Lions place three players on IR, sign Joique Bell

The Detroit Lions have the day off, but the front office is working diligently. The Lions announced five formal moves on Tuesday, shuffling around major parts of their roster.

As expected, the Lions officially announced that Quandre Diggs has been placed on injured reserve, ending his 2016 season. As the earlier report said, Diggs suffered a pectoral injury during the Saints game. The Lions also confirmed the signing of Asa Jackson from the Ravens practice squad, as earlier reported on Tuesday.

In addition to Diggs, the Lions also placed Armonty Bryant on IR. Bryant had just returned from a three-game suspension to provide some much needed pass rush and played fairly well in his return. The Lions list his injury as a knee problem, although there was no apparent injury during the game itself.

Finally, the Lions decided to end Brandon Pettigrew’s season. Pettigrew returned to practice a few weeks ago after starting the year on the PUP list. Detroit had 21 days to decide whether to activate Pettigrew to the active roster or end his season. They chose the later. Technically, Pettigrew is on the reserve/non-football injury list, but it basically serves the same purpose as the IR list.

Detroit also decided to bring back running back Joique Bell. I suggested this may happen on Monday, after Dwayne Washington suffered what appeared to be a somewhat serious injury against the Saints. Bell rejoins the Lions after an offseason of back-and-forth negotiating talks fell through. Bell played a little with the Bears earlier this year, but was released by the team in October. Now he’ll get a chance to face off against Chicago this week.