James Houston could return to the Detroit Lions in 2023, according to an injury update.
EDGE OF THE DETROIT LIONS Coach Dan Campbell believes James Houston will be able to recover from his injury by December.
In the middle of NFL trade deadline news and the loss of their long snapper, the Detroit Lions provided one encouraging report on Tuesday afternoon. According to coach Dan Campbell, Lions edge defender James Houston could return before the end of the 2023 season.
“Yeah, I think so,” Campbell responded. “We’ll see what happens.” That’s yet another. Some of the players on IR are simply undergoing rehabilitation. What he had was pretty clean, therefore the rehab and healing should be pretty clean as well. But, again, if it happens, it will be in December. So we’ll have to wait and see.”
In Week 2, Houston suffered a fractured ankle on a special teams play against the Seattle Seahawks. The injury was previously reported as a “at least 6-8 week” injury by NFL Network, implying that Houston might have returned as soon as the bye week. However, Campbell’s response indicates that he is still at least a month away.
In any case, Houston’s return to the Lions might be highly beneficial. In his debut season of 2022, he has 8.0 sacks in seven games and two starts. Multiple national analysts were drawn to his electrifying and unconventional pass rushing moves. The Lions have been without a pass rushing weapon opposite Aidan Hutchinson all season, with Charles Harris, Julian Okwara, and Romeo Okwara combining for just 3.5 sacks through eight games.
However, the Lions challenged Houston to become a more well-rounded player in 2023, with the hope of developing his skills in both coverage and as a run defender. Houston only played 32 defensive snaps in the first two games of the season, so the process was sluggish. Despite the limited opportunities, Houston managed two pressures and a QB hit.
The Lions may not have added any defensive players before the trade deadline, but adding Houston late in the season might be a significant boost to their playoff chances.
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