{"id":33972,"date":"2025-09-28T02:09:32","date_gmt":"2025-09-28T02:09:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/?p=33972"},"modified":"2025-09-28T02:09:32","modified_gmt":"2025-09-28T02:09:32","slug":"breaking-detroit-lions-elevate-preseason-darling-to-make-nfl-debut-vs-browns","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/?p=33972","title":{"rendered":"BREAKING: Detroit Lions Elevate Preseason Darling to Make NFL Debut vs. Browns"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The Detroit Lions will be back at Ford Field on Sunday to face the Cleveland Browns, and they\u2019re shaking things up with a couple of roster moves. One of those moves is giving some fans exactly what they\u2019ve been waiting for, the NFL debut of wide receiver <strong>Jackson Meeks<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<figure><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/detroitsportsnation.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/1-13-36.jpg\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1013px) 100vw, 1013px\" srcset=\"https:\/\/detroitsportsnation.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/1-13-36.jpg 1013w, https:\/\/detroitsportsnation.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/1-13-36-768x512.jpg 768w\" alt=\"Detroit Lions Elevate Preseason Darling to Make NFL Debut vs. Browns\" width=\"1013\" height=\"675\" \/><\/figure>\n<h2 id=\"h-jackson-meeks-gets-his-shot\">Jackson Meeks Gets His Shot<\/h2>\n<p>Meeks was the talk of the preseason for Detroit. Every time he was on the field in August, he made plays. Whether it was contested catches, crisp routes, or showing up on special teams, he looked like a player who had earned his way onto the 53-man roster.<\/p>\n<p>But when final cuts came, the undrafted rookie didn\u2019t make the team. Instead, the Lions stashed him on the practice squad. Now, with Sunday\u2019s game against Cleveland looming, Meeks has been elevated and will dress for the first time in the regular season.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/s.yimg.com\/ny\/api\/res\/1.2\/.mjjXcyR8Zn6mIOVGyIUpQ--\/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjt3PTY0MDtoPTQyNztjZj13ZWJw\/https:\/\/media.zenfs.com\/en\/sb_nation_articles_115\/9dcb0e9b776366456eca87fffebbda4f\" alt=\"Browns vs Lions Week 4 preview: Three key slugfest statistics - Yahoo Sports\" \/><\/p>\n<p>At the very least, he\u2019s expected to contribute on special teams. If offensive coordinator John Morton decides to sprinkle him into the offense, fans might finally get to see if his preseason magic translates under the regular-season lights.<\/p>\n<h2 id=\"h-safety-daniel-thomas-to-injured-reserve\">Safety Daniel Thomas to Injured Reserve<\/h2>\n<p>The flip side of this move involves bad news for the Lions\u2019 secondary. Safety <strong>Daniel Thomas<\/strong> has been placed on injured reserve after undergoing surgery on his forearm earlier this week. He initially tried to gut it out and play through the injury, but surgery became the only option.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/img-s-msn-com.akamaized.net\/tenant\/amp\/entityid\/AA1NjyKS.img?w=768&amp;h=512&amp;m=4&amp;q=80\" alt=\"Lions host Browns, aiming to win 3rd straight game after opening with  lopsided loss to Packers\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Thomas will now be sidelined for at least four games. For now, Detroit opted not to fill his open roster spot, leaving some flexibility moving forward.<\/p>\n<h2 id=\"h-why-it-matters\">Why It Matters<\/h2>\n<p>The Lions are heading into Week 4 with high stakes, and even small roster moves could make a difference. Meeks has been waiting for this opportunity, and sometimes that\u2019s all it takes for a young player to carve out a role. Meanwhile, Thomas\u2019 absence will test the depth of Detroit\u2019s secondary, something defensive coordinator Kelvin Sheppard will have to account for against a tough Cleveland team.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Detroit Lions have elevated WR Jackson Meeks from the practice squad ahead of Sunday\u2019s matchup against the Browns.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":33973,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-33972","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-detroit-lions"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.7 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>BREAKING: Detroit Lions Elevate Preseason Darling to Make NFL Debut vs. Browns - Breaking News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/?p=33972\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"BREAKING: Detroit Lions Elevate Preseason Darling to Make NFL Debut vs. Browns - Breaking News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The Detroit Lions have elevated WR Jackson Meeks from the practice squad ahead of Sunday\u2019s matchup against the Browns.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/?p=33972\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Breaking News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-09-28T02:09:32+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/RU2EDFVE.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1080\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1080\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"MrKen\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"MrKen\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/?p=33972\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/?p=33972\",\"name\":\"BREAKING: Detroit Lions Elevate Preseason Darling to Make NFL Debut vs. Browns - Breaking News\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/?p=33972#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/?p=33972#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/RU2EDFVE.png\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-09-28T02:09:32+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-09-28T02:09:32+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/#\/schema\/person\/b503ba061d907097809c4aa8a240af15\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/?p=33972#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/?p=33972\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/?p=33972#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/RU2EDFVE.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/RU2EDFVE.png\",\"width\":1080,\"height\":1080},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/?p=33972#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"BREAKING: Detroit Lions Elevate Preseason Darling to Make NFL Debut vs. Browns\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/\",\"name\":\"Breaking News\",\"description\":\"Explore top US sports stories, and live updates\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/#\/schema\/person\/b503ba061d907097809c4aa8a240af15\",\"name\":\"MrKen\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ab07af1f129ef9c67f3a58e6273eac4d8eb51a1cb066ea995eb6d5f03eceb61b?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ab07af1f129ef9c67f3a58e6273eac4d8eb51a1cb066ea995eb6d5f03eceb61b?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"MrKen\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/?author=2\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"BREAKING: Detroit Lions Elevate Preseason Darling to Make NFL Debut vs. Browns - Breaking News","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/?p=33972","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"BREAKING: Detroit Lions Elevate Preseason Darling to Make NFL Debut vs. Browns - Breaking News","og_description":"The Detroit Lions have elevated WR Jackson Meeks from the practice squad ahead of Sunday\u2019s matchup against the Browns.","og_url":"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/?p=33972","og_site_name":"Breaking News","article_published_time":"2025-09-28T02:09:32+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1080,"height":1080,"url":"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/RU2EDFVE.png","type":"image\/png"}],"author":"MrKen","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"MrKen","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/?p=33972","url":"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/?p=33972","name":"BREAKING: Detroit Lions Elevate Preseason Darling to Make NFL Debut vs. Browns - Breaking News","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/?p=33972#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/?p=33972#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/RU2EDFVE.png","datePublished":"2025-09-28T02:09:32+00:00","dateModified":"2025-09-28T02:09:32+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/#\/schema\/person\/b503ba061d907097809c4aa8a240af15"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/?p=33972#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/?p=33972"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/?p=33972#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/RU2EDFVE.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/RU2EDFVE.png","width":1080,"height":1080},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/?p=33972#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"BREAKING: Detroit Lions Elevate Preseason Darling to Make NFL Debut vs. Browns"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/","name":"Breaking News","description":"Explore top US sports stories, and live updates","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/#\/schema\/person\/b503ba061d907097809c4aa8a240af15","name":"MrKen","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ab07af1f129ef9c67f3a58e6273eac4d8eb51a1cb066ea995eb6d5f03eceb61b?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ab07af1f129ef9c67f3a58e6273eac4d8eb51a1cb066ea995eb6d5f03eceb61b?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"MrKen"},"url":"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/?author=2"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33972","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=33972"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33972\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":33974,"href":"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33972\/revisions\/33974"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/33973"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=33972"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=33972"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=33972"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}