Nate Burleson injury: Lions WR out this week?

Despite practicing all last week and being cleared to run routes on Wednesday, it doesn't look like Detroit Lions wide receiver Nate Burleson is going to play on Sunday against the Pittsburgh Steelers. He is definitely on track to return soon, but Adam Schefter reports that the Lions are planning to give him at least another week to recover.

Lions do not plan to play WR Nate Burleson on Sunday vs. PITT despite fact that he is practicing and feels recovered from broken arm.

— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) November 14, 2013

With the Lions playing quite well as of late, there's no need to rush Burleson back or anything like that. There's no sense in bringing him back too quickly if there's a risk of a re-injury, so the Lions are taking things slow.

With this in mind, when might Burleson be back? If he returns to game action next week, it will be for the Lions' matchup with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Then again, the Lions have another game just four days after the Bucs come to town (on Thanksgiving against the Green Bay Packers), so perhaps the Lions will decide to wait until then for Burleson's official return.

UPDATE: Per Jim Schwartz, no decision on Burleson's status for this week has been made at this time.

More from Pride Of Detroit:

• Steelers player to watch against Lions: Antonio Brown
• Lions notes: Nate Burleson, Ben Roethlisberger, more
• Thursday Lions open thread
• Lions quotes: Jim Schwartz's comments from Wednesday
• Lions injury report: Nate Burleson closer to returning to game action