Dave Birkett

Detroit Free Press

Tahir Whitehead has a message for everyone concerned about DeAndre Levy's health and whether the Detroit Lions linebacker will return to his Pro Bowl-caliber form after a nearly a year's layoff because of injuries.

"No need to fret," Whitehead said before practice today. "No need."

Levy suffered a preseason hip injury last year and played just 17 snaps in the regular season before undergoing surgery to repair a torn labrum.

He returned to practice this spring, but suffered a knee injury over the summer and opened training camp on the non-football injury list.

The Lions activated Levy off NFI last week, and it's unclear if Levy will play in either of the team's final two preseason games. The Lions visit the Baltimore Ravens on Saturday, then close exhibition play next week at home against the Buffalo Bills.

"Anytime a guy steps on the field there’s risk," Lions defensive coordinator Teryl Austin said. "That’s inherent in our game. But I think, is there a reward (to playing Levy in the preseason)? The fact that he gets to go full speed for the first time in a while, that would be the reward. Other than that, I just look at it, what’s best for our team moving forward? Does he need it? Does he absolutely have to have preseason to be a good player? No."

Levy, 29 and entering his eighth NFL season, is arguably the most important player on the Lions defense.

He led the team with 151 tackles in 2014, tied for second in the NFL with six interceptions a season earlier and is equally adept playing the run and the pass.

When Levy got hurt late in the preseason last year, the Lions played terribly on defense at the start of regular season and that contributed to their 1-7 start.

Austin said Levy has looked "good" in his limited practice time this month, and neither he nor head coach Jim Caldwell expressed any concerns about how effective Levy will be this fall.

"I don't have any," Caldwell said, declining to compare Levy now to the player he was in 2014.

"I wouldn’t gauge it by 2014. I think players get better all the time. I think his knowledge of the game is expanding. I think his sense has gotten better, even though you haven’t seen him. I’m just telling you that these guys get better and you can see it in his eyes and his quickness and his ability to read and those kinds of things. I would not expect him to standstill. I’m not going to make a comparison. We expect him to be better than he was, which he certainly is capable of being."

If Caldwell is correct, the Lions might have a defense that rivals the second-ranked unit they put on the field in 2014.

They have one of the game's best pass rushers in Ziggy Ansah, a top young cornerback in Darius Slay and accomplished veterans both up front (Haloti Ngata) and in the back end (Glover Quin), but struggled at the linebacker spot last fall.

Levy and Whitehead played most of the 2014 season together, after Whitehead took over at middle linebacker following Stephen Tulloch's knee injury, and Whitehead said the two picked up "right where we left off" when Levy returned to practice last week.

As for what that means once the regular season arrives, Whitehead said Levy is poised for another big year.

"Ain’t no dust to be knocked off," Whitehead said. "He’s been playing football for a long time. He’s seen a lot of football, he knows the system. So (no concerns). None whatsoever."

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

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