The Detroit Lions entered their Week 4 game against the Green Bay Packers with eight members of their active roster dealing with injuries.

Four Lions players missed the game entirely—Jason Cabinda, Halapoulivaati Vaitai, Emmanuel Moseley, and Kerby Joseph were ruled out or deemed inactive—while another four played through their respective injuries. Running back David Montgomery (thigh), left guard Jonah Jackson (thigh), and center Frank Ragnow (toe) all played a full allotment of snaps and didn’t look any worse for wear during the game.

The game wasn’t as kind to starting left tackle Taylor Decker (ankle), who reportedly aggravated his ankle during the game and was a bit worried that he may have re-injured it.

“It sucked,” Decker told Justin Rogers of the Detroit News. “I mean, I knew it was gonna be like that. It’s definitely aggravated and hopefully, it’s not completely re-injured and stuff like that, a setback. But we got a couple extra days leading into the next game, so it’s probably just going to be something I just got to deal with for a little while now.”

During the game, three more Lions were forced to leave at different points but all returned to the field after brief exits. Linebacker Derrick Barnes was cramping but was able to work through it fairly quickly. Defensive back Chase Lucas was dealing with an illness, but only missed one of his special teams snaps before returning. Defensive back Brian Branch appeared to suffer the most concerning injury, rolling his ankle severely enough to require a cart ride to the locker room.

Branch returned to the field, but you could tell his ankle was bothering him. Eventually, his ankle gave way again, and he was pulled from action in the fourth quarter and sat out the remainder of the game.

While Branch’s soft tissue injury could cost him some time, the good news is that the x-rays showed that there were no bone fractures, thus giving him a more positive prognosis.

On Friday, coach Dan Campbell was asked for injury updates on Decker and Branch. While he implied things were still in flux, the update’s overall tone was more good than bad.

“I’ll know more by this afternoon,” Campbell noted. “But I feel like we got out of the game pretty good with Decker. It doesn’t appear to be anything too serious with Branch, but there again, don’t know exactly how he’s going to feel until we get going when we get back this week, so I don’t really have anything.”

Because the Lions played on Thursday night this week, they get a bit of an extended break. Players are expected to have the weekend off to recuperate, and then return to work on Monday. While Campbell may have more updates when he meets with the media again early next week, the official injury report won’t be out until Wednesday.

Exhibition: Detroit Red Wings (1-1-0) vs. Washington Capitals (1-1-0)

When: 7 p.m. Saturday.

Where: Little Caesars Arena in Detroit.

TV: Bally Sports Detroit.

Radio: None.

∎ BOX SCORE

MIKE CHECK: Why Red Wings’ first exhibition game was a big deal for Michael Rasmussen

Game notes: It’s rare to get a home-and-home during the NHL’s regular season, but we have one this week in the preseason as the Capitals hit Little Caesars Arena just two days after they knocked off the Red Wings, 4-3, in D.C.

That game didn’t feature stars such as Dylan Larkin and Alex DeBrincat playing for the Wings — they should suit up in this one, however. It did feature, however, a bevy of mid-level forwards fighting for their spots on the second and third lines. Free-agent signee Daniel Sprong, who had a career year last season with Seattle with 21 goals, picked up a goal and an assist against the Caps, taking an early lead in the battle for playing time. More good news: Robby Fabbri, the oft-injured forward who missed the final month of last season with a knee issue, turned it on late against the Caps, scoring twice in the final five minutes to make it a close game.

Will we also get to see the Wings’ likely goalie tandem of Ville Husso and James Reimer, who signed a one-year deal with the Wings over the offseason? Reimer started the preseason opener at LCA on Tuesday, stopping seven of nine shots before handing the crease over to 21-year-old Jan Bednar, who was perfect on 12 shots over almost 30 minutes. The Wings started potential third-stringer Alex Lyon on Thursday and gave him 40 minutes before turning to 2021 first-round pick Sebastian Cossa in the third. Cossa, who was rocked in the prospect tourney in Traverse City earlier this month, gave up two goals on 14 shots in the final frame.

It’ll be a short turnaround for the Wings, who host the Chicago Blackhawks on Sunday night, past of an eight-day span that features six games before the Wings get four days off to prep for the regular-season opener on Oct. 12 in New Jersey.

Live updates

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Contact Ryan Ford at rford@freepress.com. Follow him on X (which used to be Twitter, y’know?) @theford.

Union members from Detroit’s three casinos overwhelmingly voted to authorize a strike if necessary, the Detroit Casino Council announced Friday.

The vote with 99% approval came as the union negotiates for higher wages at MGM Grand Detroit, Hollywood at Greektown and MotorCity casinos.

The DCC said it could call for strikes as early as mid-October when contracts expire.

Workers casted their votes at the Teamsters Hall from 7 a.m. through 9 p.m. Friday. The results were released shortly after the polls closed.

In September 2020, following the COVID-19 shutdowns, the DCC said it agreed to a three-year contract extension with minimal wage increases “to help their employers get back on their feet.”

The council notes that following the end of COVID restrictions and the legalization of online gaming, industry gaming revenues have surpassed pre-pandemic levels. Workers have been negotiating with the casinos since early September with a focus on wage increases.

“Detroit’s casino workers are getting left behind,” the council said in a statement Friday. “Workers are hoping to win contract gains that would bring Detroit casino jobs back in line with the standard of good jobs that were promised to hospitality workers when voters approved legalizing casino gaming in 1996 and the City Council later authorized the three casinos.”

Workers are also focused on stronger retirement and protections for workers affected by new technology.

Earlier this month, the Michigan Gaming Control Board said the three Detroit casinos reported $104.9 million in monthly aggregate revenue for August 2023, which consist of $104.6 million generated from table games and slots, and $322,186 from retail sports betting. Table games and slot revenue in August decreased 2% compared with the prior month. August monthly revenue was 0.1% higher than August 2022.

The Detroit Casino Council worker negotiating committee is made up of unions that represent the majority of workers at the three casinos: UNITE HERE Local 24, UAW, Teamsters Local 1038, Operating Engineers Local 324 and the Michigan Regional Council of Carpenters.

“Workers are fed up in an economy that is broken: Costs keep going up, but when profits came back to the gaming industry, they didn’t go into workers’ pockets,” Nia Winston, UNITE HERE Local 24 president, said in statement Friday. “Just like auto workers, Blue Cross Blue Shield staff, UPS workers, writers, and hotel workers, Detroit casino workers are considering all options available to make sure one job in a Detroit casino is enough to raise a family on. We expect the casinos to heed our concerns to avoid a strike.”

Terri Sykes, UAW Local 7777 president, said that casino workers voted overwhelmingly to authorize a strike, “because we’re the people who worked with the companies through COVID and put in the time, energy, hard work. The casino companies are making more than their fair share. But we’re not making ours.”

cwilliams@detroitnews.com