Dave Birkett

Detroit Free Press

Ameer Abdullah is scheduled to visit a foot specialist Tuesday in Charlotte, N.C., and the Lions are holding out hope that their top running back won’t miss an extended period of time with the injury he suffered in Sunday's 16-15 loss to the Tennessee Titans.

Abdullah underwent X-rays and an MRI and was initially diagnosed with a sprained foot, but he has swelling that the team is trying to determine the origin of. The hope is that it’s due to a past foot injury and not indicative of something more major that would require surgery.

Abdullah left the field Sunday after a 24-yard run with just under 3 minutes to play in the first half and was reportedly in a boot after the game.

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ESPN's Josina Anderson first reported Abdullah's pending visit to Charlotte.

He leads the Lions with 101 yards rushing on 18 carries, and had five catches for 57 yards in the Lions’ season-opening win over the Colts.

“You lose a dynamic playmaker (if Abdullah is out),” running back Zach Zenner said. “I think you’ve seen — everyone has seen what he’s been able to do. Not just in the run game, in the pass game as well. And just a competitor. A really strong competitor. He’s out there giving everything he’s got trying to win.”

If Abdullah can't play against the Packers, Theo Riddick likely will start at running back and rookie Dwayne Washington will play a sizable role off the bench.

Riddick has 82 yards rushing on 18 carries so far this season and is one of the best pass-catching running backs in the NFL. Washington had four carries for 31 yards against the Titans.

"He was productive obviously on the carries that he had and I think he’s coming along," Lions coach Jim Caldwell said. "I think without question he’s certainly capable of giving us some unique production in his way because he’s a little different type of back. But I think he’ll be alright."

Caldwell declined to provide injury updates on Abdullah, defensive end Ziggy Ansah (ankle) and linebackers Kyle Van Noy (calf) and Antwione Williams (thigh), all of whom left Sunday's game with injuries.

Caldwell also declined to rule out that linebacker DeAndre Levy will miss the rest of the season with a quadriceps injury that kept him out of Sunday's game.

"We'll see," Caldwell said.

Levy has played in two of a possible 18 games since he signed a four-year contract extension with the Lions last year. He missed most of last season with a hip injury, and opened training camp this year on the nonfootball injury list after hurting his knee over the summer.

The Lions have a workout planned for several free-agent linebackers and likely will need to make a roster move at the position.

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Contact Dave Birkett: dbirkett@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @davebirkett. Download our Lions Xtra app for free on Apple and Android!