Practice notes: Kyle Van Noy returns, Joique Bell, more

The Detroit Lions were back at practice Monday afternoon getting ready for the upcoming preseason game on Thursday and the start of the regular season next week. Here were some notes from practice:

• In a very surprising development, Kyle Van Noy already returned to practice. There was talk about placing Van Noy on the short-term injured reserve list last week, but it appears those discussions may have been a bit premature.
• Speaking of improving health, Larry Warford is no longer wearing a boot. Warford was injured in the second preseason game against the Washington Redskins, but it appears he, too, is on his way to a speedy recovery.
• In case there were any questions of who would be the Lions' starting running back, Joique Bell quickly slid back into that role in his first practice:

  Joique Bell said he took reps with the first-team offense today.

  — Dave Birkett (@davebirkett) August 31, 2015

  
  
• It didn't take long for Haloti Ngata to make an impact, either:

  Ngata will be fine. Tapp was holding a tackling dummy and Ngata fired off the ball and hit it putting Tapp right on his butt. Powerful man.

  — Tim Twentyman (@ttwentyman) August 31, 2015

  
  
• Joseph Fauria was at practice today, but he quickly darted out of the locker room when reporters came looking for a scoop. It's easy to understand his frustration given that the Lions just traded for a tight end who may push him out of a job. However, that sort of behavior is not going to win him any favors with the organization.
• There has been a lot of confusion about the linebacker depth chart after Travis Lewis started in place of Tahir Whitehead in the Lions' third preseason game. The situation wasn't any clearer up after Monday's practice. Lewis, again got reps with the first team defense. However, Whitehead is listed as the starter in the team's updated depth chart. It will be interesting to see who starts with Week 1 less than two weeks away.