The Lions placed running back Ameer Abdullah on Reserve/Injured this week after he suffered a foot injury in Sunday's loss to the Titans.
Abdullah is eligible to return if the Lions choose to use that designation on him later this season after the required amount of time passes.
"I'm certainly not going to go into all the details, but he did have surgery and we'll see what happens," head coach Jim Caldwell said. "He's always proven to be a pretty quick healer."
With Abdullah out, the Lions will need other players to step up if they want to continue the progress they've made in the run game so far this season.
"We've got to continue to call the same football plays, and have the other guys on our roster step up and make plays," quarterback Matthew Stafford said. "I've got the full confidence that they'll be able to do that."
All three backs on the roster - Theo Riddick, Dwayne Washington and Zach Zenner - echoed Stafford's sentiment.
"Once a guy goes down you always have to step up," Washington said. "I guess I'm the guy who has to step up. I'm just going to go in there and do what I've got to do to help win the game."
PREPPING FOR PACKERS
This week's matchup in Green Bay is the first of two consecutive NFC North away games for the Lions.
Quarterback Aaron Rodgers and the Packers' offense have struggled through their first two games, but no one expects that trend to continue.
"He looks the same," Packers head coach Mike McCarthy said Wednesday in a conference-call interview. "I think he's in great shape. His work ethic is probably as high as it's ever been. Football is not a one-man game. We clearly understand the importance of the quarterback position.
"He's the most trusted player that I've ever coached, and I continue to believe that we'll keep pounding away at our process and good things will happen."
For Mike O'Hara's full scouting report on the Packers, click here.
AREAS TO IMPROVE
There's always room for improvement in the NFL, especially after a loss. Two areas in particular the Lions need to work on are penalties and drops.
The Lions were flagged 17 times for 138 yards Sunday vs. Tennessee. How do they work to correct that issue moving forward?
"You know, you look at the reasons why they happen and sometimes it's a technical issue, sometimes it's over-aggressiveness in some cases," Caldwell said Monday.
"We talk about those, we get them straightened out. You know, did we do the normal things we normally do? Make certain we have officials at practice that point those things out, that throw flags and we go about it the normal way of attacking it, looking at it and see if we can get it straightened away."
As for the drops -- seven total from four different pass catchers -- the players know they can do better.
"As receivers, we believe any ball in our area code we need to catch them despite where it is," receiver Golden Tate said Sunday after catching just two of his nine targets.
"I look back and speak for myself and there were some balls that I just should have flat out caught. I should have caught them. One thing we'll address (Monday). One place I know I can be better."
INJURY REPORT
The Lions will have to make some adjustments as they deal with injuries to their roster. In addition to Abdullah,the Lions will also be without starting defensive end Ziggy Ansah. Ansah was ruled out on this week's injury report.
For the full Lions-Packers injury report, click here.
OTHER NOTEWORTHY ITEMS:
- You asked. Now watch defensive end Kerry Hyder answer fan-submitted questions in this week's #AskALion episode.
- Catch up on all the news from Teryl Austin's and Jim Bob Cooter's Thursday press conferences.
- As much as Stafford's teammates enjoyed watching him lower the boom on Titans cornerback Perrish Cox last Sunday, they're still telling him not to deliver so many hits.
- Tight end Eric Ebron weighed in on the phantom offensive pass interference penalty and his one-handed catch in the locker room Monday afternoon.
- Take a behind-the-scenes look at the Detroit Lions cheerleaders' first game day at Ford Field.
