The Detroit Lions’ transaction wire got a workout on Wednesday, with a handful of moves being announced throughout the day. The Lions started the injury evaluation clock on Josh Paschal and rookie Miles Frazier, signed three offensive linemen to the practice squad, and sorted through 14 players on the injury report. But they weren’t done, as they also announced that they had placed starting left guard Christian Mahogany on injured reserve and signed linebacker Ty Summers off the practice squad.
Here’s an at-a-glance look at Wednesday’s roster moves:
Active roster
- LG Christian Mahogany was placed on injured reserve
- LB Ty Summers signed off the practice squad
Practice squad
- OG Netane Muti was signed (taking Summers’ vacated spot)
- OL Jack Conley was signed (taking Andre Carter’s spot — he signed to the Dolphins’ 53-man roster)
- OT Chris Hubbard was signed (taking CB Kendall Fuller’s spot — cut last week)
Mahogany was injured in Week 9 when his leg swung into a defender. While contact appeared near the ankle, the Lions listed him with a knee injury, and on Monday, coach Dan Campbell revealed that he has actually suffered a broken bone.
“For what the injury is—it’s a broken bone—relative to injuries, that’s a good thing,” Campbell explained. “I think, will heal up; it’ll be stronger than it was before.”
Campbell also noted that Mahogany would have a chance to return this season, but could be out “a long time.” At a minimum, Mahogany will need to miss the next four games, meaning that he will be out at least through Week 14.
In the interim, Campbell said the Lions will explore all options for how to replace Mahogany at left guard, noting that veteran Kayode Awosika will get the first shot at things, followed by Trystan Colon, but everything was being considered.
“I think we’ll start right now as usual. (Awosika) Yode goes in, and then we may start putting (Trystan) Colon in some spots here and move these guys around today and tomorrow,” Campbell explained. “So, we’ll start as we kind of ended that game the other day, and then maybe we’ll start moving some pieces around. So, that’s kind of where I’m at now. Doesn’t mean that I will do it, but I mean I’d like to do it today, at least a play or two, and see what that looks like, see where we’re at. Maybe some walkthrough reps.”
While Awosika’s experience is mainly at guard and tackle, Colon’s has started NFL games at guard and center. That means, the Lions could experiment with a variety of combinations, including Awosika (LG) and Graham Glasgow (C), Colon (LG) and Glasgow (C), and even Awosika (LG) and Colon (C). It’s worth noting that in Week 9, the Lions plugged Awosika in at left guard and kept the rest of the line the same, which is the most likely outcome here.
Summers makes his second trip onto the Lions’ 53-man roster this season, with an injury to Zach Cunningham being the catalyst for the opportunity in both situations. With Cunningham landing on injured reserve last week and Malcolm Rodriguez not expected to return to the active roster until Week 11, Summers was elevated from the practice squad in Week 9 and signed to the active roster for this week. He’ll likely operate as LB6 on defense and fill a contributing role on special teams for the next two weeks, but his spot may only be viewed as a placeholder until Rodriguez is activated.
