Lions injury updates: Penei Sewell, Sam LaPorta return to practice

After a day off on Tuesday, the Detroit Lions returned to practice and welcomed a couple of important pieces back to training camp. Right tackle Penei Sewell cleared concussion protocol and was a full participant in Wednesday’s practice. Additionally, after leaving practice early on Monday, rookie tight end Sam LaPorta was right back in the mix for the next practice.

That said there, were some notable absences, as well. Safety Ifeatu Melifonwu and center Frank Ragnow were not seen on the field at all, and receiver Trinity Benson suffered an in-practice injury.

Let’s break it down player-by-player.

Penei Sewell

The Lions right tackle appeared to have no limitations on his play after being out since Saturday while in concussion protocol. With Sewell back at practice, Matt Nelson moved back to the second-team offense at right tackle.

Sam LaPorta

At his pre-practice press conference, coach Dan Campbell revealed that LaPorta was dealing with an ankle injury last practice, but it was not considered serious.

“He just had a little bit of an ankle. He’ll be back out there today running around, so we’ll see how he feels with it,” Campbell said.

During practice, LaPorta participated in both individual and team drills, and got plenty of work with the first-team offense. So, as long as his body responds favorably to the work, there is no cause for concern here.

Frank Ragnow

While we don’t know for sure why Ragnow was missing from Wednesday’s practice, there is a pretty likely explanation: it’s around the time when Frank and his wife, Lucy, were expecting their first child.

In Ragnow’s place was Graham Glasgow taking first-team center reps, with Halapoulivaati Vaitai as the starting right guard.

Ifeatu Melifonwu

Melifonwu’s absence could be more serious. According to Dave Birkett of the Detroit Free Press, Melifonwu is dealing with a knee injury. Reporters did not spot him out there—even in street clothes—during Wednesday’s practice, which isn’t a great sign.

Melifonwu’s young career has been plagued by injuries. In his rookie season, he spent seven weeks on Injured Reserve with a quad injury. Last year, he missed another six games with injuries to his hamstring and ankle.

The Lions got an extra look at Saivion Smith and Brady Breeze with the second-team defense with Melifonwu out.

Trinity Benson

Toward the end of practice, Benson went down with a leg injury and had to be carted off. I did not see what happened to Benson specifically on the play. While it’s not promising when a player has to be carted off, it’s worth noting that teams are particularly careful this time of year when it comes to injuries. Let’s hope we get some good news with Benson in the near future.

Emmanuel Moseley

Moseley is back in the building after reportedly having a second procedure on his knee—although it was just a “clean-up” surgery, per the Detroit Free Press. With him back in the building, he is now officially on the Physically Unable to Perform (PUP) list. At this point, it’s unclear when Moseley will return to the field to practice from his torn ACL, but he is eligible to play whenever he clears a physical. Back at the opening of camp, Campbell explained that his return to practice was going to be longer than originally expected.

“He will start on PUP when he arrives and it’s probably going to be a little bit longer than what we hoped for,” Campbell said. “And that’s really predicated on the work that was going. He was progressing so fast, so we’re going to put the brakes on a little bit. I don’t want to say setback, but it’ll be a little bit longer.”