Detroit Lions Weblog

Jets Release CB Justin Miller, Should the Lions Consider Signing Him?

Lord Knows, the Lions are short-handed in their secondary. Whenever an experienced player becomes available, it is not too far of a stretch of logic to consider whether the recently unemployed defensive back may retain some value for the Lions. When a player with Justin Miller’s game-breaking ability as a kickoff returner, also a position of need for the Lions becomes available, it is safe to assume that the Lions will take notice. Here is the Pro Football Talk entry on Miller:

New York Jets General Manager Mike Tannenbaum announced today that the Jets have waived cornerback/kick returner Justin Miller.

The news comes as a surprise: Jets special teams coordinator Mike Westhoff said on Friday that Miller would probably play on Sunday. Instead, he’s no longer on the team.

A second-round draft pick of the Jets in 2005, Miller was waived during the 2008 season and claimed by the Raiders. This year the Raiders let him go and the Jets brought him back, but he played in only one game.

Although he’s been inconsistent, Miller has undeniable talent as a kickoff returner. He has a career average of 26.1 yards per return, with five touchdowns.

The Lions are not likely to improve in their secondary this season, even if they are able to add a player like Miller, who be no means is a difference-making talent in the secondary. That being said, as a complete package Miller is worthy of consideration, given how depleted the Lions have become due to injuries and a lack of talent.

Pettigrew Will be 14th Lions Player Placed Upon Injured Reserve

The Lions list of players who are on their IR list is continuing to expand. In a big blow, Brandon Pettigrew will have season-ending knee surgery, just as he was showing signs of becoming a potent and crucial element of the Lions less-than-stellar offense. If Pettigrew returns to full strength, despite my wishes that the Lions had alloted his draft pick to a position of need in April, he has proven that he could become a valuable part of the Lions offense moving forward.

The Lions lose a punishing foil to the already diminished Calvin Johnson, who due to injury and the lack of a consistent complimentary receiving threat, has seen his production impacted significantly. In Pettigrew’s place, the Lions are likely to promote TE and seventh round-draft pick Dan Gronkowski, from their practice squad.

In the interim 10 days, I would expect that the Lions are going to lick their wounds and attempt to get recuperated, while continuing to troll free agency and the waiver wire in hopes of finding some additional help for their secondary. After head coach Jim Schwartz expressed his displeasure with the performance of the team’s guards, Daniel Loper, who was injured and was promoted due to injury to Stephen Peterman, and Manny Ramirez, their offensive line could also become a personnel group where they seek immediate assistance, too.

Aside from the bounty of defensive issues that they currently have, the Lions will need to address their horrid receiving corps and their offensive line during the intervening months as this season draws to a close. If Matthew Stafford going to grow and thrive as a player, the Lions have to continue to rebuild around him, while somehow simultaneously addressing their depressingly poor defensive personnel, too.

I hate to lay a little doom and gloom at your feat, but I am going to, anyhow. After a 10-day layoff, I fully expect for the Lions to suffer back-to-back brutal beatdowns from a pair of AFC North foes, Baltimore and Cincinnati, both of which will be road games. If they make it through that ordeal, they have a minute chance for victory against the Niners and Bears, if they don’t continue to be dogged by attrition.

Ugly Thanksgiving Loss To Packers Mars Lions Recent Victory Over the Browns

If there is one thing you can say about today’s game with the Packers, Matthew Stafford and Calvin Johnson each gutted it out heroically, in a game where neither was anywhere near full capability. Unfortunately, neither was much help to the Lions cause, either.

The Lions continued their string of disappointing Thanksgiving Day game performances, where they have lost by an average of 23 points (they have been outscored 213-74, in those games) in their last six games. Even with Johnson and Stafford surprisingly joining the lineup, the Lions performance exhibited that little of the momentum had carried over from their improbably lucky win against the Browns, four short days ago. Matthew Stafford’s 4 interceptions were of no assistance, either.

One thing that was abundantly clear in today’s game, if opponents are unable to pressure QB Aaron Rodgers, the Packers will make them pay dearly. In their 26-0 early season loss to the Packers, the Lions had multiple sacks, and still lost badly. In today’s game, they sacked Rodgers once, and pressured him little, and their already undermanned secondary was decimated both by Rodgers’ deep balls and an array of slants and screens.

