James Houston Inactive Against Rams

Lions reveal who is inactive against the Rams at Ford Field.

Lions linebacker James Houston (41) / Junfu Han / USA TODAY NETWORK

The Detroit Lions are currently five-point betting favorites to defeat the Los Angeles Rams at Ford Field.

Though the team will debut a revamped defensive line and secondary, it will be without safeties Ifeatu Melifonwu and Loren Strickland.

Veteran DJ Reader, who only recently started to practice on a regular basis, will have to likely wait an additional seven days to make his Lions debut. He was officially ruled inactive for Detroit's season opener against the Rams.

A surprise inactive is linebacker James Houston, who did not appear on any injury report the week leading up to the opener.

Dan Campbell expressed this week on Fox 2 Gameday Live the plan all along was to put together a team that would excite the fanbase.

There were long lines outside the stadium three hours before kickoff, as supporters have been greatly anticipating the start of the 2024 season.

Ford Field has become one of the most challenging road venues for teams to play in. Fans have consistently forced opponents to use timeouts or incur delay-of-game penalties due to the raucous environment.

“This is what it’s all about, waking the sleeping giant, waking the beast. And, the beast is alive, so now it’s up to us to continue to fuel our fans because they’re gonna show up," said Campbell. "It is an advantage for us, it is an advantage. So, we’re looking forward to it, Sunday Night Football. Our fans are gonna be rolling, we’re gonna be ready. It’s gonna be electric.”

Here is the updated list of the Lions' Week 1 inactives:

• S Ifeatu Melifonwu

• S Loren Strickland

• LB James Houston

• LB Trevor Nowaske

• OL Giovanni Manu

• OL Colby Sorsdal

• DL DJ Reader

Additional reading

1.) LIVE BLOG: Follow Lions' 2024 Season Opener Against Rams

2.) Best Bet: Sam LaPorta Dominates Rams Defense

3.) Rams-Lions Key Matchup: Quentin Lake vs. Amon-Ra St. Brown

4.) Detroit vs. Everybody: 86 Percent of Experts Predict Lions to Beat Rams