A little over a week after trading T.J. Hockenson to the Minnesota Vikings, the Detroit Lions are getting help at tight end.
The Lions promoted tight end Shane Zylstra from the practice squad to the 53-man roster Saturday and activated fullback/tight end Jason Cabinda from the physically unable to perform list in time for Sunday’s game against the Chicago Bears.
Cabinda has not played this season after dealing with complications from offseason ankle surgery.
He returned to practice last week, and tight ends coach Tanner Engstrand said Friday his versatility would help the offense.
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“You can go look back to last year, some of the things that he did where maybe he was able to play in the backfield a little bit more as sometimes a traditional tight end but then also has the ability to play on the line of scrimmage or flexed or whatever that may be,” Engstrand said. “It might free up Brock (Wright) on a couple of different assignments type of stuff, which is nice to keep him in his, call it traditional spot, I think a little bit more often, perhaps.”
The Lions had two tight ends on their 53-man roster for most of the past two weeks, Wright and rookie James Mitchell.
Mitchell caught his first career touchdown in last week’s win over the Green Bay Packers, and Zylstra scored his first TD as a gameday elevation from the practice squad.
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“I thought they did a really nice job last week stepping in to an increased workload,” Engstrand said. “And yeah, confidence is a big thing. You know that, as a confident player you feel like you can do everything the right way. You feel you can win your matchups, you feel that you can win in each individual play. And so I do think that goes a long way for those guys, especially as young players.”
The Lions (2-6) also elevated receiver Stanley Berryhill and linebacker Jarrad Davis from the practiced squad to the gameday roster. Davis was the Lions’ first-round pick in 2017.