Coach Matt Patricia announced that the Detroit Lions are putting starting running back Kerryon Johnson on injured reserve, hoping he will return this season.
Johnson has a procedure on his right knee after leaving last week’s game against the Minnesota Vikings. Even if Johnson is healthy, the rules of injured reserve dictate that Johnson can’t return for another eight weeks, meaning it’s possible he returns for Week 16. That would only likely happen if the Lions were in playoff contention, otherwise, the Lions likely wouldn’t risk him returning for meaningless games — similar to last season.
Currently, this puts Ty Johnson in the driver’s seat for a starting role and points towards the Lions potentially making a move to add depth to the position — I discussed some of those replacement options in an article this morning.
Patricia also mentioned at his conference call with the media that the team planned on deploying a running back by committee approach.
