Lions Injury Report: Detroit Remains Down Two Top Defenders

A'Shawn Robinson

Getty A'Shawn Robinson takes on the Eagles.

The Detroit Lions continue to fill their injured reserve list, leaving the actual list of players walking wounded dwindling quite a bit ahead of a Week 16 tilt against the Denver Broncos.

Even so, the Lions still have plenty of players that are dinged up and could be candidates to miss the game on Sunday as the injury bug continues to bite down hard on the team. Detroit is missing two key defenders as they get going on practice this week, and have some of their better offensive players remaining hit with question marks too.

What could the damage be looking like this week? Here’s a look at some of the names that are on the latest version of the injury report on Thursday, and some of their statuses and designations heading into one of the last games in the stretch run.


Devon Kennard, LB

Wednesday: No practice (hamstring)

Thursday: No practice

Kennard missed practice Wednesday with a hamstring injury, and those are nagging to the point of shutting players down for multiple games and multiple weeks. Everyone handles theirs differently, so it will be worth watching to see how much Kennard can do. Obviously, it’s bad news for the Lions to potentially be missing him considering he’s been one of their more consistent pass rushers the last two seasons.


A’Shawn Robinson, DT

Wednesday: No practice (shoulder)

Thursday: No practice

More tough news for the Lions on the health of Robinson, who is dinged up with a shoulder injury and didn’t get practice in to start the week. The health of Robinson is likely why the Lions made the move they did to sign Jamie Meder on Wednesday. That could be a major hint as it relates to the status of Robinson. He’s a big loss for a Lions team that struggles to stop the run and clog the middle of the line.


Christian Jones, LB

Wednesday: Limited practice (shoulder)

Thursday: Limited practice

Jones missed last week, and he is trying to claw back to health this week. Detroit’s linebacking group has been hammered by injuries so getting Jones, who’s a regular, back into the mix would only serve to help the team’s overall depth on defense at a spot of need.


Bo Scarbrough, RB

Wednesday: Limited practice (ribs)

Thursday: Limited practice

Much like Jones, Scarbrough was a scratch before last week’s game, allowing little-known Wes Hills to go nuts with 2 touchdowns on the afternoon. Obviously, the Lions want to keep getting a look at Scarbrough, so this will be a key injury case to monitor the rest of this season. Scarbrough has played well enough in 2019 to get consideration for a role in 2020, but the team would like as many reps as they can get.


Rick Wagner, T

Wednesday: Limited practice (knee)

Thursday: Limited practice

The Lions have gotten an up and down season from Wagner so far this year considering he has been in and out with injury. This knee injury is threatening to stop him from playing this week, and that would be a massive loss for the Lions considering the pass rush they will be contending with when they play the Broncos.


Damon Harrison, DT

Wednesday: Full practice (knee/calf)

Thursday: No practice (resting veteran)

Harrison has been a routine member of this report in recent weeks, but there likely remains nothing to see here in terms of injury. Expect the Lions to give Harrison his weekly rest, then keep attempting to work him back into the plan by the end of the week to manage his time.


Steve Longa, LB

Wednesday: Full practice (quad)

Thursday: Full practice

Longa is a special teams ace for the Lions and a guy who could see some extra snaps at linebacker if crisis strikes, so it will be important for Detroit to try and keep him as healthy as possible this week.

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