Detroit Lions injury updates: Tracy Walker, Graham Glasgow miss practice; Darius Slay returns

The Detroit Lions returned to practice on a rainy Wednesday afternoon to prepare for the Oakland Raiders, and they were without one of their biggest key players on defense. Safety Tracy Walker, who suffered a knee injury in the third quarter against the Giants, was absent from the first practice of the game.

Lions head coach Matt Patricia continues to label Walker as “day-by-day,” but Detroit may be planning on playing without Walker this week. According to NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport, the Lions are hosting defensive back DeShawn Shead for a visit. Last year, Shead spent some time with Detroit, often serving as a big, long defender to handle opposing tight ends. With Darren Waller coming to town—and Walker possibly out this week—Shead would make sense as an addition.

Also missing from practice was starting right guard Graham Glasgow. Glasgow missed most of the fourth quarter on Sunday, but head coach Matt Patricia seemed to indicate his injury situation wasn’t a big deal.

“It might have been something minor, but nothing really to report from that standpoint,” Patricia said.

But on Wednesday, Patricia noted that he wasn’t feeling well enough for the Lions to be confident in him practicing in pads, though it still does not sound too serious.

“Graham Glasgow is actually a little sore today, so he’s not going to practice,” Patricia indicated prior to Wednesday’s practice. “We’re in pads, so we’re just going to keep him out of that.”

Da’Shawn Hand also did not practice, but this was not injury related. Per Patricia, he had an excused absence for “personal reasons.”

In better news, Darius Slay returned to practice after missing Sunday’s game against the Giants with a hamstring injury. Slay missed all three practices last week, so he’s already trending in a good direction for his availability this week. Although, it’s worth noting that Detroit signed Cowboys fifth-round pick Michael Jackson earlier on Wednesday.

The Lions’ first injury report of Week 9 will be released around 4 p.m. ET on Wednesday.