With safety Louis Delmas banged up and unlikely to play against the New Orleans Saints on Sunday, the Detroit Lions decided today to sign safety Ricardo Silva from the practice squad. To make room for Silva on the roster, the Lions placed punter Ryan Donahue on injured reserve.
Silva joined the Lions this past summer as an undrafted free agent. During training camp and the preseason, he played quite well and made a case for being on the 53-man roster. The Lions ultimately went in a different direction, but Silva was signed to the practice squad and will now get his chance to play starting this week.
Donahue, who was also originally brought in as an undrafted free agent, was the Lions' starting punter before suffering an injury the week of the most recent game against the Chicago Bears. With Jason Hanson's status in question because of an injury, the Lions tried out Donahue at kicker. As it turned out, Hanson was able to play, but Donahue injured his quad while kicking and has been out ever since. With him now being placed on IR, it appears the Lions will go with Ben Graham at punter the rest of the season.
To fill Silva's spot on the practice squad, the Lions signed cornerback Brandon Stephens, who was a member of the team in the summer. He, like Silva and Donahue, was originally signed as an undrafted free agent.