The Lions placed a couple of veterans on injured reserve Monday.
Running back Raheem Blackshear and wide receiver Cedrick Wilson both landed on the list. They will not be eligible to play this season unless they are released with injury settlements at some point in the future.
Blackshear signed with the team earlier this month and ran 16 times for 62 yards in the team’s two preseason games. He appeared in 41 games for the Panthers between 2022 and 2024.
Wilson had three catches for 24 yards in his preseason appearances. He’s also played for the Dolphins, Saints and Cowboys.
The Lions filled the open roster spots by signing defensive back Jason Taylor and running back Roydell Williams.
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Commanders quarterback Jayden Daniels is set for his first action of the preseason.
The team released a list of 15 inactive players for Saturday’s game against the Lions and Daniels is not on it. Commanders head coach Dan Quinn said earlier this week that a good amount of the team’s starters would see action in the team’s second game of the preseason, but that he was unsure if Daniels would be among them.
Wide receiver Stefon Diggs is also set to see his first game action since signing with the Commanders. Terry McLaurin also avoided the inactive list, so it looks like the Commanders will get their first look at their top receiver tandem in action.
If that is the case, they will not be joined by the team’s top running backs. Jacory Croskey-Merritt, Rachaad White, and Jeremy McNichols are all inactive, which leaves sixth-round pick Kaytron Allen as the top back who is expected to play.
Lions cornerback Ennis Rakestraw left practice after a non-contact injury to his leg on Thursday, but it does not sound like he is looking at an extended absence from the lineup.
The team’s radio play-by-play announcer Dan Miller reports that Rakestraw suffered an ankle injury and that it is not considered to be a serious issue. The Lions host the Commanders in a preseason game on Saturday and the injury is believed to be minor enough that Rakestraw’s status for that game is still to be determined.
A minor injury would be a good outcome for any player, but it’s a particularly good one for Rakestraw. The 2024 second-round pick has only played in eight games because of several injuries over the last two years.
Once he’s cleared to return to the field, Rakestraw will vie for time in a cornerback group that also includes Rock Ya-Sin, D.J. Reed, Roger McCreary, Khalil Dorsey, and fifth-round pick Keith Abney.
The NFL has cracked down on fighting at joint practices. Sort of.
For the second time in two years, the NFL has fined teams for fighting at joint practices. The players involved weren’t fined.
The league, in August 2024, fined the Giants and Lions $200,000 each for fighting during joint practices. And while the price tag for the Saints and Cowboys increased the punishment by 150 percent — to $500,000 each — the NFL still isn’t fining the players who threw punches and/or otherwise were involved in the extracurricular violence.
The ultimate offense happened four years ago, when Rams defensive tackle Aaron Donald swung helmets at a joint practice with the Bengals. At the time, we explained that the league has a longstanding practice of clubs being responsible for overseeing the conduct of players at practice, including joint practices.
While the teams have the authority to fine players, the league doesn’t do it. If the league ever began issuing the kind of discipline for practice fights that the league issues for fights during games, the fights would end.
Maybe it’s a CBA issue. Maybe the league simply doesn’t want to ask the NFL Players Association for the power to issue those fines.
Of course, the NFLPA should want to create mechanisms for protecting players from injuries inflicted during those fights. But that’s not how collective bargaining works. If one side wants to change the status quo, the other side will want something in return — even if there’s a mutual benefit arising from the request that was made.
Lions cornerback Ennis Rakestraw has battled injuries for most of his time in the NFL and he suffered another one on Thursday.
Rakestraw left practice early and the team announced that he is being evaluated for a lower leg injury. Reporters at the session noted that Rakestraw suffered a non-contact injury and that he was able to leave the field under his own power.
Rakestraw was a second-round pick in 2024, but only played eight games as a rookie due to hamstring and core muscle injuries. He missed all of the 2025 season after suffering a preseason shoulder injury.
The Lions also took Terrion Arnold in the first round of the 2024 draft. Arnold was released this offseason, so it is fair to say that their plans to fill out the cornerback spot have not gone as hoped.
Quarterback Joshua Dobbs will get an opportunity to go ahead in Detroit’s backup competition this weekend.
Head coach Dan Campbell told reporters in his Thursday press conference that Dobbs will start for the Lions when they host the Commanders on Saturday, as starter Jared Goff will not play.
Last week, rookie Luke Altmyer started and played 67 percent of the offensive snaps. Dobbs then came in and played the remaining 33 percent.
Campbell said the competition is still open between the two QBs.
“They’re both going to play equal amounts, is kind of the plan here, between [Dobbs] and Altmyer,” Campbell said.
Altmyer was 13-of-22 for 130 yards with a touchdown and two interceptions in his preseason debut. Dobbs was 4-of-8 for 32 yards against Cincinnati last week.
Campbell noted that the rep distribution in practice and in games has been partially determined by Dobbs’ status as a veteran and Altmyer’s as a rookie.
“Look, Dobbs is a bright guy. He’s played in this league,” Campbell said. “But also, just making sure we’ve got him up to speed, being true to that. And also, Luke’s a young player. But he’s promising. Getting him, trying to soak him with reps. So, it’s just kind of a little bit of that. But we’ll get a look at Dobbs here and let him go.”
The Lions brought in Dobbs on Aug. 9 after Teddy Bridgewater elected to retire.
Additionally, while Goff won’t play on Saturday, Campbell hasn’t made that determination about all starters.
“I’m not quite there yet. I just know I don’t see Goff playing,” Campbell said.
The Lions have an injury concern with one of their key offensive players that the club is hopeful will not linger.