If the Lions front seven, especially on blitzes, are unable to pressure opposing Qb’s, they will not win another game this year. The quality of their secondary is so poor that when it gets exposed by the lack of a pass rush, they have no chance whatsoever to keep the game even remotely close.

In the offense’s case, once the Lions fell behind, combined with their inability to establish a decent running game, the Lions became far too one-dimensional. The Lions were unable to run against the Packers cover-2, and were forced to throw mostly underneath passes since Stafford had nowhere near the time to operate in the pocket that his counterpart, Rodgers did. The hobbled Calvin Johnson was unable to stretch the field effectively, which forced Stafford often target Johnson’s much weaker counterparts, who instill fear in no one.

Johnson made a nice TD catch early, after a fortuitous special teams takeaway, and remained invisible, and visibly uncomfortable, for the remainder of the game.

Even worse, the Lions likely lost TE Brandon Pettigrew, who had just begun to blossom as a player, for the remainder of the season. Results from tests on his knee will be announced tomorrow.

All in all, the Lions were game competitors, and were on the edge of fighting towards making the game interesting all day. In the end, though, it was abundantly clear, a wide and bottomless gulf still exists between legitimate NFL teams and the already undermanned Lions team who, injury by injury, become even more challenged in their ability to remain competitive during each game.

Remain patient, Lions fans, remain patient. On the bright side, the Lions are now off for 10 days, before they receive back-to-back road beatdowns to the Bengals and Ravens.

12th Player Placed On IR, Why Jim Schwartz Seems to Get It

The Lions embattled secondary, which was undermanned at the season’s onset, was diminished again with the news that S Ko Simpson was placed upon injured reserve.

In particular, even with Simpson’s deficiencies, this is bad news against the Packers. The likelihood of Aaron Rodgers completing deep balls against the Lions safeties surely increases, unless the Lions are able pressure him beforehand.

All that aside for a moment, I am thankful as a Lions fan, that the Lions finally have a head coach in Jim Schwartz who is unafraid to embrace, and attempt to use as a convenient motivational tool, the annual Lions Thanksgiving Day game as the team’s rallying point. As the outcry grows for the game to be rotated throughout all of the league’s members, Schwartz is imploring his charges to recognize the true deep meaning of possessing this game is for the Lions franchise:

“We want the players to understand the significance of this game,” Schwartz said. “This isn’t just another game; this isn’t just one of 16 for us. It’s a tradition and something that we need to embrace and uphold.

“It’s important they understand the significance of the game and the urgency of it.”

as the fans continue to embrace Matthew Stafford, he seems aware of his position as the team’s resident Moses, leading the exodus from NFL failure, to hopefully, NFL respectability.

It’s still uncertain whether rookie quarterback Matthew Stafford (left shoulder) will play in the game, but he wants to become part of the game’s history.

“This game has been going on for such a long time and it’s a great chance to be on national TV and it shows the nation what we’re all about,” he said. “It’s just something you want to keep around — you want to play on Thanksgiving Day. It’s a great opportunity, it’s great fun and it’s awesome to be able to say that you’re a part of two teams that get to do it every year.”

“I’ve watched the Lions on every Thanksgiving since I can remember and watching Barry Sanders hold that turkey leg (as the game’s MVP),” said rookie linebacker Zack Follett, a seventh-round pick. “Not to lie, I’ve kind of had my fantasies during meetings of what I’ve got to do to get that turkey leg. I’m excited.

“There’s such history. It’s been around since 1934 and a lot of history comes with it. The coaches haven’t had to coach effort this week.”

At any rate, no excuses, even if the Lions are a weak, undermanned team, I am really glad that the Lions have a head coach who is unafraid to place some significance on today’s annual game.

Week 12 Preview: Packers Vs. Lions–Can Lions Avoid Being Turkeys again?

Over the last five Thanksgiving games, the Lions have lost by an average of 23 points, which actually makes their putrescent performances, in what should be the Lions organization’s proudest day annually, seem diminished since their performance has been actually WORSE than the 23 point differential would even begin to indicate in those games. Cruel, Bitter, Horrible stuff, really.

At any rate, the Lions will face their most logical Thanksgiving day foe the Green Bay Packers, who short of a miraculously sound performance from a battered Aaron Rodgers, could be nearly as bad as the Lions, given their poor offensive line play and the recent loss of two defensive stalwarts, in a criminally out-of-position LB Aaron Kampman and the misappropriated Al Harris, one of the league’s best bump-and-run coverage guys, who was being asked to play more zone coverage this season.

