Detroit Lions promote James Houston to 53-man roster, place Charles Harris on IR

Detroit Free Press

The Detroit Lions are rewarding James Houston for his big game with a promotion to the 53-man roster.

Houston had two sacks and recovered a fumble on special teams in his NFL debut in last week’s 28-25 loss to the Buffalo Bills.

The Lions elevated Houston to their gameday roster from the practice squad because of injuries to defensive lineman Charles Harris and Josh Paschal.

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“Houston did a good job,” Lions coach Dan Campbell said after the game. “We’ve been excited about getting him up. We’ve been looking to try and work it out for a while now and it just hadn’t worked out maneuvering through the roster. We knew we needed a little rush and we thought he could provide that. You don’t think the first game he’s going to get straight off there will be two sacks, but some of the things he’s able to do doesn’t surprise us.”

Houston recovered a Kalif Raymond fumbled punt return early in the first quarter to preserve a Lions possession that ended in a touchdown. He added two sacks in five defensive snaps, playing as a designated pass rusher in obvious pass situations.

The Lions placed Harris on injured reserve Monday to open a spot on their 53-man roster.

Harris, who led the Lions with a career-high 7.5 sacks last season, has dealt with a groin injury off and on all season.

Rock the vote

Six Lions, including two rookies, rank among the top-10 vote getters at their position in Pro Bowl fan voting.

First-round pick Aidan Hutchinson, who has two interceptions and a team-high 5.5 sacks, ranks sixth among all NFL defensive ends, and third-round choice Kerby Joseph, who has three interceptions, is eighth among free safeties.

Both Hutchinson and Joseph have won NFC Defensive Player of the Week awards, with Hutchinson taking honors after his game-turning interception in the Lions’ Week 11 win over the New York Giants, and Joseph being honored for his two-interception game in a Week 9 win over the Green Bay Packers.

Amon-Ra St. Brown (10th among receivers), Penei Sewell (ninth among offensive tackles), Frank Ragnow (fourth among centers) and DeShon Elliott (seventh among strong safeties) also rank among the top 10 at their positions.

Minnesota Vikings receiver Justin Jefferson leads all players in fan voting, followed by Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes. Fan voting runs until Thursday, Dec. 15.

Players are selected based on votes by fans, coaches and players across the league.

Contact Dave Birkett at dbirkett@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @davebirkett.

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