Detroit, MI
Detroit Lions OL healthy for the first time since Week 1: ‘It’s time to put on a show’
The Detroit Lions will have their regular starting offensive line on the field Sunday for the first time since Week 1, and Jonah Jackson said the key to keeping them there is simple.
“Keep those 335-pound men off your ankle,” Jackson said.
Jackson knows the pain that can cause from personal experience.
The Lions’ starting left guard, Jackson missed the past three games with a high ankle sprain he suffered on the second offensive series of the Lions’ Week 5 win over the Carolina Panthers, when defensive tackle Derrick Brown fell on his ankle during a run play.
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Jackson limped his way back to the huddle and finished out the game on adrenaline, but spent the past month rehabbing. He said his ankle “feels good” now, and he’s expected to start Sunday against the Los Angeles Chargers.
“I was getting some heavy FOMO (fear of missing out),” Jackson said. “It was getting bad, so I’m real excited to be back out there with the guys. They were holding it down while I was out so it’s time for me to come back in and hold up my end of the bargain.”
The Lions have started seven different offensive line combinations in eight games this year, but still rank in the top six in the NFL in sack percentage (fifth) and rushing yards (sixth).
Right tackle Penei Sewell is the only Lion to have played every offensive snap this season, and he made two starts at left tackle when Taylor Decker was out with a high ankle sprain. Center Frank Ragnow returned to practice Tuesday after missing the Lions’ Week 8 game with calf and toe injuries, and Halapoulivaati Vaitai, who opened the season at right guard, has missed time with knee and back injuries.
Graham Glasgow, who has started games at all three interior line positions, has since replaced Vaitai in the starting lineup.
Jackson said Glasgow is “playing some of the best ball in the room” and praised fellow backups Kayode Awosika and Colby Sorsdal for their work as fill-ins.
“It just goes to show the standard we hold ourselves to in that room,” he said. “The next man up mentality’s huge.”
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And he said he’s looking forward to seeing what the line can do now that everyone is healthy.
“We’re finally back,” Jackson said. “The band’s back together. It’s time to put on a show.”
Jackson, running back David Montgomery, and center Frank Ragnow all took part in the open portion of practice Tuesday and are on track to return Sunday. Montgomery has missed two games with multiple rib injuries, Jackson sat out three weeks with a high ankle sprain and Ragnow did not play against the Raiders because of a calf injury. The Lions will release their first injury report of the week Wednesday.
Onwuzurike’s time ‘will come’
Levi Onwuzurike was a healthy scratch the past two games and largely a nonfactor the six weeks before that, but Lions defensive line coach John Scott insists he still is bullish on the third-year defensive tackle’s future.
“With Levi I think we sometimes forget, Levi basically missed a year and a half of football,” Scott said Tuesday. “That’s a huge learning curve when you’re not able to get out on the field, so Levi’s another guy that he has some great talent and we see progression every day.”
A second-round pick out of Washington in 2021, Onwuzurike missed most of training camp as a rookie and all of the regular season last year with a back injury that seems to have zapped his ability as a pass rusher.
He has two tackles and no quarterback pressures in 66 defensive snaps this season, and has not played since the Lions’ Oct. 15 win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
“It’ll come for Levi, he has to continue to work and he has to continue to show it in practice, which he’s doing,” Scott said. “And better yet, when you get that opportunity, you have to show that in the games as well, cause ultimately as you guys all know, that’s the ultimate measuring stick. People want to see wins and losses and how you perform on that stage, so those are all the things that he’s working at.”
The Lions have juggled personnel on their interior defensive line behind Alim McNeill and Benito Jones all season.
Onwuzurike, 25, opened the season as the No. 3 interior lineman, but did not record a tackle in the Lions’ first three games. Isaiah Buggs has been the team’s most impactful backup interior lineman with two tackles for loss and one sack in five games. Rookie third-round pick Brodric Martin made his NFL debut in the Lions’ last game before the bye against the Las Vegas Raiders.
The Lions (6-2) are committed to getting Martin more reps to speed his development, but Scott said there still is room for Onwuzurike in the playing rotation.
“Again, I am pleased at where he is,” Scott said. “It’ll come for him.”
Contact Dave Birkett at dbirkett@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @davebirkett.
A Detroit woman was killed in a two-vehicle crash Wednesday afternoon in Genesee County, Michigan.
Grand Blanc Township Police Department police chief William Renye reported the victim was an 85-year-old Detroit resident. Her name was not provided.
The other driver, a 47-year-old Holly man, northbound Subaru was hospitalized after the crash and is expected to recover from his injuries.
The crash happened about 5 p.m.
The Detroit woman was driving a Mazda from Holly Road, turning onto Baldwin Road at the time of the crash. The Holly man was driving a Subaru northbound.
“Our thoughts and prayers go out to the victim of this crash,” the police chief said.
Holly Road was closed at Baldwin during the preliminary investigation and cleanup.
Longtime Detroit Lions nemesis Aaron Rodgers will return to Ford Field for the first time since the 2022 season in 2025.
Rodgers, who quarterbacked the Lions’ NFC North rival Green Bay Packers, reportedly plans to sign with the Pittsburgh Steelers ahead of their upcoming minicamp. He returns to action for what will be his 21st NFL season.
