C.J. Gardner-Johnson is still out with the knee injury he suffered on Day 2 of training camp, but the Detroit Lions got two injured players back for their first padded practice of summer Friday.
Lions coach Dan Campbell said before practice that safety Brian Branch would return from a foot injury and offensive guard Halapoulivaati Vaitai would practice on a limited basis after both players sat out Wednesday’s workout.
Vaitai left practice Tuesday after taking a hit to his surgically-repaired back.
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“So he was just a little sore,” Campbell said. “He’ll be back out there today, see what he does. He’ll have some limited reps but he’s back.”
Branch has worked with both the first- and second-team reps at slot cornerback this week, taking some of the reps vacated by Gardner-Johnson. One of the Lions’ top free agent additions of the offseason, Gardner-Johnson suffered a knee injury in team drills Monday and had to be carted off the field. He’s worked gingerly in the rehab group in recent days, doing mostly stretching.
Campbell said Gardner-Johnson, Jameson Williams (hamstring) and Marvin Jones (back) are “improving” but day-to-day.
The Lions also waived-injured receiver Tom Kennedy after he appeared to suffer an arm injury in practice Wednesday, and signed receiver Trey Quinn.
Contact Dave Birkett at dbirkett@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @davebirkett.