Detroit Lions promote WR Tom Kennedy from practice squad

Friday morning, Detroit Lions head coach Matt Patricia announced the corresponding move to the waiving of rookie receiver Travis Fulgham on Thursday night.

Undrafted rookie receiver Tom Kennedy has been promoted from the practice squad and is now on the 53-man roster. To fill the empty practice squad spot, the Lions have signed defensive tackle Frank Herron.

The promotion of Kennedy seems like it could mean bad news for the availability of Danny Amendola this week, who has missed the past two practices with a chest injury. However, Patricia also noted that Amendola is going to practice on Friday, opening the possibility for him to play against the Kansas City Chiefs.

Of course, Kennedy could also just be there in case Amendola gets banged up during the game or suffers a setback before Sunday. That being said, Patricia said Kennedy has done enough during practice, going up against the No. 1 defense as the scout team.

“I think he’s earned the opportunity,” Patricia said in his Friday press conference.

Kennedy has an interesting story in that he’s barely played any football at all. Mostly focused on lacrosse in college, it wasn’t until his final two years at Bryant that he got more into football. In his 2017 season, he pulled in an impressive 57 catches for 888 yards and nine scores.

This preseason, he pulled in five catches for 76 yards in four game appearances.

We’ll see if Kennedy gets his first opportunity at the NFL on Sunday, as the Lions injury report comes out later Friday afternoon.