It doesn’t sound good for Lions safety DeShon Elliott to play in Detroit’s Week 8 home date with the Miami Dolphins. Head coach Dan Campbell all but ruled out the starting safety in his press conference prior to Friday’s practice session.
Campbell noted that Elliott has not practiced this week and “we’re going to see how he felt today,” but the head coach was not optimistic. Elliott is sidelined with a finger injury.
“Right now, Juju (Hughes) is going to be in that (safety) spot,” Campbell said. We’ve got Jerry (Jacobs) working a little bit too, so we’ve got some options there that we’re trying to work through.”
Hughes stepped into action in Week 7 and played well in 16 snaps, but he lacks Elliott’s range in coverage. Jacobs has been an outside cornerback, and he’s been on the field for exactly one snap in 2022 after returning in Week 7 from ACL surgery last December.
With top safety and team captain Tracy Walker already out for the season after tearing his Achilles in September, losing Elliott is a huge blow to the depth chart. Detroit brought back C.J. Moore earlier this week, signing him to the active roster from the Texans practice squad. Moore played for Detroit in 2020-2021 and does have limited starting experience, though he’s primarily known for his work on special teams.
