Lions cornerback Chris Houston and safety Louis Delmas both missed last Sunday's game against the Saints and will likely miss this Sunday's game as well. Both players are dealing with knee injuries suffered during the Packers game, and it turns out they both have Grade 2 MCL tears (a.k.a. the injury Matt Forte is recovering from).
The recovery time for an injury like this can vary. The players could be back in a couple weeks or it could take more than a month for them to be healthy enough to play. Right now Jim Schwartz isn't sure of the timetable for the return of Houston and Delmas or the other injured players on defense, but he does think they will be back at some point this season.
"We’re going to get (all of our injured defensive players) back, it’s just a matter of when," Schwartz said today. "We don’t have anybody there that, other than maybe Lawrence Jackson, which is a little bit more long-term, but we haven’t put any of those guys on the (injured reserve) and all those guys are expected back. And they’re all making progress. They’re all doing well, but whether or not they’ll be available this week, it’s still too early to say."
In addition to Houston, Delmas and Jackson, the Lions defense was without Nick Fairley and Justin Durant at practice today. Fairley's injured foot is back in a boot and Durant is dealing with a hamstring issue. Also, it's worth pointing out that the defense is still without Ndamukong Suh, who has another game to go in his suspension. To say the last, depth is thin on the defensive side of the ball right now.