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The Detroit Lions made a pair of roster moves on Wednesday by taking one player off injured reserve and putting another player on it. The player coming off IR is running back Montell Owens, who was originally placed on it with the designation to return at the start of the season. The player going on season-ending IR is wide receiver Ryan Broyles, who ruptured his Achilles last Sunday.
Owens' return means the Lions now have five running backs on their 53-man roster. Reggie Bush and Joique Bell are the top backs, and Theo Riddick has seen some very limited playing time as the No. 3 back. Mikel Leshoure is also still around, but he has only even been active when someone was out because of an injury. With Owens returning and likely to play a role on offense and special teams, Leshoure's chances of seeing the field are even slimmer going forward.
Broyles is now on injured reserve for the second consecutive season. His rookie season was ended early by a torn ACL, just like his final season at Oklahoma. Broyles had surgery to repair his latest injury this week, and it went well.
Ryan is out of surgery and in recovery now..everything went great! Again, THANK YOU so much for the prayers!
— Mary Beth Broyles (@1Mary_Beth) October 29, 2013
With these two moves out of the way, the Lions' 53-man roster appears to be set going into the second half of the season.