The Detroit Lions announced that they have re-signed defensive end Jonathan Wynn to practice squad, and released defensive tackle Ray Smith in a corresponding move.
The practice squad carousel continues.
This is Wynn’s third stint on the Lions practice squad since roster cutdowns in late September. He was part of the Lions initial practice squad entering the season, was released mid-September, re-added three days later, released four days after that and now five days later rejoins the team.
Releasing Smith may not appear like a big move on the surface but in order to run the Lions scheme at practice, you need healthy bodies at each position. As of the posting of this article, the Lions current interior defensive looks like this:
- two healthy nose tackles — Damon Harrison and Jonathan Atkins (practice sqaud)
- two healthy defensive tackles — A’Shawn Robinson and Kevin Strong
- two injured defensive tackles — Mike Daniels and Da’Shawn Hand
Just last week they carried Smith and Frank Herron on the practice squad to help sustain injuries, but with both now released, it could be a positive indicator that either/both Daniels and Hand are getting healthier and possibly be returning to action before the Lions next game — against the Green Bay Packers on Monday night in Week 6.
With the Lions being on a BYE week, news — especially injury-related — will be limited, so we may not know any more information for some time.
