The Detroit Lions are adding depth on defense, making a series of moves on their practice squad including a veteran linebacker who has already spent time with three other teams this season.
As Jeff Risdon of USA Today’s Lions Wire noted, the Lions had three vacancies on their practice squad and used two for returning players — defensive tackle Chris Smith and linebacker Abraham Beauplan. The third spot went to linebacker Ezekiel Turner, an NFL journeyman who has experience on defense and special teams.
The moves come as the Lions look to bolster a defense that suffered some key injuries, making moves at the NFL trade deadline to shore up those weaknesses.
Lions Bring Back Familiar Faces
As Risdon noted, both Smith and Beauplan had been on the practice squad all season and were elevated for last week’s win over the Green Bay Packers. They returned to the practice squad with this week’s signings.
“Smith played 10 snaps in the win over the Packers, while Beauplan didn’t get in on defense but played extensively on special teams while filling in for injured Malcolm Rodriguez,” Risdon wrote.
He added that the 28-year-old Turner spent the first six seasons of his career with the Arizona Cardinals, playing mostly on special teams, before bouncing around the league this year.
“The Lions are his fourth team in 2024, with practice squad stints with the Texans and Seattle Seahawks during the regular season and offseason time with the San Francisco 49ers,” Risdon wrote. “He was on the Texans practice squad for the first four weeks of the season.”
Turner has appeared in 81 games during his career, making 83 total tackles with one forced fumble.
Lions Make Big Move at Trade Deadline
While the three practice squad additions can add some important depth for the Lions, the team also made a more significant move earlier in the week.
The team landed Cleveland Browns defensive end Za’Darius Smith in a trade before Tuesday’s deadline, helping replace some of the production lost when Pro Bowl edge rusher Aidan Hutchinson suffered a fractured leg in a Week 6 win over the Dallas Cowboys.
Lions head coach Dan Campbell had already hinted at a big move, telling reporters on Oct. 28 that they planned to find some help for the pass rush.
“We’re not going to be able to replace Hutch, but there’s other things that we can do, and, you know what? You put a bigger burden on your back end, is what you’ve got to do, and we’ve done that, and they’ve risen to the challenge,” Campbell said, via ESPN’s Eric Woodyard. “Has it been perfect? No, but we are getting takeaways, which is huge.”
As Woodyard added, the Lions had struggled to establish a consistent pass rush in the games since Hutchinson’s injury.
“In the three games without Hutchinson, the Lions have generated a 30.6% pass rush win rate, which ranks 26th in the league over that span,” he wrote. “And over the past two games — against Tennessee and Green Bay — the line generated one sack and the pressure rate dropped to 27%, down from 32% over the first six games of the season.”
