The Detroit Lions are getting some much-needed help for their beleaguered secondary, just in time for Sunday’s game against the Arizona Cardinals.
The Lions activated three defensive backs from the reserve/COVID-19 list Saturday, safety Tracy Walker and cornerbacks Ifeatu Melifonwu and Bobby Price, and reinstated cornerback A.J. Parker to the 53-man roster from injured reserve.
Walker is questionable to play with an illness, but the quartet should help a Lions secondary that had seven of its members on the reserve/COVID list this week and was down to just two healthy cornerbacks, Amani Oruwariye and Saivion Smith.
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Walker has been the Lions’ top defensive back most of the season, and one or more of Melifonwu, Price and Parker should be in the playing group Sunday.
Parker, who has been out since Nov. 21 with an ankle injury, practiced all week at the slot cornerback spot. Melifonwu, a rookie third-round pick out of Syracuse, played 10 defensive snaps in the Lions’ Dec. 5 win over the Minnesota Vikings. And Price has been one of the team’s best special teams players all season.
Lions coach Dan Campbell said Friday he did not expect the Lions to get relief from new NFL healthy and safety protocols that allow for players to return sooner after a positive COVID test.
Under the new guidelines, vaccinated players can clear protocols as soon as the day after they test positive for the virus, so long as they are asymptomatic and their viral load is above a certain benchmark.
Previously, players had to quarantine for a minimum of 10 days, though vaccinated players could return sooner with two negative COVID tests at least 24 hours apart.
All 10 Lions who tested positive for COVID are vaccinated.
The Lions still have six players on the reserve/COVID or practice squad reserve/COVID lists: Running back Jamaal Williams, cornerback Mark Gilbert, safety Jalen Elliott and practice squad players Nickell Robey-Coleman, Corey Ballentine and Tavante Beckett.
Elliott was the last Lions player to test positive for COVID, on Thursday.
The Lions (1-11-1) also elevated running back Craig Reynolds from the practice squad as a COVID-19 replacement, and elevated linebacker Curtis Bolton and offensive lineman Dan Skipper to the gameday roster.
Reynolds is expected to see significant time in the backfield with Williams out.
Contact Dave Birkett at dbirkett@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @davebirkett.