It’s easy to tell when the regular season begins around Allen Park because it signifies the end of head coach Jim Schwartz talking about injuries. “I’ll be in regular season mode with injuries from now on,” Schwartz said after practice Monday. “We’ll have an injury report and go from there.”
In other words, Schwartz opted to remain mum regarding the health of safety 
“We’ll get those guys back as soon as we can,” Schwartz added.
It's Schwartz's policy not to talk about injuries aside from referencing the regular season injury report The first report comes out Wednesday at 4 p.m. ET.
Delmas hasn’t practiced since undergoing knee surgery Aug. 7 and his availability for Sunday’s season opener at Ford Field against the Rams is still in question.
Houston injured his ankle in the third preseason game against the Raiders and has yet to practice since sustaining the injury.
To help with the lack of numbers, the Lions signed veteran cornerback Drayton Florence Monday. Florence has has started 96 games over his nine-year NFL career and could step in right away Sunday and play if needed.
One bright side Monday was running back
“It was important, but I knew I was going to be out there,” Smith said after practice. “I knew the extent of the injury, I felt good rehabbing all week.
“I kind of snuck out and ran on my own just to make sure I was able to go hard.”
The players have the day off Tuesday before returning to the practice field on Wednesday. We’ll see if Houston or Delmas joins them. Schwartz said last week that Delmas would have to practice at some point this week if he was going to play Sunday.
Rookie linebacker
“I hate not playing,” Lewis said of being back. “I don’t take this for granted or what I do. It’s hard not to do practice with the guys knowing that they are sweating and putting in hard work and all I can do is sit on the sideline.”
MORE MOORE
Quarterback
“It just kind of lingered throughout the day … I got a text message that said we were good to go,” Moore said. “It’s exciting. I’m very thankful and excited about the opportunity.”
Schwartz said Monday that Moore’s inclusion on the initial 53-man roster wasn't as much about trying to keep a third quarterback as it was trying to keep the best 53 players.
“Quarterbacks are a commodity,” Schwartz said. “It’s a very important position and we liked what we saw from Kellen. We wanted to try to find our way to keep the best 53. We thought that he was one of them.”
Last year, quarterback Drew Stanton did not dress for any regular-season games with starter
“Right. The year before we used all three quarterbacks,” Schwartz pointed out.
LOW EXPECTATIONS?
ESPN The Magazine and Sports Illustrated recently came out with their NFL preview additions and both publications predicted the Lions would finish third in the NFC North behind the Packers and Bears. Both had the Lions missing the playoffs after getting there for the first time in 12 years last year.
“Yeah, that’s fine,” veteran receiver
“Week-in and week-out we were foaming at the mouth just to go out there and bang, you know. Not necessarily for the results, but we wanted to go out there and put a hurting on somebody. I hope people keep overlooking us and telling us to our face. That’s not going to do anything but make us that much more thirsty for going out there and winning.”
SILVA ODD MAN OUT
The Lions found room for Florence on the 53-man roster by releasing safety
Silva was an undrafted free agent out of Hampton in 2011 and spent time on the Lions’ practice squad and active roster last season, recording three special teams tackles.
With the move Monday, the Lions head into this week’s regular season opener with four safeties on the roster – Louis Delmas,
