BEREA, Ohio -- Lions receiver Calvin Johnson, sporting a brace on his swollen right knee, made a surprise return to practice Thursday, which is good news for Browns cornerback Joe Haden, who's eager to test his worth against the best receiver in the NFL.

"It's good for everybody else to hear about how good Calvin is, but I'm not putting anything past myself, you know?'' said Haden. "I like the challenge. I like to go up against somebody like him, because it lets me know exactly where I stand. If you go against the best receiver in the league and you hold your own and do your thing, it's like what's next?''

The Pro Bowl perhaps? Haden, who has his sights set on his first trip to Hawaii this season, passed his second-biggest test when he held Cincinnati's A.J. Green to seven catches for 51 yards in a 17-6 Browns victory in week four. Considered by Haden as the league's second-best receiver, Green's longest catch was 16 yards.

"I want to be one of those corners that can be able to go up against the Calvins, go up against the AJs, and not be 'oh Joe, why are you so worried about him?''' said Haden. "(I'd rather it be) 'Calvin, you have to go against Joe this week.' You know what I'm saying?''

Lions reporters were so caught up in whether or not "Megatron" would play that no one asked about facing Haden. It was a departure from week two, when Johnson was probed midweek about his matchup with two-time Pro Bowler Patrick Peterson of the Cardinals.

A strong effort in the Browns' victory over A.J. Green and the Bengals last month is fueling Joe Haden's confidence as he prepares for Detroit's Calvin Johnson this Sunday.

"Maybe one of these days it's going to be like that, but I'll just go in grind and make sure I play one of my best games,'' said Haden.

Johnson, who sat out Detroit's 22-9 loss to Green Bay last week with the injury suffered Sept. 29 against the Bears, participated in individual drills Thursday but was limited with swelling in the knee. Afterwards, he was coy whether or not he'll play.

"I’m feeling better,'' Johnson said. "We'll just leave it at that.''

Lions coach Jim Schwartz reiterated that it could come down to a game time decision, but the fact that Johnson returned to practice three days before the game is encouraging. Last week, he worked out on Friday and then tested it in pre-game warmups, when it was determined he couldn't go. However, he said he was "real close'' to facing the Packers.

"We'll just have to see how it goes,'' said Schwartz. "But he's improving."

Haden acknowledged the Lions aren't the same team without Megatron, who leads the club with four TD catches, including a 72-yarder against the Cardinals.

"It's completely different,'' said Haden. "You can tell if you're missing a dynamic player like him. (For quarterback Matt) Stafford, it’s like his comfort blanket basically. So if he’s missing him, it’s going to be a completely different offense. But with him, you’ve always got to know where he’s at. They move him around, and they just try to get him the ball anyway possible.”

The strategy has worked beautifully over the past two years. Last season, Johnson set the NFL record with 1,964 yards on his 122 catches, breaking Hall of Famer Jerry Rice's mark of 1,848 set in 1995. The year before, he racked up 1,681 yards.

"His range of catching the ball is tremendous," said Haden. "He can go up and get it. He's fast, strong, and he has a really good quarterback throwing it to him, so that always helps.''

In his seventh NFL season, Detroit's Calvin Johnson has 58 career touchdowns, averaging 16 yards per reception.

At 6-5, 236 pounds, the former No. 2 overall pick has six inches and 46 pounds on Haden. When healthy, Johnson runs a 4.35 40.

"Just look at the dude,'' said Haden. "He's huge. He's big, strong and fast. ... I just try to stay as close as possible, don't let him beat me up top, try to stay on top and let him come back to the ball.''

Haden, who will cover Johnson primarily man-to-man, ranks him ahead of Green in part because of Stafford's belief in him.

"No matter covered or not covered, the ball's going to come,'' he said. "You've got to be in a tight position to be able to make a play on it, because you could be on top, they're still going to throw it. You could be trailing, wherever you are, the ball could still be coming that way.''

Browns defensive coordinator Ray Horton, who coached Peterson in Arizona last year, won't hesitate to put Haden on an island against the three-time Pro Bowl receiver.

"Joe is one of the players we challenged to be better,'' said Horton. "He's a player who has tremendous potential and we're trying to get that out of him and we've challenged him to be -- and I joke with him -- Patrick Peterson.

"He's accepted the challenge and the inside joke of 'Patrick wouldn't do that' -- it's a way to challenge a guy to be better than maybe he knows he can be. But he's going to be on the team's best receiver most of the time. He's got the ability and he's got the mindset to accept that challenge and I think it's a great challenge every week because you play somebody really, really good.''

Is Haden as good as Peterson yet?

"He's still a work in progress,'' said Horton. "I don't want him to think he's arrived by any stretch of the imagination and that's what good players do. They're always challenged to be better and they don't accept that 'I'm there' yet.''

Peterson struggled against Johnson, yielding six catches for 116 yards and two touchdowns in the Cardinals' Week 2 victory. But Haden knows if he can shut down Johnson in the same way he did Green, it'll not only help his team win, but inch him closer to his Pro Bowl dreams.

"Whatever I can do to help out the Browns, that’s the biggest thing," he said. "As long as we win the game, lock down whatever, it’s good. if we held Calvin to nothing and we still lost, it’d be a loss all-around.''

Johnson hasn't asked to exchange jerseys with Haden after the game like he did with Peterson, but at least one Lion views Haden as a star. Rookie cornerback Darius Slay of Mississippi State has been a fan since Haden's Florida days, and hit him up on Twitter this week for the jersey swap.

"Never growing up I would've thought I’d have another player that I’m playing against looking up to me,'' said Haden. "It was kind of cool. I’m going to give it to him right after the game.''

If all goes as planned, Megatron will want his jersey someday, too.