The Lions will host the Steelers in Week 16 at Ford Field, meaning Rodgers could make his first start at the home of his former rival since Nov. 6, 2022. This matchup is currently slated to kick off at 4:25 p.m. on Sunday, Dec. 21.
Pittsburgh has been linked to the veteran quarterback throughout the offseason, as the team parted ways with both Russell Wilson and Justin Fields. Rodgers joins a quarterback room that also features Mason Rudolph, Skylar Thompson and 2025 sixth-round pick Will Howard.
Rodgers has spent the last two seasons as the quarterback of the New York Jets. His first season, the 2023 campaign, ended after just one drive as he suffered a torn Achilles.
He returned to action in 2024 and started all 17 games for the Jets, totaling 3,897 passing yards, 28 touchdowns and 11 interceptions while leading the team to a 5-12 finish.
Across his time with the Packers, Rodgers was 18-8 in starts against the Lions. He lost each of the last two games against the Lions, however, including a 20-16 Detroit win at Lambeau Field in what was his final game as a Packer.
Rodgers has totaled 6,551 yards, 54 touchdowns and 12 interceptions in his career against the Lions. Among one of his biggest moments against Detroit was a game-winning Hail Mary to tight end Richard Rodgers as time expired in a Thursday Night Football game on Dec. 3, 2015.
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CHICAGO — The Detroit Tigers scratched outfielder Kerry Carpenter from the starting lineup Wednesday, June 4, against the Chicago White Sox at Rate Field, in which he was supposed to play right field and bat fifth.
Carpenter suffered right hamstring tightness.
“He’s been dealing with this for a couple of days, navigating through the typical wear and tear of the season,” manager A.J. Hinch said, adding Carpenter remains available as a pinch-hitter. “We’re just being cautious.”
Wenceel Pérez replaced Carpenter in Wednesday’s lineup.
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Is Carpenter undergoing any tests?
“No, no, no,” Hinch said before Wednesday’s game. “He’s going to pinch-hit in the seventh inning.”
Carpenter — who launched three home runs Monday, June 2, against the White Sox — is hitting .273 with 13 home runs, seven walks and 44 strikeouts across 57 games in 2025, making 39 starts in the outfield and 11 starts at designated hitter.
He hasn’t played in the outfield since Saturday, May 31, against the Kansas City Royals at Kauffman Stadium — his last of eight games in a row in the outfield.
“That’s why I’ve DH’d him a couple of days in a row,” Hinch said. “I sat him on Sunday. I pulled him early last night. I was going to put him in the outfield, but an after meeting with him today, I decided to scratch him.”
Carpenter has a history with injuries and has never stayed healthy for a full season.
The 27-year-old landed on the injured list in each of his first three MLB seasons (2022-24): left lumbar spine strain in September 2022, right shoulder sprain in April 2023 and lumbar spine stress fracture in May 2024.
He also suffered a left hamstring strain in spring training in February 2024, a left hamstring injury in Game 4 of the ALDS in October 2024 and right hamstring soreness in April 2025. None of those issues required a stint on the injured list.
The Tigers have a roster logjam on the right side of the infield, which often pushes Carpenter to the outfield. If Colt Keith is the designated hitter, Gleyber Torres is at second base, and Spencer Torkelson is at first, where does Carpenter fit?
Carpenter should be the Tigers’ everyday designated hitter — both to protect his health and hide his below-average defense — but there isn’t a spot for him at designated hitter without benching Keith, Torres or Torkelson.
That’s putting his health at risk.
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Casey Mize: ‘I feel good’
Right-hander Casey Mize is set to start Thursday, June 5, in the finale of the four-game series against the White Sox. It will be his third start since returning from a left hamstring strain, which sent him to the injured list for the minimum 15 days.
His four-seam fastball averaged about 95 mph in his first seven starts, all before the injury. Since returning, his fastball averaged 93.2 mph in his eighth start and 93.7 mph in his ninth start.
There’s no reason to be worried.
“I feel good,” Mize said. “I’m super routine-oriented. I’m diving back into what I was doing before, the normal five- or six-day routine. Body feels good. I’m ready to go.”
The velocity on his splitter has stayed the same, hovering around 88 mph.
Mize has a 2.82 ERA in nine starts.
Dylan Smith optioned to Triple-A Toledo
The Tigers optioned right-handed reliever Dylan Smith to Triple-A Toledo, opening the door for right-hander Sawyer Gipson-Long to return from the 60-day injured list to start Wednesday against the White Sox.
Called up from Toledo on Friday, May 30, Smith made his MLB debut Monday and pitched in back-to-back games. The 25-year-old allowed two runs on four hits and two walks in three innings, without a strikeout.
“He wasn’t very happy with how he threw his secondary pitches,” Hinch said. “He’s got some work to do to complete his full arsenal and continue this upward trend of pounding the strike zone with some pretty good stuff.”
The Tigers also recalled righty reliever Jason Foley — who underwent season-ending right shoulder surgery — from Triple-A Toledo and placed him on the 60-day injured list, creating room for Gipson-Long’s return to the 40-man roster.
Foley will receive MLB service time while rehabbing.
Contact Evan Petzold at epetzold@freepress.com or follow him @EvanPetzold.
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