Carlos Monarrez

Detroit Free Press

The Detroit Lions struggled when their star cornerback, Darius Slay, left the game against the New York Giants with a hamstring injury.

Slay missed his second day of practice Friday and is not expected to play Monday night against the Dallas Cowboys.

But defensive coordinator Teryl Austin said his players are ready to accept the situation if Slay can’t play against the Dallas Cowboy on Monday night.

“I think our guys all along the defense have learned that injuries are going to happen, part of the NFL and it’s the next guy’s job to step up and do well,” Austin said. “So I’m confident our guys will go out and play hard. We’ll prepare well and they’ll do the best they can and hopefully that’s good enough for us to win.”

Slay’s loss pinched the secondary’s depth and forced newly signed Asa Jackson into slot duties, where he was victimized by Odell Beckham Jr. Austin said he tries to give as many of his players “game-type reps” in order to prepare them for emergency duty.

“So that when these situations arise, those guys are prepared for it and I think that the guys that are going to have to step in, they should be prepared for it,” Austin said. “How they play, we’ll see on Monday. But I’m confident that they’ll be able to do that and I think because of the way we practice, that helps.”

Related:

Swanson, Slay, Riddick remain out at Detroit Lions practice

Levy's load: Linebacker DeAndre Levy’s snap count went from 18 against the Chicago Bears to 30 against the Giants as he continues to work back from a knee injury that sidelined him most of the season.

“He’s coming along,” Austin said. “I think, you know, he was able to handle a few more reps last week and as he feels then we’ll continue to increase his load.

“If he’s feeling good, we’ll increase it. If he’s not feeling good, we won’t. But we all know what kind of player he is and so it’s really good to have him back on the field helping us play some good defense.”

Personnel department: The Lions waived defensive end Corey Lemonier. The Lions claimed Lemonier off waivers from Cleveland last week and he was inactive against the Giants.

Contact Carlos Monarrez: cmonarrez@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @cmonarrez. Download our Lions Xtra app for free on Apple and Android!