Detroit News

Justin Rogers   | The Detroit News After a week of uncertainty, the Detroit Lions will have starting quarterback Matthew Stafford for Sunday’s game against the Minnesota Vikings. The team announced on Saturday that Stafford has been activated off the league’s COVID-19 reserve list.  Stafford didn’t practice all week, while participating in team meetings virtually. He was

Justin Rogers   | The Detroit News After a Detroit Lions staff member tested positive for the COVID-19 virus, the NFL, at the direction of its chief medical officer Dr. Allen Sills, has placed the team in the league’s intensive protocol.  The staff member’s positive test comes at the end of a week that saw the Lions

Rod Beard   | The Detroit News Lions at Vikings Kickoff: 1 p.m. Sunday, U.S. Bank Stadium, Minneapolis, Minn. TV/radio: CBS/760 Records: Lions 3-4, Vikings 2-5 Line: Vikings by 3½ Rod Beard of The Detroit News breaks down the Lions’ Week 9 matchup against the Minnesota Vikings: Key matchup LIONS’ RUN DEFENSE VS. VIKINGS’ GROUND GAME Through the first

Justin Rogers   | The Detroit News Nothing has been normal about this year due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. That’s equally true about the NFL season. As cases have trended upward around the country, they’ve also picked up around the league, forcing multiple teams to close their facilities, adjust their practice schedules, and in some instances, postpone games. 

Justin Rogers   | The Detroit News For as long as Mike Zimmer has coached the Minnesota Vikings, you could count on two things from the team’s defense. First, they were going to make life rough for the quarterback by utilizing a variety of aggressive pressure packages. Second, good luck scoring.  In his first six seasons

Justin Rogers   | The Detroit News The Detroit Lions ruled out three key players ahead of Sunday’s game against the Minnesota Vikings. Wide receivers Kenny Golladay and Jamal Agnew and safety Tracy Walker won’t make the trip.  None of the three practiced this week after suffering injuries in last Sunday’s loss to the Indianapolis Colts.

Justin Rogers   | The Detroit News With receiver Kenny Golladay battling a hip injury, the Detroit Lions added veteran receiving depth to the team’s practice squad on Friday, signing Mohamed Sanu. Sanu, a nine-year veteran, started the offseason with the New England Patriots before he was released in early September. He latched on briefly with the

The Detroit News  |  The Detroit News Justin Rogers, Rod Beard, John Niyo and Bob Wojnowski of The Detroit News predict the outcome of Sunday’s Lions at Vikings game (1 p.m., CBS, 760 AM). ►Justin Rogers: It’s a shame that nine weeks into the season this game will determine who will be in the NFC

Justin Rogers   | The Detroit News For Adrian Peterson, returning to Minnesota will always be special. But at this point, it’s no longer novel.  The longtime face of the Vikings franchise, this will be the future Hall of Fame running back’s third trip to Minnesota since he parted ways with the team in 2017.  The first

Josh Dubow  |  Associated Press The Las Vegas Raiders and coach Jon Gruden have been fined a total $650,000 and docked a sixth-round draft pick for repeated violations of the NFL’s COVID-19 protocols. A person familiar with the punishment said Thursday the team has been fined $500,000, Gruden has been docked $150,000 and the draft

Justin Rogers   | The Detroit News It likely wasn’t meant as a slight, but good luck convincing Everson Griffen otherwise.  Minnesota Vikings coach Mike Zimmer, who coached Griffen the past six seasons, provided a relatively generic quote when asked about the veteran defensive end set to make his debut for the Detroit Lions this week. 

Justin Rogers   | The Detroit News While the signs paint a clear path for Detroit Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford to pass COVID-19 protocol ahead of Sunday’s matchup against the Minnesota Vikings, coach Matt Patricia isn’t offering any hints in an effort to protect the player’s medical status.  “I’m not able to comment on the player’s health

Justin Rogers   | The Detroit News A couple of weeks back, after the Detroit Lions defeated the Jacksonville Jaguars, offensive coordinator Darrell Bevell issued a challenge to second-year tight end T.J. Hockenson: Start getting better separation.  Already on pace for 54 catches, 630 yards and 10 touchdowns at that point in the season, Hockenson clearly embraced the

Justin Rogers   | The Detroit News The Detroit Lions placed quarterback Matthew Stafford on the COVID-19 reserve list on Wednesday, putting his status for Sunday’s game against the Minnesota Vikings in jeopardy.  Stafford was unexpectedly not at the afternoon practice and the team released a statement at 4 p.m. announcing the designation. The statement, referencing the purpose of

Justin Rogers   | The Detroit News The Detroit Lions placed quarterback Matthew Stafford on the COVID-19 reserve list on Wednesday, putting his status for Sunday’s game against the Minnesota Vikings in jeopardy.  Stafford was unexpectedly not at the afternoon practice and the team released a statement at 4 p.m. announcing the designation. The statement, referencing the purpose of

Justin Rogers   | The Detroit News In the brief portion of practice open to the media on Wednesday, the Detroit Lions were unexpectedly missing starting quarterback Matthew Stafford. Backups Chase Daniel and David Blough split reps in Stafford’s stead.  Lions coach Matt Patricia made no mention of a possible absence during his daily conference call

Justin Rogers   | The Detroit News No one wants to see a player land on the NFL’s COVID-19 reserve list, but if there’s a silver lining to the Detroit Lions placing linebacker Jarrad Davis on it Tuesday afternoon, it’s that he was the only one and the team didn’t need to shut down its facility as it

The Detroit News  |  The Detroit News Justin Rogers, Rod Beard, John Niyo and Bob Wojnowski of The Detroit News offer their predictions against the spread for Week 9 of the 2020 NFL season. Detroit +3.5 at Minnesota Rogers: Minnesota Beard: Detroit Niyo: Minnesota Wojnowski: Minnesota More: Players change but one thing stays the same: Lions

Justin Rogers   | The Detroit News This was supposed to be the year the Detroit Lions finally got their running game on track. But so was last year, the year before that and the year before that. And just like those failed efforts, the team is once again trending toward falling well short of its

Arnie Stapleton  |  Associated Press Englewood, Colo. – The novel coronavirus has reached the highest levels of the Denver Broncos organization with general manager John Elway and team president Joe Ellis testing positive for COVID-19 on Tuesday. The Broncos said in a statement that both Elway and Ellis have minor symptoms but are “doing well’