Detroit Lions Week 9 injury report: Theo Riddick returns to practice, Vikings still beat up

The Detroit Lions are entering a critical Week 9 with a pretty decent bill of healthy. With a big divisional game against the Minnesota Vikings on the horizon, the Lions had perfect attendance at Wednesday’s practice.

That meant the return of third-down back Theo Riddick, who has missed the past two games with a knee injury. Riddick was listed as limited by the official injury report on Wednesday, but he looked to be going through all of the drills during the portion of practice open to the media (first 15 minutes or so).

Players who were dealing with injuries toward the end of last week’s game against the Seahawks were all also participating on Wednesday. Left tackle Taylor Decker missed the final possession of the Seahawks game, and was limited in practice with a back injury. Both linebackers Jalen Reeves-Maybin and Christian Jones were limited in practice, as well.

If either can’t go, new linebacker Kelvin Sheppard may take their place. Sheppard, a seven-year veteran, signed with the team on Wednesday.

Additionally T.J. Lang re-appeared on the injury list with a hip injury. You may remember that Lang had hip surgery in the offseason prior to the Lions signing Lang in free agency back in 2016. It’s unknown whether this is the same hip.

As for the Vikings, they’re pretty beat up heading into this rivalry game. Just take a look at last week’s inactive list for Minnesota:

Wednesday’s practice was slightly more optimistic for the Vikes. Xavier Rhodes, Dalvin Cook, Riley Reiff and Andrew Sendejo were all practicing, per Chris Tomasson. Though we don’t know their level of participation yet, it certainly seems like they’re trending in the right direction. Cook, Rhodes and Sendejo didn’t practice at all last week, so there’s a good shot they return to action against the Lions.

That said, starting linebacker Anthony Barr and left guard Tom Compton remain out on Wednesday. And Stefon Diggs, who suffered an injury against the Saints, did not participate either.

Here are the full injury reports from Wednesday:

Lions injury report:

RB Theo Riddick (knee) - Limited practice
T Taylor Decker (back) - Limited practice
LB Christian Jones (knee) - Limited practice
DE Ezekiel Ansah (shoulder) - Limited practice
G T.J. Lang (hip) - Limited practice
LB Jalen Reeves-Maybin (neck/toe) - Limited practice

Vikings injury report:

LB Anthony Barr (hamstring) - No practice
G Tom Compton (knee) - No practice
WR Stefon Diggs (rib) - No practice
RB Roc Thomas (hamstring) - No practice
CB Xavier Rhodes (foot) - Limited practice
S Andrew Sendejo (groin) - Limited practice
RB Dalvin Cook (hamstring) - Limited practice
T Riley Reiff (foot) - Limited practice
NT Linval Joseph (ankle/knee) - Limited practice