Offensively, the Lions face the misfortune of likely not having either of their two major stars and organizational calling cards, Calvin Johnson and Matthew Stafford, available to play. If the Lions are faced with the two-headed dog of Drew Stanton and Daunte Culpepper leading them on Thanksgiving, with or without Calvin Johnson, the Lions chances for victory are diminished by at least 50%.

With the lack of depth the Packers currently have in their secondary, and their inability to establish a consistent pass rush, despite the overall poor quality of the Lions receiving corps without Johnson, the Lions might want to spread the field with multiple receivers and split out players like Brandon Pettigrew, Kevin Smith or Aaron Brown, forcing the Packers to play more nickel, and giving the Lions a chance to play a more balll controlled, measured offense with Culpepper, asking him to just not turn the ball over. If the Lions are successful with that plan, they might be able to protect their defense and keep the Packers offense off of the field.

The Lions absolutely need to eat up clock and keep the Packers offense off of the field, if they are even going to keep the game close. If the Lions offense sputters, this game will be an ugly, embarassing blowout, where Aaron Rodgers throws for 350+ and 4 TD’s, with a number of plays where Greg Jennings, Donald Driver and Jermichael Finley streak down the field with the nearest Lions defensive back staring at their backside, trailing 10 yards behind them as the Packers receiver eats a turkey leg, and does a little early Christmas shopping, before crossing the goal line.

Coming off of Sunday’s exciting victory over an admittedly awful Browns team, it is too bad the Lions will be looking at another destitute, demoralizing blow out loss, in what amounts to their biggest game of the year. I can’t conjure a scenario that the Lions will make this even remotely interesting, with how undermanned the Lions are in the secondary. The only chance that I can see is keeping the Packers offense off of the field. Packers 24 Lions 10

DE/LB Matt Roth Mysteriously Released By the Dolphins, Could He Help the Lions?

The Dolphins ended an ugly dispute with DE/LB Matt Roth, who was set to become a free agent after the season, over his status with the team. Roth, who was coming off of a groin injury, was relegated to the bench and a reduced role with the off-season addition of Jason Taylor. Roth will most likely draw serious interest from 3-4 defense teams (I think the Packers after their loss of Aaron Kampman make a lot of sense), but could he be valuable in a similar role to Julian Peterson, as a player who can play both standing up and with his hand on the ground, and give the Lions a strong side run-stuffing defensive end, who is still well thought of in league circles, aside from the questions surrounding the relations between Roth and the team?

Here are some of the details:

But this Matt Roth issue, illness, injury, illogical game of chicken, has smelled funny from the start.

And it certainly didn’t pass the whiff test when Roth’s agent, Drew Rosenhaus, openly admitted during his WSVN Sports Extra segment Sunday night that Roth would indeed make more money IF the Dolphins eventually waived him.

Roth won’t say he’s hurt because the team fines players big bucks for talking about injuries. But the Dolphins have begrudgingly admitted it’s a groin problem is part of the issue.

What’s the real issue? Some believe Roth doesn’t seem pressed to practice or play, even with Pro Bowler Jason Taylor locking down the starting spot he was initially penciled in for.

From Roth’s perspective, why play when you’re not comfortable with your health? This regime has proven they don’t have any patience for injured players (David Martin’s a good example of that), so could this be the ultimate game of chicken.

Why bust your troublesome groin in the last year of your contract for a team that hasn’t taken care of you?

Roth’s being paid peanuts ($550,000) by NFL standards in the final year of a bad five-year rookie deal he signed. He and his representatives got slapped in the face when they asked for a contract extension and were told this will be a play-for-pay season.

But how much play will Roth be doing splitting time with Taylor, coming off the field on passing downs? And wouldn’t take take away from his sack numbers, which is what people at his position get paid for? ?

and later:

With that said, do you look at Roth, who has the reputation as the locker room’s toughest guy, a little bit differently if this is a super secret holdout?

If Roth engineered his way out of Miami, is he a malcontent who will infest the team and teammates he plays with, after having a sterling, hard-assed, team’s hardest worker reputation, or is he someone who will thrive, given the right opportunity? Given the Lions defensive deficiencies, the lingering health concerns for Ernie Sims, and the undetermined futures of Julian Peterson and Larry Foote, would a six week look at Roth, with the potential for a longer term deal hurt the Lions chances at this point?

