Detroit Lions injury updates: What we know about Tracy Walker, Darius Slay

While the trade deadline looms at 4 p.m. ET, the Detroit Lions front office must pull double duty on Tuesday. They must do everything they can to improve the team both this year and for the future, while also getting the players and coaches prepared for Sunday’s road trip to Oakland.

After Week 8’s win against the New York Giants, the Lions are a little more beat up than they’d like. Already down Darius Slay to a hamstring injury, Detroit saw safety Tracy Walker suffer a knee injury, leaving Detroit short and inexperienced in the secondary—especially in the wake of last week’s Quandre Diggs trade.

So where do things stand as of Tuesday? Head coach Matt Patricia gave us a little insight during his Monday teleconference.

Tracy Walker

Walker suffered a knee injury during the third quarter against the Giants, and it did not look particularly good. He needed help to be escorted off the field and he went straight to the locker room. He did not return.

However, Patricia seemed a little optimistic about Walker’s status going forward.

“We met with the doctors this afternoon. So as far as Tracy is concerned from that standpoint, we’ll take another look at him tomorrow, but right now he’s day-by-day,” Patricia said. “We’ll just see how he progresses through the week and go from there. It’s truly just day-by-day and we’ll see what he looks as we go forward.”

Though “day-by-day” and “week-by-week” tend to be purposely vague talking points for Patricia, this does seem to rule out any long-term injuries or potential in-season surgery for Walker.

Additionally, the fact that Walker led the breakdown in the locker room after the game could certainly be seen as positive:

Darius Slay

Patricia wouldn’t budge on any Darius Slay trade rumors, but he did provide a small update on his medical situation.

“Saw Slay this morning. He went and got some treatment and was ready to go,” Patricia said. “He actually gave me a really good scouting report on Oakland. So we’re just kind of pushing forward as normal.”

Slay has missed two non-consecutive games this year with a hamstring injury that seems to be nagging him. Last week, he didn’t participate in a single practice, and while Patricia said Slay is “ready to go,” it’s unclear if he means to practice or to simply show up and go through his treatment and rehabilitation. At this point, we’ll just have to wait and see if he practices on Wednesday—if he’s even still on the team.

Graham Glasgow

As pointed out by Chris Burke of The Athletic, Glasgow missed almost all of the fourth quarter against the Giants and wasn’t spotted on the sideline for a portion of the final period, as well.

Patricia indicated this was not a serious situation.

“It might have been something minor, but nothing really to report from that standpoint,” Patricia said. “Those guys felt that, during the game, that was a situation they had and they just wanted to stay with the rotation.”

Glasgow, who had only missed a single snap from 2017 to 2018, played in just 65.1 percent of snaps against the Giants—his lowest participation rate since his rookie season. He continues to share snaps with veteran Kenny Wiggins this year.

Glasgow is on the final year of his rookie contract, but the Lions haven’t indicated that they’re negotiating with him for a new deal, despite the fact that he’s been one of the more reliable players on Detroit’s offensive front.