship Program, Aaron Beasley, Herb Haygood (former Michigan State receiver), Keith McKenzie (Detroit native) and Marquis Mosley are now part of the Lions' coaching staff for training camp.
