Lions sign OL Lemuel Jeanpierre, waive WR Alex Chisum

After a week filled with injury news, the Detroit Lions made a small transaction on the eve of their second preseason game:

Lemuel Jeanpierre is an interesting pickup for the team. The Lions suffered some injuries along the offensive line this week. Most notably, Michael Ola limped off the field on Monday and did not practice Tuesday. Geoff Schwartz also sat out of practice on Monday, but returned to action on Tuesday.

Jeanpierre plays mostly along the interior of the line. He comes to Detroit after five years with the Seattle Seahawks. There, he spent time both at center and the guard positions. He has limited starting experience, having started just 11 games in his career, but he comes from an impressive offensive line in Seattle. He last saw starting action in 2014, starting the last six games of the regular season at center while Max Unger was injured. That year, the Seahawks had the No. 1 rushing offense.

It’s hard to see a place for Jeanpierre on the roster, however. The Lions are in the midst of a heated camp battle at center between Travis Swanson and rookie Graham Glasgow. If Jeanpierre is treated more like a guard, he may have a better chance. Although, the Lions did just draft Joe Dahl and already have veteran Geoff Schwartz on the roster.

To make room for Jeanpierre, the Lions waived receiver Alex Chisum, who joined the team just over a week ago. Chisum only played in 16 snaps during the Lions’ preseason opener and never had much of a chance to climb the crowded depth chart at receiver.