The Detroit Lions are coming off a bye week and are hoping to get a key win over a big rival opponent as they face the Green Bay Packers in Week 10. A lot of players are on notice as the team continues to undergo coaching changesin the middle of the season. The one thing they cannot afford is injuries. When the team reported to practice on Monday, Calvin Johnson did not participate and might be questionable heading into Week 10.
According to ESPN.com, Johnson suffered an ankle injury in the Week 8 game against the Kansas City Chiefs and is still not at full speed heading into the game against the Packers. Johnson confirmed that he is dealing with an injury, but plans to be at full speed on Sunday as the Lions will really need him to face off against the Packers with the team sitting at 1-7 on the season.
"Feeling pretty good right now," Johnson said, via the Detroit News. "I got a lot of good work done to it, and then the downtime helps us with getting that thing back to feeling good."
Outside of Johnson, both Golden Tate and Eric Ebron will be critical for Matthew Stafford, but the biggest need for the Lions right now is getting Ameer Abdullah to move in a better direction in the second half of the season. The running back continues to struggle with rookie issues as fumbles become a problem. As a result, both Joique Bell and Theo Riddick have seen more time on the field. While the Lions want Abdullah to be their workhorse running back, but mistakes have caused him to be off the field more than on and the team expects that to continue with each game.
"The game is faster, guys are on you quicker, and they're bigger guys that move faster than what you're used to," general manager Martin Mayhew said, via MLive.com. "A lot of times in college you're past a guy, you think that guy is done, and now all of a sudden that guy gets back into the play. I think a lot of it is more awareness and speed of the game and hopefully he's going to figure that out. He's worked on that, you can see it this past week, you can see him working on it."
Heading into the offseason, Abdullah and Ebron are being considered the future of the franchise. Stafford and Johnson might not be. ESPN.com notes that when the Lions evaluate their roster, both players will be first on the chopping block given their contracts. Stafford made it clear that he is not focused on what the critics are saying about his future as he simply wants to finish the season strong.
"I don't think about that kind of stuff, honestly," Stafford said, via ESPN.com. "I'm here, I've got a couple years left on my contract. I hope I get the chance to play them out. I hope I'm here for a long time. Just that stuff's not up to me. I worry about stuff that I can't control and I'm doing a disservice to not only myself but the guys in that locker room. So the only thing that I can control is playing as good of football as I possibly can and trying to help our team win. Whatever happens after that happens."