<\/p>\n
The Detroit Lions announced a series of roster moves ahead of their Week 11 matchup with the Philadelphia Eagles, including placing starting tight end Sam LaPorta on injured reserve, signing interior offensive lineman Michale Niese to the active roster, as well as elevating wide receivers Tom Kennedy and Jackson Meeks. Additionally, they also revealed that they have released defensive lineman Pat O\u2019Connor from injured reserve with an injury settlement.<\/p>\n
LaPorta suffered a back injury, most likely in Week 10, and was unable to practice all week. He was initially ruled out for Week 11, but after being placed on injured reserve, he will not be eligible to return until Week 15 at the earliest. With LaPorta unavailable, the Lions will turn to Brock Wright for TE1 duties.<\/p>\n
\u201cBrock\u2019s a guy we don\u2019t talk a lot about, but he\u2019s the jack of all trades,\u201d Lions coach Dan Campbell said on Friday. \u201cHe does everything for us; pass protect, run block, he can run some routes, he plays special teams. He\u2019s one of the most dependable players we have on this team. And at the end of the day, what you really need in the tight end position is versatility and smarts, and he\u2019s got both of those \u2014and he\u2019s tough. So, he checks a lot of boxes of a well-rounded tight end, and so that is always going to make me feel a lot better, offensively feel a lot better.\u201d<\/p>\n
With Wright stepping into a TE1 role and Ross Dwelley assuming TE2 duties, the Lions don\u2019t have a clear option at TE3. However, the Lions have been cross-training rookie wide receiver Jackson Meeks at tight end of late, and he could have an interesting role moving forward.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s got some strength, he\u2019s got some size, and we know the athlete,\u201d Campbell said of Meeks. \u201cHe\u2019s a big skill, he\u2019s a big athlete, he\u2019s got length, can play strong. So, then we just kind of moved him over there a little bit, and he\u2019s been working with (TE coach) Tyler Roehl. Now he still does scout team receiver, and he\u2019s still working with (WR coach) Scottie (Montgomery) too, here and there. So yeah, we\u2019re just kind of tinkering with him. Maybe there\u2019s an H-back in there. There\u2019s an athlete, so we\u2019ll see. We\u2019re just going to keep working with him. He works hard. Man, he works hard and he\u2019s smart too.\u201d<\/p>\n
Kennedy\u2019s elevation could be a move directly related to rookie wide receiver Isaac TeSlaa being added to the injury report on Saturday. While not ruled out, TeSlaa could be at a minimum limited, which should open up the door for Kennedy to contribute as a reserve receiver and potential special teamer. Expect Kennedy to potentially step into a WR4 role due to his reliability.<\/p>\n
Niese is added to the roster and gives the Lions eight healthy offensive linemen for game day, making them eligible for the game day roster bonus. With no other offensive linemen elevated for game day, this is a very good sign that starters Penei Sewell, Taylor Decker, and Graham Glasgow are all in good position to be active against the Eagles.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Lions place their All-Pro tight end on injured reserve amongst several roster moves in Week 11<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":37724,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-37723","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-detroit-lions"],"yoast_head":"\n