Detroit, MI
Jerry Jacobs, James Mitchell to IR: Detroit Lions activate 4 players from practice squad
The Detroit Lions announced on Saturday that cornerback Jerry Jacobs and tight end James Mitchell have been placed on injured reserve. Both were added to the injury report this week in practice and now both will be ineligible to play again during the playoffs. Jacobs suffered a lower-body injury, while Mitchell suffered a hand injury that required surgery, according to a social media post from the Lions tight end.
With the two empty roster spots and the two practice squad elevations allowed per week, the Lions have promoted a total of four players from the practice squad who are now eligible to play for Sunday’s Wild Card game against the Los Angeles Rams. Here are the details:
Signed to the 53-man roster:
- TE Anthony Firkser
- CB Chase Lucas
Temporary elevations from the practice squad (will return to practice squad after game)
- FB Jason Cabinda
- DT Tyson Alualu
Firkser was a necessary signing to the 53-man roster with the Lions shorthanded at tight end. Not only is Mitchell done for the season, but Brock Wright is making his return from injury after missing the past three games, and starter Sam LaPorta is questionable with a hyperextended knee and bone bruise. While it appears LaPorta is miraculously trending toward playing, the Lions certainly need some reinforcement in case he is limited or out.
Lucas makes his way back onto the 53-man roster for the second time this season. As one of the better gunners on the team, he will likely play a significant role on Sunday, while providing depth at both outside and nickel corner.
Cabinda returned to action last week as a practice squad call-up. He played only five offensive snaps at fullback but saw 20 on special teams. Expect a similar role for him on Sunday.
Finally, Alualu has been a call-up for each of the past two weeks. The 36-year-old defensive tackle has provided a healthy amount of snaps after the Lions moved on from Isaiah Buggs. With Alim McNeill back in the lineup, his role decreased a bit last week, but expect him to have a significant part in the game plan against a run-heavy Rams offense.
Of note, NFL postseason rules stipulate that the Lions are only allowed to sign four free agents during the playoffs, but because Firkser and Lucas are coming from Detroit’s practice squad, they do not count toward that allotment.
To recap:
Placed on IR:
- TE James Mitchell
- CB Jerry Jacobs
Signed to 53-man roster:
- TE Anthony Firkser
- CB Chase Lucas
Elevation from practice squad
- FB Jason Cabinda
- DT Tyson Alualu
Both generations on the ice Friday are intent on growing the game for today’s kids. Hartje and the Polar Bears believe an important step for women’s hockey in Michigan would be starting a Division I college team.
“I think if the PWHL establishes a team in Detroit, it will put a lot of pressure on the colleges to make sure there’s a D-I team in the state,” Hartje said. “Michigan has the second-highest number of players in the league, and it would have been a dream for us to be able to stay in the state to play.”
It’s been a problem for decades. Pierson had to turn down the offer from Boston University, because her family couldn’t afford to send her to New England for college. Hartje ended up at Yale University, and Megan Keller, who scored the gold medal winning goal for the U.S. in the 2026 Winter Olympics and plays for the PWHL’s Boston Fleet, went from suburban Detroit to Boston College.
Meanwhile, 2026 U.S. men’s Olympic team members and Michigan natives Dylan Larkin of the Red Wings and Zach Werenski of the Columbus Blue Jackets were able to stay in the state to play with the USA Hockey National Team Development Program, then based in Ann Arbor, before moving on to the University of Michigan in the same town.
“Megan’s brother played at Michigan State, and I’m sure she also would have stayed here to play for a Michigan school,” Skarupa said. “It’s imperative that Michigan gets a college program.”
Skarupa is serious about growing the game. She is working with Keller and the NHL Foundation U.S. to identify recipients for its $100,000 Empowerment Grant Program for Girls Hockey.
“Every time I go back to a city, there are new teams, new girls and new faces,” she said. “It’s a testament to growth all over the world, but it is tremendous inside the U.S.”
Detroit, MI
Retired Detroit sergeant faces new sexual assault charge involving 14-year-old victim from 2002
An additional case, this one involving a victim who was then 14 years old, has been added to the sexual assault investigation against a former Detroit Police Department sergeant.
Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy announced the latest charges on Friday against Benjamin Martin Wagner, 68, who now lives in Greenville, N.C. He had retired from the Detroit Police Department in 2017.
The victim in the additional charges was 14 years old when the assault happened in October 2002 in Detroit, Worthy said. The prosecutor alleges that Wagner approached the victim, pointed a handgun at her, ordered her away from the location and then sexually assaulted her.
In this case, he faces charges of kidnapping, two counts of first-degree criminal sexual conduct and two counts of third-degree criminal sexual conduct. An arraignment hearing took place Friday in the 36th District Court in Detroit. A probable cause conference is scheduled for April 7.
The woman is now 37 years old.
“She has lived with what happened to her for 23 years and has now bravely decided that she wants to be a part of holding him accountable,” Worthy said.
Wagner participated in a court hearing Thursday and was remanded to jail, one week after he was charged with 15 counts of kidnapping and rape in five separate sexual assault cases. All of those incidents happened between 1999 and 2003 in the northwest side of Detroit, with the victims being young women between the ages of 15 and 23.
The court dates for the earlier list of charges are April 7 for a probable cause hearing and April 14 for a preliminary exam.
Wagner joined the Detroit Police Department in 1989 as a police officer and was eventually promoted to sergeant. He retired in 2017 and moved to North Carolina.
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