Three Lions Return Off Injury Lists, Rookie Misses Day 1

Three injured Lions participated at training camp Wednesday.

Detroit Lions defensive back Brian Branch / Junfu Han / USA TODAY NETWORK

The Detroit Lions conducted their first practice of training camp Wednesday, unveiling the first look at a team with hopes to compete for the Super Bowl in the 2024 NFL season.

Detroit made multiple roster moves leading up to the start of camp, including placing a total of eight players on injury lists before the start of camp.

Defensive back Brian Branch and defensive lineman Marcus Davenport, both placed on the PUP list Sunday, participated on the first day of camp.

Offensive lineman Giovanni Manu, who was placed on the Active/Non-Football Injury list prior to the start of camp, was also participating during individual drills. All three players participated in differing amounts throughout practice.

Among the players who will be inactive to start training camp are DJ Reader, Carlton Davis, Amik Robertson, Donovan Peoples-Jones and Tre'Quan Smith.

Offensive lineman Christian Mahogany was also not spotted at practice.

Defensive tackle DJ Reader is healthy, but the Lions are easing him back until they feel comfortable allowing him to get back on the field.

Robertson and Davis were also present at the walkthrough, but did not participate.

“We feel like everybody’s really doing well, on schedule for where we pictured them to be. We talked about Reader, Reader’s on course, man," Campbell explained. "We’re not in any hurry with him, but he’s doing well, getting his strength back. The injury is healed, it’s just a matter of getting him to that point where we feel comfortable getting him out there competing around others. You’ll see Davenport out there today, you’ll see Branch out there today in walkthrough. So these guys are slowly going. I think Davenport will be a little quicker than Branch is, but they’ll both be out there in some capacity which is good."