Detroit Gets Ready For New England, But Some Players Are Still Banged Up.

The biggest test of the 2017 preseason happens on Friday for Detroit as they host the defending super bowl champions, New England Patriots. The team could be down some players though heading in. Luckily for the team, there weren’t any additions to the injury report after the game last week, but some players are still missing practice.

According to Michael Rothstein of ESPN, Thurston Armbrister, Adairius Barnes, Eric Ebron, Dontez Ford, Cyrus Kouandjio, Dez Stewart, and Noel Thomas all missed practice on Tuesday. Ebron has yet to play this preseason, as questions have started to arise on if he will be ready for action come week one.

Sam Martin Could Miss Regular Season Action

Some bad news came out of Jim Caldwell’s mouth on Wednesday about Sam Martin. Martin started the season on the NFI list, meaning it was a non-football injury and the team released a statement saying that Martin would miss time during the preseason. That time off may dip into the regular season though, as Jim Caldwell said “He’s still alive. He hasn’t disappeared off the face of the Earth. We see him, but yeah, he’s doing good.”

While Detroit is lucky to have Kasey Redfern on the roster, as he has been doing well this preseason, netting 43.2 yards per punt, and has been making a case that he could be a punter somewhere in the NFL. The bad thing about Martin possibly missing time is that Redfern would take a roster spot over somebody that the team would have kept if they didn’t need Redfern.

Lions Are Optimistic On Ziggy Ansah‘s Return

Some good news for Lions fans though is that Ziggy Ansah is looking good on a possible return to the field. While he didn’t practice with the team on Tuesday, he did run on the sidelines with the team, something he hasn’t done yet this season.

Jim Caldwell told Dave Birkett of the Detroit Free Press, “I can’t tell the future, I can’t predict that. But I feel good about it, but anything can happen these days. You just don’t know,” when asked if Ansah would return by week one.

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