Getty Detroit Lions defensive tackle Alim McNeill preached that the team has to work harder in 2024 after the NFC championship game loss.
The Detroit Lions have been waiting for a big piece of their defense to return from an injury that has kept him out for the first month of the season — and they’ll have at least one more week to wait.
The team announced on Friday that defensive tackle Alim McNeill would not be able to play against the Cincinnati Bengals, despite making some good progress on his return from a torn ACL. McNeill had been pressing the team to get back onto the field, but the Lions are apparently taking a cautious approach with their starting defensive lineman.
Lions Rule Out Alim McNeill
The team had announced midway through the week that they would evaluate McNeill after Friday’s practice to determine if he could take the field against the Bengals, with head coach Dan Campbell saying he was “50/50” to play. But the team announced Friday that he would be out for the game.
There had been some optimism during the week that McNeill was ready to come off the physically unable to perform list, with defensive coordinator Kelvin Sheppard saying he had made some meaningful progress.
“I saw all I needed to see. I see him helping in a major way. Now the biggest task for me is being patient,” Sheppard said, via SI.com. “And you know the collaborative effort with our training staff, strength staff, and obviously the head man giving me the green light for him and what that’s going to entail and look like.”
Sheppard said he had spoken with head coach Dan Campbell and both were impressed with the way McNeill looked in drills, noting that he already made up for missed time and “does not look like a player that hasn’t practiced.”
“And that’s credit to him,” Sheppard said. “I know all those bone density and all these guru terms they throw out, but all I know is I see a very, very high caliber defensive tackle when I turned on the tape yesterday. So, I’m very excited to have him back out there.”
Lions Rule Out Three Other Players
The Lions also ruled out three other players for Sunday’s game against the Bengals — running back Sione Vaki, linebacker Zach Cunningham, and cornerback Khalil Dorsey. As Erik Schlitt of SB Nation’s Pride of Detroit noted, Vaki has missed six straight practices while dealing with a groin injury and was expected to miss Sunday’s game.
“There’s hope he will be able to return in the next two weeks, which would give the Lions’ special teams a boost,” Schlitt wrote.
Dorsey remains in the league’s concussion protocol and was able to return to practice on Thursday, but is also limited by a wrist injury, Schlitt added.
The Lions also took a major hit to their defense this week when starting cornerback D.J. Reed was placed on injured reserve. While he will miss the next month at least, Campbell said the injury could have been much worse.
“He’s going to be down for a while,” Campbell told reporters, via The Athletic. “But the good news is this is not a season-ender. We will get him back, it looks like, so that’s the good news. He’s a stud.”
