Onwuzurike Update & Lions Sign RB Trayveon Williams, CB Ekow Boye-Doe
Dan Campbell's choice comment on Levi Onwuzurike and practice updates
The Detroit Lions made some moves yesterday in waiving Kye Robichaux and Loren Strickland and correspondingly signing RB Trayveon Williams and CB Ekow Boye-Doe. The new Lions’ medical reports are below.
See my earlier story on Kye Robichaux’s foot fracture and why he still has a chance to return this season.
See my postgame report on Loren Strickland and his potential calf/Achilles concern. I don’t expect his injury to be major, but there is a chance it could be.
🟢Levi Onwuzurike - ACL recovery
Dan Campbell had an interesting choice of words when describing Onwuzurike’s ACL recovery during his August 16, 2026 press conference:
I like Levi. He’s coming off a ton of injuries. It’s nice to have 2 ACL’s. He looks the healthiest he’s been in a long time.
If you have followed my earlier analyses of Onwuzurike, you know that I suspect he was playing with a partial ACL injury during the 2024 season. This might be why Campbell now states that it’s nice to have 2 intact ACL’s.
Recall that Onwuzurike’s ACL injury was a curious one as it was not a straightforward ACL rupture. For the full details of Onwuzurike’s ACL saga from 2025, visit my story from early this year…
Onwuzurike wore a right knee brace for all of the 2024 season. In the Lions first preseason game this year, he was also wearing a right knee brace as you can see below…
Putting all this together suggests it was his right ACL that was bothering him for much, if not all, of 2024, and then required reconstructive surgery in 2025.
I was initially concerned that there might be trust issues from the Lions standpoint due to the curious timing of Onwuzurike’s ACL surgery. However, it doesn’t appear that is the case. The fact that Onwuzurike toughed it out the entire 2024 season, missing only a single game for a left hamstring, may have left a lasting impression on Dan Campbell and the Lions - as noted by reader @Whitt715 on X…
At this point, it seems very likely that Levi makes the 53-man roster.
🟢Lions Returning to Practice
In the past couple days, these Lions have returned to practice after short-term injuries:
Derrick Moore, EDGE - Groin injury on August 2. The groin took a bit longer than the initial 7-10 day estimate, but there is no reason to rush things in camp.
Sione Vaki, RB - Eye injury and nasal fracture on August 3. As expected, Vaki’s injury was short-term. However, he may not play in preseason as a precaution since his spot on the team is secure.
DJ Reed, CB - Groin strain on August 7. Soft tissue strains are starting to be a concern for Reed who had a significant hamstring last year. At least this groin was minor.
Juice Scruggs, OG/C - Soft tissue injury on August 9. Hopefully, he’s healthy enough to play in preseason Game 2, because the Lions need to get the starting center position figured out while they wait on Cade Mays’ wrist fracture.
Devin Cochran, OT - Unknown injury around August 10. Cochran may be in contention for the backup OT position which seems to be still up for grabs.
🔴Notable Lions Still Out of Practice
Payton Turner, EDGE - Back injury around July 28. This injury was framed as short-term by Dan Campbell at the start of camp. However, it’s been 3 weeks now and time is running out on Turner, who had a 10/10 medical concern level upon signing.
Isiah Pacheco, RB - MCL on August 9. No rush at all here with the season a month away. He is expected to be ready for Week 1.
Kerby Joseph, S - Left knee for >12 months. Joseph is still on PUP and can’t practice, but he was seen working out in the early days of camp. He hasn’t been seen in a while and Dan Campbell mentioned that Joseph has been out for personal reasons. Hopefully, any off-field issue is benign. On-field, his absence does not allay the concern for knee flare-ups.
Medical Reports for RB Trayveon Williams and CB Ekow Boye-Doe
For the rest of the free agent medical reports, visit Lions Free Agency 2026 in the navigation bar on my home page.
Medical concern level ranges from 0 (no concern) to 10 (extreme).
(Ages in parentheses are at start of 2026 season and are factored into the concern level. Injury info and ages based on available public information and are unverified - subject to update. Games played data includes playoffs & courtesy of sports-reference.com.)
🟢Trayveon Williams, RB (28)
Medical Concern Level: 1/10
2025: 7 games
2024: 17 games
2023: 17 games. Mild right ankle sprain.
2022: 11 games
2021: 5 games
2020: 10 games
2019: 11 games
Williams appears to be medically clean with no reports of significant injuries. He is getting up there in age for the running back position though.
Even though he’s had many years of NFL experience, Williams has been lightly used with just 72 rushes for 343 yards so far. At age 28, he likely won’t have upside beyond what he’s already shown.
With the Lions recent RB injuries of Kye Robichaux (foot fracture), Jacob Saylors (mild ankle sprain), Isiah Pacheco (MCL), and Jabari Small (unknown), the team does have a need for somebody to take on tacklers in practice as reader @GlorneC noted on X…
🟢Ekow Boye-Doe, CB (26)
Medical Concern Level: 0/10
2023: 7 games.
Boye-Doe has bounced around various practice squads and the UFL in his career. He does have some NFL game experience which is a positive. His age is still young and I found no reports of significant injuries for him.
The Lions CB room is currently healthy except for the recent loss of safety Loren Strickland. Maybe Boye-Doe is being considered for the safety position.
Finally, thank you to Lions Grey Manes…
