Allen Park — Detroit Lions defensive tackle Isaiah Buggs sparked a wave of speculation Sunday evening with a cryptic posting on the social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter.
“I’m good, but just know situations change,” Buggs wrote. “Y’all (going to) see.”
The message, coinciding with the removal of most references to the Lions on his social media profiles, sparked some to believe he might have been cut or traded. With no immediate follow-up, rumors spiraled out of control on social media that the Lions were nearing a deal for a superstar player such as Tampa Bay’s Mike Evans or Kansas City defensive tackle Chris Jones, who is currently holding out.
Two sources confirmed to the Detroit News on Sunday evening that Buggs’ roster status hadn’t changed after he had also missed practice on Saturday for an unknown reason, later revealed to be an illness.
After returning to practice on Monday, Buggs tried to downplay his social media posts, while also revealing the likely source of his frustrations, acknowledging he’d been told he won’t be active for the team’s regular-season opener against Kansas City.
“As of right now, they told me that I was not going to play,” Buggs said. “So that’s what we got. I’m going to be straightforward with it, because they were straightforward with me with that. And as of right now, I will not be playing.”
Buggs, a late addition to the roster last offseason, ended up appearing in all 17 games for the Lions last season, making 13 starts and playing a career-high 755 defensive snaps. His stabilizing performance earned him a contract extension this offseason — a two-year, $4.5 million pact that included more than $2 million in guarantees.
But his standing on the depth chart looked to be in question early in training camp when the Lions began working in rookie Brodric Martin into the first-team defense. And it became clearer by the end of the preseason, when Buggs was playing in the games while many starters were rested, and Benito Jones was seeing increased practice reps as the starting nose tackle, which Buggs had manned a year ago.
Still, Buggs said he didn’t see this coming.
“It was a surprise to me, actually. That’s why I say, you don’t always know everything,” Bugg said. “… Playing an important role last year, leading this year, you think you’re going to be that guy. You thinking they’re all in with you, and then, ‘Boom.’ With a snap of your finger, it’s like that. Like I said, I’ve always been a team player, I’ve always been a role player. Whatever they have for me, that’s what I’m going to do.”
After venting on social media, Buggs is planning on re-centering himself and doing the only thing he knows how to do in a situation like this.
“I’m always determined to go harder every time things go against me and not my way,” Buggs said. “That’s just something I’ve been dealing with all my life, even from junior college to Bama (University of Alabama) from the Steelers to here. I’m always keep going and that’s what it’s going to be.”
jdrogers@detroitnews.com
Twitter/X: @Justin_Rogers
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