The Detroit Lions returned to the practice field for the second time this week in preparation for their first division matchup of the 2026 NFL season against the regular season.
During the portion of practice that was open to observers, all 51 members of the active roster and the practice squad were spotted.
Similar to Wednesday, veteran cornerback Rock Ya-Sin was limited, while Brian Branch and Cade Mays were full participants.
Detroit Lions defensive coordinator Kelvin Sheppard expressed prior to practice the defense is seeking to build off what they were able to accomplish against the Arizona Cardinals.
"So, I'll just start briefly with, I thought it was the timing and everything of the bye week, especially with this year and what took place the first few weeks of the season was outstanding. And kind of the vibe and theme for the players and coaches was, 'Let's build off the positives,' which there were a lot of those," said Sheppard. "And obviously it's good to go into the bye coming off of the performance like we did in the Arizona game. So, let's build off the positives and then let's make sure we're learning from the negative things that showed up."
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With the Packers featuring one of the top passing attacks in the NFL, Sheppard's unit must again work diligently to limit explosive plays and to continue to have the defensive line play at a high level.
"That was a contingency through the whole deal. I thought the staff did a phenomenal job identifying certain things that we did. With it being only a small sample size of games, the recollection of the plays and everything was right there," Sheppard said. "So, it didn't take us as much time as it would on a Week 10 bye or something like that to have the recall of what took place. But just the building, the answers, having answers, the players' accountability, it all was outstanding during those bye week meetings.
"We're looking to build off of that. It seemed like it was an eternity ago and we've been preparing for this big game this week, but I believe we'll be ready to go Sunday.”
Lions' Week 7 Thursday Injury Report
CB Rock Ya-Sin -- Hamstring (LP)
Safety Brian Branch -- Achilles (FP)
OL Cade Mays -- Wrist (FP)
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