Detroit Lions mailbag: How important is getting DJ Chark, Josh Reynolds back?

For the past couple of weeks, the Detroit Lions have had to get by with the receiving corps of Amon-Ra St. Brown, Kalif Raymond, Tom Kennedy, along with a mixture of Trinity Benson and Stanley Berryhill sprinkled in. The Lions have managed to win both games, but their offense has been on a pretty significant downward spiral as the injuries continue to mount at receiver.

This week, the reinforcements could be coming. DJ Chark is eligible to come off IR this week, and back in October he told the Detroit Free Press he expects it to be a “minimum IR stay,” suggesting he could play as early as this week against the New York Giants. A little less is known about Josh Reynolds, who has missed the past five practices after tweaking his back two weeks ago. But since he has not gone on IR, it feels safe to assume he could return this week.

But how big of a difference will that make? In three games, Chark has only seven catches for 98 yards with Detroit. Reynolds has been a more consistent performer, but even he only had three catches for 22 yards in his last two games.

We discuss the impact of their return—and the struggles of the offense without them—on this week’s midweek mailbag. Myself and Erik Schlitt also tackle other topics like:

• Will the Rams’ horrible season stop fans from begging the Lions to tank?
• What improvements from the Lions in the past two weeks are sustainable?
• How do the Lions match up with the Giants?
• Are we upset about Aubrey Pleasant signing with the Packers?
• Erik gives a detailed scouting report of the 2023 NFL Draft quarterback class
• Playoffs?!? We’re talking playoffs.

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