The Detroit Lions head to Carolina to take on the Panthers on Sunday Night Football. The Lions enter the game very healthy, while the Panthers are banged up. When the game starts, none of that matters though as backups can rise to the occasion. This year, we’ve witnessed backup QBs go 6-0.
Dan Campbell had a press conference today, with the only injury update being for Brian Branch…
“He’s close. He’s ready to go.”
Well, apparently not close or ready enough to start practicing, as his 21-day practice window has yet to open. I’ll have more on Branch below, along with an intriguing question about his running mate, Kerby Joseph.
Lions vs Panthers Final Injury Report
🔴”Out” or “Doubtful” designation
🟡”Questionable”
🟢”In”
*Current starter
DETROIT LIONS
(open -2.5, current -3.5)
🔴 Ben Bartch, OG - Foot
Since his December 2025 Lisfranc foot surgery, Bartch has missed the Lions’ offseason as well as parts of training camp due to the foot. Now, just four weeks into the season, he’ll have missed two games presumably due to the same foot issue.
At some point, the Lions may decide that the unreliability and uncertainty isn’t worth it, and move on. The team has young potentials in Miles Frazier and Seth McLaughlin who could use development. Also, Cade Mays will return soon, freeing up current center Juice Scruggs to join the OG competition.
🟡 *DJ Reed, CB - Rib
Projection: In
Reed played 94% of snaps last game, including the final defensive snap. He played well all game in tight coverage on Garrett Wilson. I reviewed all his plays again and did not see any plays that were even mildly concerning for the ribs.
Reed was questionable (foot) going into Week 2 and played. I expect the same to happen on Sunday.
🟢 *DJ Wonnum, EDGE - Back
With two FPs to finish the week, Wonnum’s back is fine. That’s good news for the Lions coming off a two-sack game.
Notables Unlisted (*Starter when healthy)
🔴 *Brian Branch, S - On PUP with right Achilles. He was eligible to open his 21-day practice window last week, and his window is still not open. Hopefully, he will open his window after the Panthers game. If he does, his earliest projected return-to-play (RTP) would likely be Week 7 (October 25) vs the Packers. Last year, the median RTP after opening the practice window was Day 16…
🔴 *Cade Mays, C - The Lions’ original starting center is on IR with a wrist fracture. He is eligible to open his practice window after the Panthers game. If this indeed happens, Mays could play as soon as Week 5 vs the Cardinals, but more likely would play on Week 7 after the bye.
🔴 *Kerby Joseph, S - On PUP with left knee. I answered many knee cartilage questions in my Kerby Joseph Knee Cartilage Mailbag yesterday. Here is an interesting follow-up question by Drake Jeter on X…
Was Kerby’s knee an issue before signing his extension?
Knee cartilage damage is very much a case-by-case basis issue. Imaging like MRIs and XRs are not perfect for picking up cartilage damage. Also, what shows up on imaging does not necessarily correlate with the symptoms. Thus, it is very difficult for the doctor or patient to predict what the future holds when it comes to cartilage. What adds even more difficulty to the doctor’s evaluation is if the patient does not accurately and honestly report symptoms (see #4 below).
There are multiple possibilities as to whether there was knowledge of a cartilage issue prior to Kerby’s extension. Here are the hypotheticals in no particular order:
#1. Neither Kerby nor the Lions had any indication of an emerging knee cartilage issue. There may have been no symptoms or imaging concerns prior to the extension. The cartilage wear-and-tear may have hit a tipping point where it started to cause symptoms after the extension. Or an acute event damaged the cartilage after the extension. Neither of these possibilities is unusual.
#2. Kerby and the Lions both knew about early cartilage issues, but did not expect it to worsen so rapidly. It’s possible there were signs of some cartilage damage on MRI, but it’s very difficult to predict when or if the damage will become a career-threatening issue. Players can play entire careers with articular cartilage damage. A notable example is former #1 overall pick, Jadeveon Clowney, who underwent microfracture surgery in his rookie season and is currently playing his 13th year in the NFL.
#3. Kerby was aware of mild symptoms, but the Lions were not. Players have aches and pains all the time in the NFL, so some knee soreness during the 2024 season may not have raised any unusual concern from Kerby’s viewpoint. He may not have even had it evaluated on the assumption that it would improve with rest over the offseason, like most other aches and pains. Any symptoms likely did improve with the three months of rest prior to signing his extension.
#4. Kerby was aware that a serious issue was brewing, but the Lions were not. This is the most controversial of the possibilities. Players can hide their symptoms from the medical staff. This happens all the time when players dodge concussion diagnoses.
Players also have the ability and right to seek counsel from an independent (non-team-affiliated) doctor for advice - in fact, I fully encourage players to do so for pretty much everything. Is the player required to report all their findings back to the team? I’m not sure of the exact language of the NFL contract, but even if a player is required to report back to the team, there is going to be some gray area here. For example, if a player contacted me for advice, there would be no way for the team to know about it. Even if the team somehow found out, I would not be required to tell them anything. My allegiance would be entirely to the player.
Hiding symptoms from team medical prior to negotiating an extension clearly would help the player in negotiations. Is this ethical? That’s a separate discussion, but there’s no doubt it happens all the time, and I don’t blame players for doing what’s right by them. If the player is not forthcoming about symptoms, it’s hard to blame the medical staff for missing something.
CAROLINA PANTHERS
🔴 *Xavier Legette, WR - Knee
Legette missed last game due to this injury as well.
🔴 *Damien Lewis, OG - Elbow
This starting guard was ruled out early this week with an elbow UCL suffered in Week 3. Corey Bullock likely gets the start.
🟡 *Monroe Freeling, OT - Concussion
With the FP today, Freeling is likely to be in on Sunday.
🟡 *Jalen Coker, WR - Quad
Coker suffered this quad injury in Week 3 and had two LPs to finish the week. It might be difficult to play through a quad injury for a WR. He is leading the team in receiving this year with 222 yards on 18 receptions.
🟡 *Lee Hunter, DT - Foot
Hunter played 39% of snaps over the first three games of the season. This foot injury may have occurred in practice, and he had two LPs to finish the week. Lions fans saw a similar scenario with DJ Reed’s foot injury (practice injury with two LPs) leading into Week 2, and he ended up playing. Hunter’s status could go either way here.
🟡 Cam Jackson, DT - Knee
This appears to be a practice injury that occurred on Friday.
🟢 *Bryce Young, QB - Knee
Young was injured in Week 3 and was seen wearing a left knee brace in practice this week. But on video, it looked like it was his right knee that took trauma landing hard on the turf. Young coyly refused to disclose which knee was actually the problem this week…
🟢 *Chuba Hubbard, RB - Rest
🟢 *Nick Scott, S - Rib
🟢 *Devin Lloyd, LB - Calf
🟢 Darren Waller, TE - Rest/toe
🟢 Princely Umanmielen, LB - Ankle
Notables Unlisted (*Starter when healthy)
🔴*Nic Scourton, LB - ACL on July 23, 2026.
🔴*Ikem Ekwonu, LT - Patella tendon rupture on January 11, 2026, on PUP.
🔴*Jaycee Horn, CB - Torn quad in Week 3, on IR
🔴*Mike Jackson, CB - Groin injury in Week 3, on IR.
🔴Chris Brazzell, WR - LCL surgery, on IR.
🔴Jonathan Brooks, RB - Core muscle surgery after Week 2, on IR.