Detroit Lions safety C.J. Gardner-Johnson is back at practice for the first time since tearing his pectoral muscle in Week 2 against the Seahawks. this of course has Lions fans very excited as he could be a big help for the playoff push. The question I keep getting is will he play against the Vikings on Sunday. I’ll give his answer first.
“To be determined.”
His answer is really is the answer the answer. We won’t know until the Lions tell us. Here’s the thing though. The Lions have pattern when it comes to players coming off the injured reserve list. That pattern is this.
- Julian Okwara: Designated to return on October 2nd. Didn’t play until October 8th.
- Khalil Dorsey: Designated to return October 11th. Didn’t play until October 15th
- Josh Paschal: Designated to return on October 13th. Didn’t play until October 22nd
- Emmanuel Moseley: Taken off list in August. Didn’t play till October
With the exception of Khalil Dorsey, everyone had to wait at least a week before they could play in a game. Dorsey wasn’t injured though. He had an illness that required him to take time off. So he didn’t have anything to rehab or come back from other than a really bad sickness. Okwara technically did play days after his return, but when you see the snap count he played in that game, you’ll see why I don’t really count him.
So it seems safe to assume that they will go the same route with Gardner-Johnson. Especially since he has been out for 13 weeks. He needs time to get his feet underneath him and get back into the swing of things before he starts playing live football.
History seems to be telling us that his likely return to the field will be against the Cowboys. But when he does return, will we see him take on a full load of snaps? Let’s take a look at the snap count for the previous returns.
- Julian Okwara: Three snaps in return. 15 the next week
- Khalil Dorsey: 19 snaps in return. 31 the next week
- Josh Paschal: 17 snaps in return. 22 the next week.
- Emmanuel Mosely: Two snaps
Moseley is obviously a special case here since he was injured on that second snap. We don’t know what the full plan was for him. Everyone pretty much played a low snap count upon their return and played more the next week.
The big difference between Gardner-Johnson and these guys is that he’s a full time starter. Does that mean he’s going to get reintroduced in a different way than these guys? Or will it be the same? My guess is that it will be the same becasue he’s so important to the team. They’re going to want to make sure they get it right with him.
If he does play against the Vikings on Sunday, which I don’t believe he will, don’t look for him to play a full game or anything like that. He’ll be a snap count for sure. I think there’s a snap count against the Cowboys if he comes back there too.
There it is. That’s my best answer to your big question. I still think he had the bet answer though. “To be determined.”