Taylor Decker missed his third straight practice with a shoulder injury but is expected to play against the Bengals, while Alim McNeill is '50-50'
After two good days of practice, the Detroit Lions are leaving open the possibility for Alim McNeill to make his season debut Sunday against the Cincinnati Bengals.
"We’ve talked about it (but) I don’t know," Lions coach Dan Campbell said. "I don’t know, man. I think right now it’s probably 50-50. I know he wants to play, but we want to be smart, too, so this’ll be one of those decisions we’ll probably make after practice."
McNeill returned to practice Wednesday for the first time since tearing his ACL last December and said his knee felt good after going through a second workout Thursday.
He downplayed the possibility of facing the Bengals midweek, but said he expected to be back against the Kansas City Chiefs next week or Tampa Bay Buccaneers in Week 7.
“I wouldn’t say this week," McNeill said. "But I have no idea to be honest with you. I’m just practice by practice right now."
McNeill, the Lions' best interior defensive lineman when healthy the past few seasons, will slot immediately into the rotation at defensive tackle once he's activated from the PUP list.
DJ Reader and Tyleik Williams have started every game during the Lions' 3-1 start, with Roy Lopez playing as the third tackle off the bench.
Campbell said McNeill's return will help accelerate Williams' development as a first-round pick.
“Look, we got a lot of data on him right now," Campbell said. "Certainly what he says, how does he feel (will determine when he comes back). What’s his comfort level, confidence. But also being smart. Being smart with it. So we’ve kind of worked him on Wednesday, he got a lot more reps yesterday and today he’s going to get more reps but it won’t be near as many. And that’s really where we’re at with him."
Kerby Joseph injury update
Safety Kerby Joseph returned to practice Friday for the first time since injuring his knee in last week's win over the Cleveland Browns, while left tackle Taylor Decker (shoulder), running back Sione Vaki (groin) and linebacker Zach Cunningham (hamstring) remained out.
Joseph has dealt with knee soreness since training camp, but Campbell said the NFL's reigning interception champ suffered a new injury in the Browns game.
"I wouldn’t say it’s something out of the norm (he was dealing with) but there has been some things that he’s been dealing with physically," Campbell said. "This one’s a little different from what he got in the game, but I think we’re on the uptick with him."
Both Joseph and Decker are expected to play Sunday against the Bengals.
Dave Birkett covers the Lions for the Detroit Free Press. Contact him at [email protected]. Follow him on Bluesky, X and Instagram at @davebirkett.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Alim McNeill injury update: Lions DT '50-50' to play vs Bengals
Category: Football