The primary impediments that I see are 1)Roth will want to play for a contender 2)Roth envisions himself purely as a 3-4 linebacker or 3) Roth’s injury is truly dehabilitating and his carer may never rebound.

Stafford and Johnson Miss Practice, Jerome Bettis on Stafford

The Lions didn’t have either QB Matthew Stafford or WR Calvin Johnson available for today’s practice due to injuries sustained in Sunday’s win against the Cleveland Browns. After being named NFC offensive player of the week, Stafford will not likely be able to play in Sunday’s game. The Lions are remaining mum on Stafford’s availability in case he is miraculously available(wink-wink), here is some gamemanship from Jim Schwartz:

“We’ll have to wait and see. If it’s the way it was today, a lot of guys wouldn’t have been able to play, but you don’t want to rule anyone out this time of the week,” Schwartz said. “He’s still sore, but he’s getting better. It’s something we anticipated getting better.

“Whether it’s something that will be better on Thursday — it’s still too early to tell. If he was the way he is today, he’d be unlikely to play. But things can change, so we don’t want to rule anything out.”

After Sunday’s inspiring performance and the tangible signs that the chemistry between Johnson and Stafford was returning in full bloom, after injuries and issues with the performance of Stafford had previously effected their symbiosis, it would be a real shame if neither was available for the team’s annual premier game of their season. Schwartz did indicate that the risk of further injury would not factor into the Lions decision-making process on Stafford:

One of the details Schwartz did provide was that Stafford would not be held out of the game because there would be a risk of causing greater damage to his shoulder.

“I think there’s no issue there,” Schwartz said. “It’s his non-throwing shoulder, and it’s not an issue where it’s going to be something that he could damage any further. It’s painful, and there’s limited range of motion, but no, that’s not a concern.

“He’s not one to shy away from a challenge. If he’s able, he’ll be able to get out there and play. But there’s definitely a line there between being willing and being able.”

It is abundantly clear, after two straight weeks of brutal beatdowns from opposing defenders, and Stafford unflinchingly and valiantly bouncing back for more, that the will is indeed there in “spades” for Stafford. After re-watching video of C.J. Mosley slamming Stafford sickly to the Ford Field turf, no ridiculous comparison of Joey Harrington’s and Matthew Stafford’s careers will ever be made again. Stafford is one tough S.O.B, that’s for certain.

Jerome Bettis seems to agree. He has joined the chorus of experts who point out the rare jewel the Lions got when they drafted Stafford in April:

“Here’s Reason Number One to believe Detroit will come around: Matthew Stafford. What guts from that kid (Sunday), picking himself up off the ground to come back for one last winning play at the end of regulation against Cleveland. I was in the league when Peyton Manning was struggling as a rookie, and I feel like I’m watching the same thing again. Sure, this kid throws a lot of picks. He makes some stupid mistakes. But you see some upside, and when you do, your jaw drops and you say, ‘Wow.’

It remains up to Stafford whether he will ever reach the heights many see him capable of. All I know is, after watching a pre-season game earlier this year, each time Stafford zipped a pass to a receiver on a 20-yard out pattern, the magnificence of each throw nearly took my breath away. If Stafford ever actually harnesses his inestimable ability and the Lions conjoin him with some real, live NFL talent, the sky is clearly the limit. The Peyton Manning comparisons, as exciting as they are, make me a little nervous, too. More Bettis:

It’s funny thinking about how bad Peyton could be back then. I remember in his second game he threw three interceptions. Ty Law had two of them, and returned one for a touchdown. And I remember telling Ty, ‘Man, this kid’s going to single-handedly send you to the Pro Bowl.’ That’s how bad Peyton could look at times. But he took his beating like a man. He took his lumps. And he learned from it and responded amazingly. Even during those struggles, I can remember thinking: If he can really pick himself up off the mat like that, and if he can cut out some of those interceptions, this kid could be something special one day. I watch Stafford play today, and I feel some of the same emotions.”

We can’t forget that Bettis also played with a nascent 2-time Super Bowl winner in Ben Roethlisberger, who is also a rare gem of a NFL talent.

