Dave Birkett

Detroit Free Press

The DeAndre Levy saga continues.

Levy still has not returned to practice on a full-time basis from the knee injury he suffered in a Week 1 win over the Indianapolis Colts, and the Detroit Lions are preparing for him to miss his 11th straight game Sunday against the New Orleans Saints (1 p.m., Fox).

Levy's game status has not been finalized, but the linebacker has played in just two of a possible 27 games since signing a four-year contract extension in August 2015 and still is limited in his third week back at practice.

Lions coach Jim Caldwell did not dispute a reporter's statement at his news conference today that Levy is expected to miss this weekend's game, but he insisted that the team has no regrets about not placing Levy on injured reserve earlier this season.

The Lions have carried Levy as part of their 53-man roster for the past 11 weeks, rather than place him on IR and designating him for return when he was healthy enough to play. Had the Lions placed Levy on IR, they would have been able to sign a player to fill his roster spot.

"I don’t regret anything," Caldwell said. "We do what’s best for what we think our team and players need."

Levy was a Pro Bowl-caliber defender in 2013-14, when he amassed 270 tackles and seven interceptions, but he missed most of last season with a hip injury that required surgery and opened training camp this year on the non-football injury list because of a knee injury.

Levy returned to practice midway through camp, then suffered his second knee injury of the year in the Lions' regular-season opener.

Caldwell said "the reasons are obvious" why the Lions opted to keep him on the active roster despite not playing for almost three months.

“I think, obviously, he’s a talented player. He just hasn’t been healthy," Caldwell said.

Does Caldwell expect Levy to be healthy at some point this year?

"We'll see," Caldwell said.

The Lions still have not used their IR-return spot, though linebacker Jon Bostic, who broke his foot in August, worked out lightly on the side at practice Wednesday and today. And running back Ameer Abdullah, who suffered a foot injury in Week 2, received positive feedback in a checkup before Thanksgiving.

Caldwell declined to say whether Levy suffered a setback in his rehab and insisted that keeping Levy on the 53-man roster to this point was the right decision.

"All we’re concerned with is winning," Caldwell said. "That’s all we’re concerned with. We’re hanging in there pretty decently."

The Lions (7-4) are in first place in the NFC North.

"We look at our situation, where we are at that time, going into the week," Caldwell said. "We make the best decisions based upon what we have available to us, which we’ve done thus far and continue to do."

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Contact Dave Birkett: dbirkett@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @davebirkett.

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