Lions vs. Jets: Rashean Mathis, others ruled out for Thursday's game

Several projected starters will not play for the Detroit Lions on Thursday night against the New York Jets. We already knew that running back Joique Bell, offensive tackle LaAdrian Waddle, defensive end Jason Jones and defensive tackle Haloti Ngata were going to be absent given their presence on either the PUP or NFI list, but the Lions have also ruled out cornerback Rashean Mathis. Fellow cornerback Alex Carter is out as well after missing all of training camp so far.

Mathis hasn't missed any practice during training camp, so it's possible that he's merely getting the night off. It's also possible that he suffered an injury in the last day or so, but we probably won't find that out until after Thursday's game. In the meantime, Nevin Lawson is going to start in Mathis' place at cornerback.

It's worth nothing that both tight end Joseph Fauria and wide receiver Ryan Broyles are active for Thursday's game. They had missed practice recently due to injury, leaving their status for the preseason opener up in the air, but both players are expected to see the field.

It's also notable that wide receiver Calvin Johnson is set to play. His status has consistently been in question for preseason games in recent years, but Megatron is seemingly going to get at least one series on Thursday night.

UPDATE: Fauria is out after all.

Fauria standing on the sidelines in street clothes. Add him to the list of Lions inactives

— Dave Birkett (@davebirkett) August 13, 2015