After last Sunday’s loss to the Packers, Lions wide receiver Calvin Johnson said that he was close to playing before the decision was made to sit out with a knee injury and that he anticipated making a quick return to the field.
That return did not come on Wednesday, however. Johnson didn’t practice as the Lions started their week of on-field preparations for their Week Six game against the Browns. Lions coach Jim Schwartz said that Johnson was improving, but status was up in the air and that it may come down to another game-time decision.
“He’s doing a little bit better every day, and if we can get him back out there -- he got out on the practice field a little bit last week but wasn’t able to go,” Schwartz said, via Dave Birkett of the Detroit Free Press. “Last year, he dealt with a lot of things and was able to be productive on a Sunday. If he can this Sunday, we’ll get him back out there, but we probably won’t make that determination until later in the week, whether he’s going to play. Whether he gets back on the practice field or not, [that] determination may not even come until Sunday. We’ll just have to see how it goes. But he’s improving.”
The Lions offense had a hard time moving the ball without Johnson off the field last week, so it’s not a big surprise that the team would be willing to let Johnson play without any practice time during the week.