Stafford and Johnson each possess as high of a ceiling of potential as any player that you can compare them to in recent Lions history. After Sunday’s performance against an admittedly weak Browns team, it is sad to see each of their development as future stalwart players hindered in the least by relatively minor injury. As far as I know, this is one of the few Thanksgivings where a national audience would actually relish seeing the Lions play, especially if they were able to build upon or replicate Sunday’s offensive performance against the Browns.

Leave it to The Lions, Bad Luck Will Make Thursday’s Game Nearly Unwatchable

Sunday’s win, against a horrible Browns team, was the highest moment in a long time (likely their comeback against the Bears during their 6-2 start three years ago stands as it’s highest in a very long while) for the Lions embattled franchise. The fact that the game was won so excitingly and improbably gives Thursday’s Thanksgiving game against the Packers some much-needed subtext, which would have drawn more interest from a pre-coma national audience.

The moment that made Sunday’s win so great, Matthew Stafford getting planted into the Ford Field turf, coming off of the field and returning for a brief encore and game-winning toss, is also the moment which likely damns the Lions this week. A national audience that is enthralled with good, young Qb’s, would love to watch Stafford play, after last Sunday’s exciting finish but, to the Lions chagrin, Stafford will likely be standing on the sideline wearing a baseball cap. The Lions would like nothing more than to have Stafford available in what amounts to being their Super Bowl each and every season, while the franchise struggles mightily.

The Lions have been playing particularly bad in their Thanksgiving games of late. The game should be, or once was, an annual organizational highlight, but has become an embarassment (and representation of the team’s incredible organizational failings) during recent seasons. If the Lions want to continue to keep a grip on a game that is one of the most watched during the NFL season, it would be to their benefit to play a good, close game with Packers Thursday.

The Packers absolutely drilled the Lions at Lambeau a few weeks ago, when the Lions were last Stafford-less. Add to that fact the unfortunate likelihood that Calvin Johnson could also be unavailable, and the Lions/Packers game could get ugly real early Thursday afternoon. A large factor in that loss was the team’s complete intractability on offense, while Daunte Culpepper and Drew Stanton each sputtered in Stafford’s absence.

The Ford’s have to wonder, what’s next. The Lions can only hope that Sunday’s win was a pivotal starting point, and a good performance from Stafford on Thursday could have held fortuitous portent. Now, the much needed development of Stafford will again be forestalled, for at least another game or two, depending how quickly Stafford can recover from having a 350 pound man hitting him at full momentum speed, a defensive lineman’s most lurid and prosaic fantasy, while lifting him off of the ground and spiking him into the less than soft Ford Field turf with completely malignant intent? No big deal, right?

The Packers are ailing, too. Defensively, they will be without two of their stalwarts, LB Aaron Kampman and CB Al Harris, and could have been vulnerable to a Lions team still riding the crest of Stafford’s wave from Sunday. At this point, each team is probably just hoping to not lose any more crucial members of their teams as they limp to the season’s finish.

Hopefully, this game will be more exciting and closer than the recent disembowelments the Lions received at the hands of both the Titans and Colts, as well as the embarassing loss to the Dolphins and a revenge-minded Joseph Harrington. Boy, the Lions sure have SUCKED on Thanksgiving of late, that’s for sure.

The Lions Change Places, Become a Viable Team, For One Game

Sunday’s Lions/Browns game was inarguably a match-up of the NFL’s two worst teams. That being said, for the Lions, after an absolutely bizarre and improbable ending to Sunday’s game, it was a brief opportunity for them to enjoy the kind of excitement and satisfaction that viable NFL franchises often regularly experience and savor.

Hopefully, the Lions are able to build upon the gutsy, some may stupid and reckless, end of game performance by Matthew Stafford. There is no need to recount the blow by blow of the incredible ending to Sunday’s game, anyone who is reading this has likely either seen the highlights or read a review of Stafford’s-shoulda-been-caped “Godfather of Soul“-hearkening finale.

James Brown’s Cape routine
A trademark feature of Brown’s stage shows, usually during the song “Please, Please, Please”, involved Brown dropping to his knees while clutching the microphone stand in his hands, prompting the show’s MC to come out, drape a cape over Brown’s shoulders and escort him off the stage after he had worked himself to exhaustion during his performance. As Brown was escorted off the stage by the MC, Brown’s vocal group, The Famous Flames, continued singing the background vocals “Please, please don’t go-oh-oh”. Brown then shook off the cape and staggered back to the microphone to perform an encore. This act was often repeated several times in succession and can be seen in the closing credits of the 1998 film, Blues Brothers 2000. The Alan Parker film The Commitments features the would-be Dublin soul musicians watching the act on video for inspiration.

