Grady Jackson A Missing Man In Motown

Though he’s hard to miss, given his girth, Lions defensive tackle Grady Jackson has yet to be seen on the practice field this offseason. As the team closes out its series of underwear practices with a mandatory minicamp, Jackson still isn’t participating, due to February knee surgery. “We’re probably a little bit behind schedule with it,” coach Jim Schwartz said, according to the Detroit News. “We were shooting to have him on the field now. But the one thing you don’t want to do in a situation like that, particularly now when we’re not playing games, is rush it when it shouldn’t be rushed and all of a sudden you have a setback. At this point in the year, we want to avoid setbacks.” The Lions also are cognizant of the fact that, with the dismissal of federal claims made by five players who tested positive for a banned diuretic contained in the over-the-counter supplement known as StarCaps, Jackson is now in line for a four-game suspension. Actually, he already has been suspended, and his appeal was pending at the time the other players filed suit. Unless Georgia law (he was a member of the Falcons at the time of the positive result) has drug-testing statutes similar to those in Minnesota, Jackson might not be able to avoid missing the first month of the 2009 season. “We definitely have that in mind with it, for sure,” Schwartz said. We wonder whether the team had that in mind when Jackson was signed to a three-year, $8 million contract in March.