The Detroit Lions (3-1) will travel to Ohio in Week 5 to take on the Cincinnati Bengals (2-2). Both teams were on the practice field on Wednesday as they prepare for another NFC North vs. AFC North showdown.<\/p>\n
There were a lot of moving parts to Wednesday\u2019s injury report, so let\u2019s take a look and get you up to date with what we know. Note: Any changes from the last injury report will be bolded.<\/p>\n
TE Shane Zylstra (ankle, Reserve\/IR<\/a>) \u2014 eligible to return in Week 7G Miles Frazier (undisclosed Reserve\/PUP<\/a>) \u2014 eligible to returnEDGE Marcus Davenport (pectoral, Reserve\/IR<\/a>) \u2014 eligible to return in Week 7EDGE Josh Paschal (undisclosed, Reserve\/NFI<\/a>) \u2014 eligible to returnDT Alim McNeill (ACL, Reserve\/PUP<\/a>) \u2014 21-day evaluation window has begun<\/a>LB Malcolm Rodriguez (ACL, Reserve\/PUP<\/a>) \u2014 eligible to returnS Daniel Thomas (forearm, Reserve\/IR<\/a>) \u2014 eligible to return in Week 8<\/p>\n With McNeill returning to practice<\/a>, the Lions have three full weeks to determine when he\u2019ll be ready to return to the active roster\u2014though he is eligible to be activated at any time. We also got a less-than-encouraging update from Campbell on edge rusher Josh Paschal and rookie guard Miles Frazier.<\/p>\n \u201cI would say the same thing as I said a week or two ago. He\u2019s improving but he\u2019s not ready yet.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cHe is progressing not as fast as we\u2019d hoped. I can\u2019t say that we won\u2019t get him back at some point this year, but it\u2019s not as clear as, say, (Christian) Mahogany was last year. It was very clear at this point that, \u2018Okay, he\u2019s getting healthier. He\u2019s starting to feel better.\u2019 We\u2019re not quite there, but he is improving.\u201d<\/p>\n RB Sione Vaki (groin)LT Taylor Decker (shoulder)LB Zach Cunningham (hamstring)CB D.J. Reed (hamstring) \u2014 New injury in Week 4 \u2014 UPDATE: Reed to IR<\/a>CB Khalil Dorsey (concussion) \u2014 New injury in Week 4S Kerby Joseph (knee) \u2014 injured in Week 4<\/p>\n Vaki was finally cleared from an early training camp hamstring injury and was able to play in Week 3, but unfortunately injured his groin while playing on special teams. He missed all of Week 4 practices and the game, but no move to injured reserve suggests he\u2019ll be able to return soon.<\/p>\n Decker and the Lions have been resting his shoulder during the week in order to get him ready to play on game day. And while that is not ideal for the long term, it\u2019s what is necessary at this time. The Lions plan to get him practice reps when they can, but they\u2019re not going to risk his potential to play in their next game.<\/p>\n \u201cDecker has been laying it on the line for us,\u201d Campbell said on Wednesday. \u201cAnd we know he\u2019s not 100 percent. And so, it\u2019s taken everything to get him back for those games ready to compete. That\u2019s been big. What he\u2019s been able to do over the (past) four weeks, has been impressive and we\u2019re fortunate he was there for us, to help us out. I thik he\u2019s been playing good football, it\u2019s just (been) about getting his body back.\u201d<\/p>\n Cunningham was a Thursday addition to last week\u2019s injury report and was unable to practice on Friday or play in the game on Sunday. Hamstring injuries can be tricky, and we don\u2019t have any clarity on the severity here, so we will need to be patient as new information becomes available.<\/p>\n Reed injured his hamstring against the Browns in Week 4, and he required a cart to exit the field. While he is going to \u201cbe down for a while,\u201d according to Lions coach Dan Campbell, this is not considered a season-ending injury<\/a>. Reed has already been ruled out for this week\u2019s game against the Bengals, but a move to injured reserve is still being debated, as Campbell indicated Reed\u2019s injury could be the same length as a stint on injured reserve.<\/p>\n UPDATE: Reed has been placed on injured reserve<\/a><\/p>\n Dorsey apparently suffered a concussion in Week 4 and was unable to practice on Wednesday because of it. If he\u2019s able to return to practice in the next two days, he\u2019ll have a shot at clearing the NFL\u2019s protocols and playing on Sunday. If not, the Lions could be down another corner.<\/p>\n Joseph let the game in the first half due to a knee injury, but was able to return in the third quarter after proving to the trainers that he could safely play on it. It\u2019s unclear if this was the same knee Joseph has been managing since the end of training camp, but either way, he could be in for some lighter practices this week.<\/p>\n