Head coach Dan Campbell told reporters in his Thursday press conference that tight end Sam LaPorta took a recent hit to the hip and the club is going to give him some time to heal.
“It flared up a little bit, it’s a little aggravated,” Campbell said. “But we feel good long-term about him. We’ll just rest him for a little bit here, let it calm down.”
Campbell added that he feels like LaPorta should be OK for Week 1, but at this point the Lions aren’t sure.
While it’s not related to this injury, LaPorta is returning from undergoing back surgery in late November last year, which ended his season.
In his nine games last year, LaPorta caught 40 passes for 489 yards with three touchdowns.
Additionally, Campbell noted that guard Ben Bartch is in concussion protocol.
After the Lions blew a 17-point halftime lead over the 49ers in the 2023 NFC Championship, Detroit coach Dan Campbell made a comment that has proven, to date, to be prophetic.
“This may have been our only shot.”
After a 2025 season that most Lions fans would dub pathetic, given the standard that Campbell has created, the sixth-year head coach insists that the Lions will have another shot.
“Our window is not closed,” Campbell said, via Eric Woodyard of ESPN. “It’s not closed. That was the whole reason why we did this. We fell short last year. But needed to get in [the playoffs], and now it’s about the matchups, where you’re playing and who you’re playing. We want to be able to do that every year, and sometimes, I’m just saying is what happens is, you want to go all-in for one player, well how do you know that one player doesn’t get hurt?
“Or how do you know the three players behind him don’t get hurt and now you’ve got no depth. Whereas, let’s just get a unit together that we feel like can compete every year and then it’s about in that moment, we’re making those plays and finding a way to win that game.”
The Lions have the talent to compete every year. Last year, they failed to deliver in the moments on which a playoff berth was riding — culminating in a disappointing Christmas Day loss to the Vikings and quarterback Max Brosmer, which had nothing to do with Brosmer and everything to do with Vikings defensive coordinator Brian Flores.
The Lions landed at fourth place in the NFC North. Which carries a benefit into 2026. In a scheduling formula that is fixed as to 14 games, the other three games have the first-place Bears playing the Texans, Eagles, and Seahawks — and the second-place Packers playing the Jaguars, Cowboys, and Rams. The Lions, thanks to bringing up the rear, face the Titans, Giants, and Cardinals.
In a division that saw only two games separate the Bears and Lions, those three games can make a huge difference.
Still, the Lions will need to do much more than they did last year. The turnover in the coaching staff, one of the basic costs of sustained success, hurt the offense and the defense. John Morton was unable to replace Ben Johnson, which eventually prompted Campbell to replace Morton as the playcaller.
“I don’t think anybody necessarily tells you, ‘Hey, be ready to lose [eight] coaches in one year,’” Campbell said. “Of course, that’s the plan. You’re going to lose some guys, you do it right and then the next guy, you can promote or you can go find guys. But when you’re talking about [eight coaches], that’s a tall task. But you owe it to the players, you owe it to the organization to find the best guy.”
They think they have the right guy to run the offense in Drew Petzing. But they thought they had the right guy last year in Morton. And nothing about Petzing’s history (three years as the Cardinals’ offensive coordinator, three years before that as an assistant with the Browns) suggests that the Lions are squatting on the next Bill Walsh.
Still, coaches are only as good as their players. And the Lions have plenty of great players. Which makes last year’s failure to make the playoffs even more jarring.
We’ll find out soon enough if the Lions can get back to being what they were in 2023 and 2024. The first five games (Saints, at Bills, Jets, at Panthers, at Cardinals) give them a chance to be 4-1 or better going into the Week 6 bye.
Of course, the Lions started 4-1 last year. And then they went 5-7. It will take a fast start and a strong finish to reclaim the NFC North and to set the stage for another chance to not blow a big lead on the road in January and/or to not be blown out at home in the divisional round, at a time when the table was otherwise set for their first ever Super Bowl appearance.
There’s no reason to think it won’t go well. Beyond the fact that, last year, it didn’t.
Another failure to make the playoffs could make things interesting when Campbell’s seventh season rolls around in 2027. Which would put him only two years short of matching Wayne Fontes for the longest head-coaching tenure in franchise history.
Commanders head coach Dan Quinn shared some plans for Saturday’s game against the Lions during a Thursday morning press conference, but the status of quarterback Jayden Daniels remains up in the air.
Quinn said, via multiple reporters, that the plan is to play a “good amount” of the team’s starters in Detroit before adding that he’s unsure if Daniels will be among them. Quinn said that determination will be made based on who else will be in the lineup.
Marcus Mariota is recovering from a knee injury, so Sam Hartman and Athan Kaliakmanis would be the quarterbacks if Daniels does not play.
One key piece that will be missing is center Nick Allegretti. Quinn said Allegretti aggravated a calf injury that had kept him out of several practices and will not play, but the team hopes that he will be able to ramp back up in time for the start of the regular season.
Running back Rachaad White will also miss Saturday’s game after hurting his hamstring last week.
The Lions got wide receiver Jameson Williams back on the practice field today, but they didn’t have their whole first-string offense.
Lions tight end Sam LaPorta did not practice for reasons that currently aren’t known, according to Dave Birkett of the Detroit Free Press.
LaPorta is coming off back surgery and the best-case scenario for the Lions would be that they just decided to give him the day off to make sure he’s healthy and fresh for the start of the regular season.
Williams had missed the last two days of practice with a shoulder injury, but now he’s good to go.
Most of the Lions’ starters missed last week’s preseason opener. Lions head coach Dan Campbell has said many starters will play in Sunday’s second preseason game against the Commanders, but there’s no word on whether Williams and LaPorta will go.
