Detroit

Lions

Joseph dealt with a cartilage issue in his knee last year and has spent the entirety of 2026 working his way back from it. As of a month ago, Dan Campbell didn’t sound optimistic that Joseph would be able to play at any point this year. Joseph is currently on the PUP list. His return to practice means the team has opened his 21-day practice window. We expect them to use most of the window to ramp Joseph up to full speed, but it’s still a great sign for the playmaking safety.

St. Brown is dealing with what sounds like a minor ankle injury after Week 7’s win over the Packers. Campbell said he could likely be held out of practice on Wednesday before the team begins ramping him up on Thursday, but tempered any optimism by adding, “We’ll see when we get there.” The 4-2 Lions are playing host to the undefeated Vikings in a game that could end up deciding the winners of the NFC North later in the season. Unless this injury is more serious than Campbell is letting on, we would expect St. Brown to be on the field and operating as a high-end WR1.

While Amon-Ra St. Brown and Jameson Williams combined for 244 yards and two touchdowns, LaPorta was an afterthought in the Lions’ offense on Sunday. LaPorta’s first target didn’t come until late in the fourth quarter, and his first catch came in the fourth quarter on an 18-yard play. It was an uncharacteristically underwhelming game by LaPorta, who entered the day coming off two-straight games in which he topped 80 yards and found the end zone. Despite the dud performance, LaPorta will be in the TE1 ranks next week at home against the Vikings.

The Sun God didn’t find the end zone in this one, but he did rip off multiple big gains, which included plays of 28 and 40 yards on the Lions’ first two drives — both of which ended with points. St. Brown’s 11 targets led all Lions’ pass-catchers in this one, and his 153 receiving yards are good for the fifth-most he has had in any game in his career. It’s the first time in his career that ARSB has gone for 140-plus yards but failed to score a touchdown, but this was easily one of his best games to date this season. St. Brown hasn’t scored since Week 3’s game against the Jets, but he has gone for 69 or more yards in each of his last three games while seeing 11 targets in every outing. He continues to be as steady a fantasy asset as there is at receiver, and will be in the WR1 mix in Week 8 against the Vikings.

Williams wasted little time getting involved early in this one. On the Lions’ fifth play of the game, he ripped off a 24-yard gain to the Packers’ 16-yard line. On the next play, Williams came in motion and snuck out of the Lions’ backfield to turn a short pass into a 16-yard score, giving the Lions their first points of the day. Williams would find the end zone again in the third quarter on a 10-yard touchdown, and on the following drive, he nearly scored again. Were it not for a Packers defender knocking him out of the back of the end zone on a catch, we would have seen a hat trick. Williams’ big-play ability was on display all night, as three of his five receptions went for 15-plus yards. Williams now has back-to-back two-touchdown performances to his name and has gone for 90-plus yards in two of his last three games. His volume continues to be inconsistent, but Williams is capable of breaking any game open at a moment’s notice. He will be a fringe WR2 in what could be a tough Week 8 matchup against the Vikings.

Fantasy managers won’t balk at what was an overall solid performance, but they probably would have liked to see Gibbs rush in a touchdown; the Packers were more than willing to give him one late in the fourth quarter. Gibbs intentionally fell short of the end zone twice on the Lions’ final drive to ensure Jake Bates’ game-winning field goal attempt would be the final play in regulation, which worked to the Lions’ advantage in the 20-17 win. Gibbs ripped off multiple chunk gains in this one, with 13 of his 29 carries going for five or more yards. He did lose a fumble deep inside Packers territory near the end of the second quarter, which likely cost his team at least three points, but as usual, Gibbs was a big reason why the Lions constantly found themselves in position to win. It’s worth noting that on his final play of the game, Gibbs appeared to suffer a knee injury when his left leg bent awkwardly as he attempted to stop and fall to the turf to keep the clock running, but he was able to jog off under his own power. We would ultimately expect him to be fine, but his practice status will be one to monitor this week as the Lions prepare to take on the Vikings. Assuming he is good to go, Gibbs will be an obvious RB1 candidate next week.

In a game that felt like it should have featured far more points, Goff and the Lions narrowly walked away with the win. He led an explosive opening drive that included a 28-yard pass to Amon-Ra St. Brown and a 24-yard pass to Jameson Williams, and ended with a 16-yard touchdown pass to Williams to put the Lions up 7-0 early. Goff would again connect with Williams for a 10-yard touchdown pass in the third quarter, and narrowly missed linking up with him for a third touchdown when Williams was forced out of the end zone on a catch on fourth-and-five from the Packers’ six-yard line. Goff did lose a fumble in this one on a botched snap exchange with his center, but it was an overall strong outing for the Lions’ signal-caller. Goff has yet to throw an interception this season and has now thrown for over 300 yards in three of his six games this season. He’ll be a fringe QB1/QB2 next week at home against the 6-0 Vikings.

Detroit will get back it’s highly-paid free agent acquisition from this past offseason after a preseason wrist injury. The Lions declared TE Jackson Meeks, S Bishop Fitzgerald, C Seth McLaughlin, DL Mekhi Wingo, and DE Ahmed Hassanein inactive against the Packers.

The team also activated center Cade Mays from the reserve/injured list. Week 7 will be the first game of the year for both players. Branch tore his Achilles in Week 14 last year and has been out ever since. Currently in last place in the NFC North, the Lions desperately needed this infusion of talent to get their season back on track.

According to one of Jones’ sources, Lions GM Brad Holmes “does not like losing his draft picks, especially high ones.” A second-rounder in 2023, LaPorta made waves earlier this week when he expressed frustration with his lack of a contract extension on the Pardon My Take podcast. While those frustrations persist, the 25-year-old tight end clarified some of his comments to local Detroit media Friday, reiterating his desire to stay with the Lions long-term. Jones notes that other extensions the Lions have handed out have taken some time to get done. He also cautions that the team shouldn’t wait too long to sign LaPorta as the Raiders are unlikely to waste time making Brock Bowers the highest-paid tight end in football when he becomes extension-eligible after the season.