In 2023 free agency, knowing he was coming off a torn left ACL playing for the San Francisco 49ers the previous October, the Detroit Lions signed cornerback Emmanuel Moseley as part of a plan to reshape their cornerback depth chart. Then came some setbacks in that recovery, which delayed his Lions' debut to Week 5 last season.
On his second defensive snap of that game against the Carolina Panthers, Moseley went down with a non-contact injury. He tore an ACL again, this time his right one. Playing Carolina must be bad luck for him, since his first ACL tear came against them on the road....in Week 5 of the 2022 season.
Moseley was around the Lions at the end of last season, and he was re-signed him in March as they undertook a bigger overhaul of their cornerback depth chart. As the start of training camp loomed, his name was notably absent from any injury lists.
Emmanuel Moseley is glad to be back on the practice field
Pads won't come on for the Lions at training camp until next Monday, but how thinks look on these ramp up days can foretell how things will look when the pads go on. Reporters on the ground at Allen Park on Wednesday noted how Moseley was surprisingly seeing some snaps at nickel corner.
After practice, via John Maakaron of SI.com, Moseley expressed gratitude to simply be on the practice field after a second torn ACL.
"Last year I was not out here at all, not even to be seen. I just have a lot of gratitude to be back on this field after my second ACL," Moseley said. "First day of practice, that was one of my goals and I’ve accomplished it. Now I’m just ready to see how far I can take this thing.”
Moseley hasn't played in the slot much recently, when he was healthy of course. But he told Justin Rogers of Detroit Football Network after Wednesday's practice how inside-outside versatility was his path to making the 49ers.
"That's really how I made the team those years is being able to play both nickel and (outside) corner," Moseley said.
Moseley talked about his affinity for playing nickel, saying "you're in that run game, and I'm a physical player. I like to hit." Then he offered a quote to Rogers that also easily stands as a broader sentiment after all he's gone through over the last 21 months or so.
"I like to put my face in the fan and make people feel me." Moseley is under the radar somewhat, but he's someone who'll be interesting to follow during training camp as he competes for a role on a deep cornerback depth chart.