Brown’s cape routine was inspired by a similar routine used by the professional wrestler Gorgeous George.

I have witnessed similarly courageous performances from Lions Qb’s in the past. Jon Kitna absolutely laid it all on the line three years ago, during the Lions 6-2 start, at a time that seems like 20 years ago now, in a home game against the Vikings. Kitna was, in my opinion at the time, the toughest and most driven Lions player that I had seen. After the last two weeks, I believe he has company, and will likely be surpassed in the near future.

The Bobby Layne comparisons have been there since the day that Stafford was drafted, and it is only appropriate that on a day that the team honored it’s inaugural 12 members of the “Pride of the Lions”, that Stafford give the Lions a Layne-esque performance in the game’s final two minutes, which mirrored Sports Illustrated’s Peter King’s thoughts, too:

Bobby Layne would be proud.

Those are the exact words I said to Stafford as Detroit medics finished putting a harness on his left shoulder and a sling on his arm in the postgame locker room. Layne’s the blood-and-guts Lions quarterback who preceded Stafford by 50 years at Highland Park (Texas) High, and then by half a century as the Lions quarterback. Before Stafford and I started talking, I could hear the labored breathing and slight grunts — I assume from Stafford — as the harness went on his shoulder. X-rays were negative, but you could read his lips after he threw the winning touchdown and went to the sideline in intense pain. “It’s out! It’s out!” he said, meaning his shoulder popped out of the socket.

Now I understand the wounded Lions fans. I hear from so many of you. The hopelessness, the anti-Matt Millenism, the surrender, the longing simply to be relevant again. And Goodell’s right. This might have been something big right here. Not saying the Lions are on the road to contention. But they’re mad as hell, and they’re not going to take the losing anymore, and they know after Sunday they have the kind of braveheart quarterback a battling city like Detroit has been awaiting. And so that’s why I choose this morning to write about the second win of the Detroit Lions at the top of the column, rather than the 10th victory for the Saints and the Colts. The moment was just so abnormal, so fascinating.

The Lions still have a long, long ways to go. The Browns are really bad, and a chain of incredibly improbable events were all as culpable for the Lions victory as the hapless Browns were. It’s scary, actually, to consider that the Lions needed all of the things to play out: bomb/interception where Stafford got drilled by C.J. Mosley, pass interference flagged on Hank Poteat, Daunte Culpepper entering the game, a mindless Eric Mangini timeout, a one-armed Matthew Stafford, with all $70 M of his talent, pulling himself off of the Ford Field turf, defying coaches and team doctors and re-entering the game to complete the game-winning throw with no time on the clock. Wow! It is not time to feel overly confident for the Lions chances for victory in any remaining game from here on out.

At any rate, for one brief three day interlude before the Lions play their nationally-televised Thanksgiving Day game, likely without Stafford, the Lions and their fans can feel proud that something, at least on the surface, at this early juncture, seems to be going right for this pathetic and moribund franchise. Hopefully, what we remember in the future is the spirited Matthew Stafford completing the pass to stalwart tight end, Brandon Pettigrew, which capped Sunday’s game off, as an organizational starting point, and sign of things to come, and not a harbinger of what could have been.

Peterman is the 12th Lions Player on Injured Reserve

Good thing the Lions signed Melvin Fowler earlier in the week, eh? At any rate, with the loss of Peterman, an already beleaguered Lions offensive line becomes even weaker. Peterman has been one of the few dependable Lions offensive linemen, during recent seasons.

Daniel Loper likely becomes the starter, after he and Manny Ramirez have each failed to attain a grasp of the left guard position. In regards to Loper, many Lions fans, including myself, were excited about his signing. His versatility is a plus, but the fact that he has not performed well in those various positions makes me think of players like Rick DeMulling, David Loverne, Damien Woody and Brendan Stai and co., all players who became much worse as members of the Lions offensive line.

If Loper falters, the Lions do have Jon Jansen, Dylan Gandy or the recently signed Melvin Fowler to plug in. The issue now becomes, with Gosder Cherilus currently playing injured, what becomes of a porous Lions offensive line if any other member of it gets injured?

Oddly enough, to replace Peterman on the 53-man roster, the Lions added WR Eric Fowler.