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Our national nightmare is over. The Detroit Lions announced on Tuesday morning linebacker DeAndre Levy was taken off the Non-Football Injury list.
The #Lions have removed LB DeAndre Levy from Active/Non-Football Injury. pic.twitter.com/57zp9oE1uR
— Detroit Lions (@Lions) August 16, 2016
Levy had missed all of training camp with a mysterious injury. Considering all the secrecy surrounding Levy’s hip injury last year, which caused him to essentially miss the entire season, some were worried Detroit was hiding another significant injury.
However, Levy is now eligible to return to practice, having passed a physical. His return comes at a perfect time. The Lions are extremely thin at linebacker after losing Jon Bostic and Zaviar Gooden to injuries last week, while Josh Bynes sat out of practice on Monday with an unknown injury.
Levy will immediately jump back into his position at weakside linebacker, where they Lions were playing rookie Antwione Williams because of the drastic injury situation.
DeAndre Levy hopes to give the defense a much-needed boost. The last time the Lions had the full services of DeAndre Levy, in 2014, they had one of the best defenses in the league. Much of that was due to Levy’s 151 tackles and 1.5 sacks.
The Lions return to practice on Tuesday afternoon. The Lions did not announce whether Levy will practice then or be available for Thursday’s preseason game against the Cincinnati Bengals.