Detroit Lions Week 8 injury report: AJ Parker doing ‘better than we thought,’ Taylor Decker’s status unchanged

The Detroit Lions were back in Allen Park on Wednesday preparing to host the Philadelphia Eagles in Week 8. However, after a trip to the West Coast last weekend, coach Dan Campbell elected to start the week with a walkthrough. While the team put out an official practice report, they did not actually run a normal practice so today’s indicated participation levels are based only on estimates of what each player would have been expected to do.

Before we get to those estimates, let's take a quick look at the Lions’ designated to return from injured reserve players.

Returned to practice, Still on IR

• LT Taylor Decker (finger) — Day 15 of the 21-day evaluation period
• DL Kevin Strong (thigh) — Day 15 of the 21-day evaluation period
• DL Da’Shawn Hand (groin) — Day 8 of the 21-day evaluation period

“Nothing’s changed (with Decker’s situation),” Campbell said. “We will see where it goes. We’re treating it day-to-day. I don’t have a feeling one way or another (if he will return or not), to be honest with you.”

Campbell didn’t give an update on any other players on injured reserve, but he did note that he and general manager Brad Holmes have some decisions coming up that “aren’t going to be easy”, because Hand, Decker, and quarterback Tim Boyle are potentially coming back soon.

Now, Let’s take a closer look at the official injury report for Wednesday.

Estimated to have not practiced on Wednesday

• None

No player was expected to have completely missed a normal practice. This is an encouraging sign for the team's overall health.

Estimated to have been limited at practice

• TE T.J. Hockenson (knee/ankle)
• RB D’Andre Swift (groin)
• EDGE Trey Flowers (knee)
• CB AJ Parker (neck)

Hockenson has been dealing with a knee injury most of the season, but now he appears to have added an ankle injury to his list of ailments. He did not leave the game with this injury, so it’s possible something popped between the game and Wednesday.

Swift is still nursing a groin injury and the team is being careful with him to ensure his availability on game days. Campbell said this approach was working, and the running back was making small improvements each week, but that Swift was still bothered by his groin after each game.

Flowers has been dealing with a knee injury all season, and while most weeks it hasn’t impacted him too much, he aggravated it against the Rams and was forced to leave the field for a brief period of time. He was able to return to play during the game, but a limited day was anticipated today.

Parker injured his neck (it was originally reported as a shoulder) in Sunday’s game. When Campbell updated his status on Monday, he said Parker could “be down a little while”, which is typically a bad sign. At Wednesday’s press conference Campbell further updated his status, saying Parker was doing better than originally projected and called him “day-to-day.” Campbell is not ruling out Parker playing on Sunday.

Estimated to have had a full practice

• FB Jason Cabinda (hip)

Cabinda was inactive last Sunday, but it was unclear if it was due to his hip injury or part of the game plan since his role was reduced in recent weeks. An anticipated full practice today is an encouraging sign that he will be able to return to the field this weekend.

No longer on the injury report

• EDGE Charles Harris (hip/oblique)
• DT Michael Brockers (shoulder)
• DT Nick Williams (knee)
• S Will Harris (hip)

It’s nice to see these four players off the injury report this week after being limited most of last week.