We’ve officially entered week one of the NFL season and it’s time to find out if the Detroit Lions are the real deal or not. Sure enough for the Lions, it could be the toughest opponent on their schedule with the Kansas City Chiefs.
As we know, the defending Super Bowl champions will be an uphill battle. Fortunately for Detroit, they’ve compiled one of their best rosters in recent memory. All offseason, they’ve gotten better. At every position group, they’re better.
Buy Lions TicketsOn paper, it all looks good. We’ll see what kind of results happen against the Chiefs on Thursday night. While it might be Labor Day, the Detroit Lions went to work with their first practice of the week as they prepare for Thursday.
With practice during a game week, it’s always worth monitoring the injury report. For the Kansas City Chiefs, it’s noteworthy that their best defensive player, Chris Jones, has been holding out for a new contract. With no end insight for that contract, it seems unlikely for Jones to play for the Chiefs on Thursday.
As for Detroit, here’s how their injury report stacked up for their Monday practice in week one of the 2023 season:
- CB Emmanuel Moseley — Knee — Limited Participant
- DT Isaiah Buggs — Illness — Full Participant
- DB Ifeatu Melifonwu — Hamstring — Full Participant
- OC Frank Ragnow — Toe — Full Participant
With Moseley, we’ve all expected him to be limited to start the season. As he recovers from a torn ACL, it’s unlikely that he will play in Week 1 and also maybe Week 2 for the start of this season. However, it’s not on the PUP list so that’s always a good sign.
As for Buggs, he has been benched for this game due to him missing voluntary mini-camps. While he’s battled an illness, it’s promising that he’s back on the field for practice right now.
Lastly, Melifonwu and Ragnow were “full-go” for Monday’s practice. The hamstring for Melifonwu as he spent his rookie season on IR with a thigh injury. With Ragnow, this toe injury could haunt him for the rest of his career. He’s battled through it over the last year or so but it could be a weekly thing to monitor with him at this point.
All in all, the Lions look healthy and we can only hope that they’re ready for their opening tilt against Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs.
