The Detroit Lions have updated Da’Shawn Hand’s elbow injury and downgraded him to OUT for this weekend’s game in Arizona.
Originally injured in early in training camp, Hand has been steadily improving throughout the preseason. Roughly a month ago, he shed his arm brace, and yesterday he was participating in individual drills at practice.
Hand was initially given a Questionable designation on Friday’s injury report but was never expected to play. This downgrade finalizes that expectation.
With Hand out, this likely means an opportunity for undrafted rookie Kevin Strong be active on game day and he should see time on the field in a rotation at the 3-technique.
Strong isn’t expected to make as significant an impact as Hand did last season, — and quite frankly the Lions don’t need him to with Mike Daniels in the fold — but he has the positional range to fill a similar role and the skill set to be a disrupter on the interior defensive line.
