The Lions held workouts for a group of veteran wide receivers on Tuesday in hopes of finding someone to take Nate Burleson’s spot on the roster for the rest of the season.
They have decided on the winner of that little contest. The team officially placed Burleson, who is expected to be sidelined eight months by a broken leg, on injured reserve and signed Brian Robiskie. Deon Butler and Legedu Naanee reportedly worked out for the team along with Robiskie, who was released by the Jaguars after the first week of the regular season.
Robiskie will fill Burleson’s slot on the roster, but he won’t take his place in the lineup. Robiskie has just 39 career catches and hasn’t played in a regular season game since being released by the Browns during the 2011 season.
Titus Young and Ryan Broyles will get first crack at increased playing time with Burleson out of the lineup while Robiskie will mostly be focusing on special teams work in the coming weeks. Given his lackluster track record since being taken in the second round of the 2009 draft by the Browns, it’s hard to imagine that he’ll wind up doing much more than that over the course of the season.