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Larry Warford said his knee is night-and-day better than when he originally suffered the injury.

(Mike Mulholland | MLive.com)

ALLEN PARK -- Last week, Detroit Lions guard Larry Warford hobbled around the team's locker room with a heavy limp and a giant brace on his injured left knee. This week, the brace is gone and so is the limp as Warford played a couple points of pingpong with running back Joique Bell while he waited for reporters talking to Dominic Raiola to clear out from in front of his locker.

When the knee injury first occurred a little more than two weeks ago, there was concern it might knock Warford out for the rest of the season. But that outlook is significantly brighter these days, although the second-year lineman wasn't about to risk coach Jim Caldwell's ire by sharing a timetable.

"I feel great," Warford said. "Obviously, I can't give a timetable, but compared to when I first did it, it's night and day. Hopefully, I'll be back soon. That's their call, not mine. Whenever they think I'm ready is when I'll start practicing."

The swelling in the knee is almost gone as he continues going through daily ice and stimulation treatments. At this stage, he's upping the physical activity in his rehab.

"I'm doing some general workouts strengthening my quad, running, doing small drills, nothing that exerts too much energy or puts too much strain on my knee," Warford said. "It's feeling good."

Warford, the Lions' third-round draft pick last season, was a pleasant surprise as a rookie, quickly developing into the team's most consistent starter up front. He also played all 1,133 of the team's offensive snaps.

Prior to going down against Miami in Week 10, Warford missed just one snap this year, when he was required to substitute out after running a pass route on a trick play against Minnesota.

This is, by far, the most significant injury Warford has had to deal with since he began playing football.

"It sucks," he said. "I've never missed a game. I might have missed one play in college, because I got the wind knocked out of me. That's it."

It remains highly unlikely Warford plays this Thursday against the Chicago Bears, but he could conceivably return as soon as the following week, when the Lions host the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Dec. 7. Until he's cleared, rookie Travis Swanson will continue to start at right guard.

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