Arnold Cleared to Practice, Four Players Out

Melifonwu, LaPorta among four not participating against Giants Tuesday.

Detroit Lions safety Ifeatu Melifonwu. / Junfu Han / USA TODAY NETWORK

Detroit Lions rookie cornerback Terrion Arnold cleared concussion protocol and will return to practice Tuesday, according to coach Dan Campbell. This is good news for the 2024 first-round pick, who left practice early after taking a big hit from Giants' offensive tackle Andrew Thomas.

Detroit's secondary was dealt a huge blow Tuesday when reports surfaced that cornerback Emmanuel Moseley suffered a torn pectoral and is out indefinitely. It is the third straight season in which Moseley has suffered a significant injury.

"It's tough. That's tough and certainly he's the one that has put so much work into coming back from two ACLs," Campbell said. "You've got two decisions, you either rally one more time or you say, you know what, enough's enough. My gut tells me that he's gonna rally again and nothing says that he may not be ready by the end of the year. We're still trying to figure all those things out.

You never know, this could be one of those where he gets the legs where he needs them and by the end of the year, it was part of the process. I don't know, but we're gonna work through that. We all love E-Man and respect the amount of work he puts into, the top teammate he is. He'll come back from this."

The Lions will have multiple players sidelined for Tuesday's practice, as linebacker Malcolm Rodriguez, defensive back Ifeatu Melifonwu, tight end Sam LaPorta and offensive guard Kevin Zeitler will both be out. Zeitler was reportedly being evaluated for a shoulder injury after Monday's practice.

Campbell categorized the injuries as minor. The Syracuse product is expected to be among the competitors at the nickel cornerback position with Moseley injured. LaPorta, meanwhile, remains out with a hamstring injury.

Scrappy first practice

The Lions and Giants had several scrums break out in Monday's joint practice session. A big one occurred between the Lions' offense and the Giants' defense, beginning with Amon-Ra St. Brown and Giants' safety Dane Belton.

There was another near the red zone later in practice, while one saw New York quarterback Daniel Jones get involved with the Lions' defense.

Campbell, who has openly stated he does not want fights to occur in practice, expressed some frustration with the activity during the first joint practice session between the teams.

"I mean certainly too much. When you have to stop practice that many times to reset the drills, it's a waste of everybody's time," Campbell explained. "Look, I don't want those, that's not what it's about I know (Brian Daboll) doesn't want it. We've talked about it, addressed it with the players. That's part of the balance, it's, man, how do you really, really push yourself to compete at the highest level? But you've got to keep your composure. We're good, man, we're gonna have a great day."

Giants coach Brian Daboll viewed the competition between the teams as a positive but noted they took steps to prevent some of the extra ciricculars as well.

“No, it was very productive. It was very competitive on both sides," Daboll said. "We talked about cleaning a few things up that led to some of those things, try to do a better job today. But I thought both sides were competitive, got a lot out of it, hopefully get another good day.” 

Notes

1.) Campbell again confirmed that several of their key players, including quarterback Jared Goff, will not play in Thursday's preseason opener against the Giants.

"I've got a little bit of an idea, I've got a little bit," Campbell said. "Certainly some of the guys we know we're gonna count on during the season, I don't see them playing. And if they do, not very many reps. But our young guys are gonna get a lot of these, and our developmental players are gonna get a ton of these reps."

2.) The Lions worked out two players, offensive lineman Mark Evans and defensive lineman Carlos Watkins. Evans was most recently with the Saints' practice squad after signing with the team as an undrafted free agent in 2023, while Watkins has played with three teams over his seven-year NFL career.