The Detroit Lions have downgraded interior offensive lineman Joe Dahl to OUT for their Week 9 game vs the Minnesota Vikings.
Dahl got in a limited practice on Wednesday but was unable to practice on Thursday or Friday and was given a questionable injury designation for Sunday.
With the team traveling to Minnesota on Saturday, the Lions will typically examine their injured players in the morning to see if their health is trending in the right direction. If they are not improving, they will be downgraded, will not travel with the team, and will be left behind in Allen Park in order to speed up their rehabilitation process.
Dahl did not improve enough to make the trip, but Hal Vaitai did, so it’s presumed that the Lions will revert back to the offensive line combination they used the three weeks prior to last week’s game:
| Left tackle | Left guard | Center | Right guard | Right tackle |
| Taylor Decker | Jonah Jackson | Frank Ragnow | Hal Vaitai | Tyrell Crosby |
With Dahl out, the Lions currently have eight active offensive linemen, meaning they can still take advantage of the league’s new rule of expanding their game-day roster from 46- to 48-players. But, with Vaitai still maintaining a questionable label, and Decker missing practice on Wednesday, the team could elevate one of their practice squad offensive linemen — Marcus Martin, Beau Benzschawel, or Dan Skipper — for insurance.
