The Lions placed punter Sam Martin on the non-football injury list before the start of the regular season, which left him ineligible to practice or play in the first six weeks of the season.
Those six weeks are up and Martin is ready to get back on the field. The Lions announced on Tuesday that Martin will return to practice and he’ll be eligible to play when the Lions return from their bye in Week Eight.
Martin reported to camp with the foot/ankle injury that led to his placement on the NFI list, which required the Lions to open the season with Kasey Redfern as their punter. Redfern went on injured reserve after one game and Jeff Locke has handled the duties over the last five weeks.
Martin has been the punter in Detroit for the last four seasons and has an average of 46.9 yards per kick over that span.