The Detroit Lions won’t have a rookie knocking D’Andre Swift back for Sunday’s game against the Carolina Panthers as he had concussion symptoms this week.
Lions coach Kyle Caskey confirmed after Friday’s practice session that Swift will not play the Panthers.
The Lions will use a combination of Adrian Peterson and Kerryon Johnson in his place, with Jonathan Williams playing back as number 3.
“We’ve been relying on Adrian for most of this season but Kerryon is obviously playing like a fresh Kerryon right now so we’re going to allow him to get in there and do his thing too,” said Caskey said. “We’ll find out how the rotation goes when we get into the game. I mean, it’s not a bad problem to have a former league MVP and one more selection for the second round and all that comes back. So yeah, we are disappointed.” We won’t have Swift, but we’re fine in the back room. “
Neither Caskey nor Lions coach Matt Patricia would provide a schedule of how or when Swift’s brain injury occurred, or even say if it was a soccer ball.
Swift was a full participant in training on Wednesday and spoke to reporters via video conference after training. But he wasn’t on the field at the start of practice early Thursday afternoon.
Players on Concussion Log are relieved of their media duties for the week.
“It was just something that came up and we wanted to make sure we did our due diligence there to make sure he was okay and that’s how they saw it,” said Patricia. “We’re going to be careful and make sure he’s out there as soon as he can based on the logs. The logs are exactly what they are. It’s kind of a timeline that is pretty tight on all of this.”
The NFL’s concussion protocol consists of five steps that players must go through before they can return to game action.
Once the concussion symptoms have subsided, players are allowed to participate in light aerobic exercise and gradually introduce weight training and non-contact football-related activities.
As soon as team doctors approve a player for contact, the player must be approved by an independent neurologist in order to participate in a game.
Swift had a season high of 150 yards from the brink in his win over Washington last week when he made the first start of his career.
It’s unclear if he’ll be available for next week’s Thanksgiving game against the Houston Texans.
“We’re just going to keep rolling with these guys,” said Patricia. “When they’re out there and when Swift is out there, great. I think that’s really just part of the mentality of making sure you have enough depth in the rewind position that you’re comfortable with.”
Broad recipients Kenny Golladay and Danny Amendola missed training on Friday with hip injuries, which could mean the Lions (4-5) without two of their top recipients on Sunday.
Golladay, who missed the last two games, was a limited participant in Wednesday’s practice and was out on the field doing drills at the start of Thursday’s practice. This was listed as a non-attendee for that day according to a pool report.
When asked if Golladay suffered a setback, Patricia said, “We’re trying to be smart with everyone here as we know two games are really close. I think we mention that all the time, maybe in these Situations. ” Guys who are just getting back to practicing we try to be smart with them as the week progresses. If we push them one day, what will the next day look like, and just try to evaluate them day by day, day-to-day situation from that point of view. “
Matthew Stafford did repetitions for the first team during Friday practice and can start despite the thumb injury he sustained against Washington.
Contact Dave Birkett at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @ Davebirkett.
