Detroit Lions Week 4 injury report: Several players return to ‘practice’

The Detroit Lions and Green Bay Packers will kick off Week 4 in the NFL on “Thursday Night Football” and that means an accelerated schedule for both teams. Because of the early week game, the Lions' injury reports are released on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday (typically they come out on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday) with teams typically only holding scaled-back practices and walkthroughs.

NOTE: Monday’s report is an estimate from the team, but it comes with a lot of good news.

Let’s dig into this week’s initial injury report.

Injured reserve, Non-Football injury list

• QB Hendon Hooker (ACL): NFI — eligible to return in Week 5
• EDGE Julian Okwara (undisclosed): IR — eligible to return in Week 5
• EDGE Josh Paschal (knee): IR — eligible to return in Week 6
• EDGE James Houston (fibula): IR — eligible to return in Week 7
• CB Khalil Dorsey (illness): IR — eligible to return in Week 6
• DB C.J. Gardner-Johnson (pectoral): IR — eligible to return in Week 7

No one added to injured reserve as of Monday. That’s the first positive.

No practice on Monday

• RG Halapoulivaati Vaitai (knee)
• C Frank Ragnow (toe/resting)
• OT Matt Nelson (ankle) — New injury

Vaitai staying sidelined is not much of a surprise, as it sounded like his injury was going to be a couple weeks. However, it’s important to remember that he avoided IR, which means he could be back for Week 5 or 6.

Ragnow getting rest on a short week is not surprising nor concerning at this point as he continues to manage his toe injury.

Matt Nelson suffered an ankle injury against the Falcons and needed to be carted off. There was no update on Nelson after the game, but he was downgraded to out in the middle of the contest. That’s typically a sign of a somewhat serious injury. It would be difficult to see him play this week.

Limited practice

• RB David Montgomery (thigh) — Upgrade
• FB Jason Cabinda (knee) — New injury
• LT Taylor Decker (ankle) — Upgrade
• LG Jonah Jackson (thigh) — New injury
• CB Emmanuel Moseley (knee/hamstring) — Upgrade
• S Kerby Joseph (hip) — Upgrade

Lots of great news here: Montgomery, Decker, Moseley, and Joseph all return as “limited” on Monday after missing all three practices last week. That opens the door for all four players to potentially play this week against the Packers, but we’ll have to see how they progress through the week.

In particular, the return of Decker would be huge, as the Lions are currently dealing with injuries to reserve offensive tackles Nelson and Dan Skipper. Skipper is not listed on this injury report because he has reverted to the practice squad and is therefore not required to be listed on the report. It’s unclear what his condition is right now.

That said, there are a couple of new injuries here to monitor. Jonah Jackson played every snap on Sunday but is dealing with a thigh injury. Detroit can’t afford another injury on the offensive line, but hopefully, his “limited” status is just precautionary. Still, the Lions now have literally four of their starting five offensive linemen on the injury report.

Jason Cabinda is also a new addition, as he fights off a knee injury. Cabinda is only averaging about eight offensive snaps a game, so this isn’t a huge hit to the offense. However, the Lions don’t have a backup fullback, and Cabinda also contributes regularly on special teams.

No longer on the injury report

• Amon-Ra St. Brown (toe)
• Josh Reynolds (groin)

The Lions receiver room is back to full health as St. Brown and Reynolds have shaken off their injuries from last week and should be fully ready for Thursday.

Packers injury report

Here’s a look at the Packers' initial injury report (projected starters bolded):

• RB Aaron Jones (hamstring) Limited
• WR Christian Watson (hamstring) DNP
• LT David Bakhtiari (knee/rest) DNP
• LG Elgton Jenkins (knee) DNP
• RT Zach Tom (knee) DNP
• LB De’Vondre Campbell (ankle) DNP
• EDGE Rashan Gary (ankle) Limited
• CB Jaire Alexander (back) DNP
• CB Carrington Valentine (biceps) DNP
• S Zayne Anderson (hamstring) DNP