Detroit Lions activate WR DJ Chark from IR, waive S JuJu Hughes

The Detroit Lions announced three roster moves ahead of their Week 11 game with the New York Giants, removing wide receiver DJ Chark from injured reserve, waiving safety JuJu Hughes from the active roster, and elevating wide receiver Stanley Berryhill for this weekend’s game.

Chark injured his ankle in Week 3, and after a few weeks of unsuccessfully trying to play through it, he was placed on injured reserve. Chark said he expected his stay on injured reserve to be minimal, and sure enough, as soon as he was eligible, he was placed back on the active roster.

His return could potentially have a significant and immediate impact on the Lions offense. Chark was the Lions’ prized offseason acquisition and had developed some great chemistry during training camp. While he only had seven receptions for 98 yards through two-and-a-half games, Chark has WR1 potential and gives the offense a potentially big weapon. Additionally, the Lions have been lacking a true deep threat with Josh Reynolds unable to play the last two weeks and with Reynolds downgraded to OUT for this week’s game, Chark will be the Lions best option for stretching the field.

Even with the addition of Chark, the Lions still only had four wide receivers available for this week’s game, so elevating Berryhill makes sense from a depth perspective. This will be Berryhill’s third elevation of the season, which exhausts his eligibility for the remainder of the season.

After placing wide receiver Trinity Benson on injured reserve on Friday, the Lions did not need to make a corresponding move for Chark, which makes the waiving of Hughes a bit unusual. That being said, his release is a strong indicator that Ifeatu Melifonwu—who has been dealing with an ankle injury but was not listed with an injury designation—is healthy and ready to contribute.