Lions safety Brian Branch had successful surgery to repair his torn Achilles tendon.
Detroit head coach Dan Campbell said today that the report he got after Branch’s surgery was promising, and that Branch should have a typical recovery time for an Achilles injury.
“He’s had it repaired and it sounds like everything went well. They’re always going to give you the whatever — eight to 12 months or whatever that is, from the time of the surgery. But the surgery went well. Everything went well,” Campbell said.
The 2026 regular season starts in about 10 months, so playing in Week One should be a realistic hope for Branch and the Lions.
The Lions got a big bounce-back performance to beat the Cowboys last Thursday night and one of their defensive players has been rewarded for the part he played in it.
Defensive end Al-Quadin Muhammad has been named NFC defensive player of the week.
Muhammad had 3.0 sacks in the 44-30 victory, which was the most among any individual player in Week 14.
The veteran Muhammad now has a career-high 9.0 sacks this season, also having registered seven tackles for loss and 16 QB hits in his 13 games.
This is the first time Muhammad has won a player of the week award.
The Lions will be on the road to face the Rams in Week 15.
Cornerback Arthur Maulet is back on the Lions’ roster.
The team announced Maulet’s signing on Tuesday afternoon. Maulet was waived by the team in late November.
Maulet appeared in six games before being let go. He had 14 tackles and an interception in those games. He has also appeared in 85 games for the Ravens, Steelers, Jets, Colts, and Saints.
The veteran’s return adds to the depth in the Lions’ secondary. They lost safety Brian Branch to a torn Achilles last Thursday and are also dealing with injuries to Kerby Joseph and Thomas Harper.
The Lions waived tight end Ross Dwelley in a corresponding move. Dwelley had two catches for 11 yards in 11 games for the Lions this season.
Fresh from a record-setting pair of Thanksgiving games, it seemed possible that Thursday’s high stakes Cowboys-Lions game would set the audience record for streaming.
It didn’t.
The good news is that the 19.39 million average viewership set a record for Thursday night streaming on Prime Video. Still, they’ve got to be disappointed that it didn’t get to 20 million.
The Cowboys are the Cowboys, and the Lions have emerged as a national draw over the past three seasons.
The next opportunity to get to 20 million comes in nine days, when the 10-3 Seahawks host the 10-3 Rams in a game that could determine both the NFC West crown and the No. 1 seed in the conference.
Meanwhile, the streaming record of 24.3 million from Ravens-Texans on Christmas 2024 still stands. Given the two Netflix games set for December 25 this year (Cowboys-Commanders, Lions-Vikings), it’s unlikely that there will be a new high-water mark for streaming in 2025.
And with the Chiefs fading, the Prime Video game on Christmas night between Denver and Kansas City probably won’t get there, either.
The Lions lost Brian Branch for the season when he tore his Achilles in last Thursday’s win over the Cowboys, but head coach Dan Campbell said on Monday that the team feels like they are still well stocked at safety.
Branch’s injury comes at a time when Kerby Joseph is recovering from a knee injury and Thomas Harper is in the concussion protocol, but Campbell said at his press conference that they plan to get Joseph “some reps in practice” this week as he tries to play for the first time since Week 6. Campbell also praised Avonte Maddox’s play at the position and named Daniel Thomas, Erick Hallett, and Damontae Kazee as others who make him feel comfortable about who is available.
“We’re good, man. . . . We got options here, but it’s like anything — you lose a good player, it hurts,” Campbell said. “But it’s not like we’re in dire straits.”
Wednesday’s practice report will bring updates about Joseph and Harper that will give a better idea of what the safety group will look like against the Rams this week.
