ALLEN PARK -- Ask Glover Quin about his iron-man streak, and he'll ask you which one you mean.

"Playing all the games or playing all the plays?" the free safety will say.

The second one, of course, ended with a thud the last time he played, when he collided with A'Shawn Robinson on a run by New Orleans Saints running back Alvin Kamara, and Quin was left lying on the turf for a moment. But the former can still live, thanks in part to a bye week that allowed Quin to clear the five stages of the league's concussion protocol.

He's now locked and loaded to go against the Pittsburgh Steelers on Sunday. It'll be his 123rd consecutive start, dating all the way back to his 2009 rookie year.

His consecutive plays streak is over, finishing at 1,499 snaps, or every single one in 24 straight games. He was the only defender in the league to play every snap last season, and the thought ran through his mind as he walked through the tunnel of the Mercedes-Benz Superdome in the second quarter of what would be a 52-38 loss.

"It takes a little pressure off," Quin said. "Sometimes you have plays in the game where you're like, 'Oh, golly.' But then you think about, Ah, man, I can fight through it. I'll be OK. You take pride in those things because this is a tough league. And I do take pride in being able to play every game."

He'll get a chance to do that Sunday in a game in which the Lions will need him badly to help defend Le'Veon Bell and Antonio Brown. It'll happen because he was able to move through the five steps in just a few days after the bye week. It involved returning to a baseline of functions, getting back to cardio, participating in a non-contact practice and then coming back to pads for a full-go session, all without any signs of impairment.

Quin's mind has always been his best strength, and he's used the extra days of the bye week to prepare just a little bit more for such a potent Steelers offense. On Thursday, he could recite the exact number of carries Bell had in the past two games: 32 and 35.

Those went for 179 and 134 yards, respectively, which showcases how critical the return of a sure-tackling safety is to a unit that got gashed for 193 rushing yards by the Saints, including before and after Quin's vicious hit and exit. He doesn't know if he lost consciousness on the play. He described the hit as "scary."

It was a reminder of how even the most reliable can finally miss a snap, though it isn't going to hold him back for long.