The Lions placed starting strong safety Tavon Wilson on Reserve/Injured Monday, after he injured his shoulder in last Thursday's Thanksgiving Day game.
With Wilson now on IR, the Lions will likely turn to second-year safety Miles Killebrew.
"Every week I prepare in case I need to go in for the starting role or to get more snaps and this week is the same," Killebrew said. "You have to be ready for next man up. That hasn't changed. I'm preparing just like every other week."
Killebrew hasn't started many games in his career, but he's seen plenty of action in sub-packages over the last two seasons.
"(Defensive coordinator Teryl Austin) plugs in guys all across the board," Killebrew said. "Like you saw last year, I was playing safety and he rolled me down in the box and I was playing linebacker. That's just something he does. He likes his guys to be ready to play anywhere he needs them."
READY FOR THE RAVENS
This week's opponent, the Baltimore Ravens, are no strangers to playoff runs. They know they have to play their best football this time of year, and they typically do.
"A lot of it goes into how healthy you are and all those things," Ravens quarterback Joe Flacco said in a conference-call interview Wednesday.
"We practice and work hard for this time of year. We play a physical brand of football, because we understand that late in the year you can really beat teams up and overtake them with that kind of football."
For Mike O'Hara's full scouting report on the Ravens, click here.
FREENEY TO MAKE LIONS DEBUT
The Lions were awarded veteran defensive end Dwight Freeney via waivers from Seattle last Wednesday, but the turnaround was too quick for Freeney to play in Detroit's Thanksgiving Day loss to the Vikings.
Now that he's had a week in Detroit, Freeney is ready to help the Lions out however he can.
"You guys have here a great base," Freeney said. "We just have to turn the corner here and stop the run a little bit more and get after the quarterback."
MY CAUSE MY CLEATS
Several Lions players are taking part in this week's My Cause My Cleats initiative. Each pair of specially-designed cleats represents a cause of the player's choice.
The Lions had a fun unboxing event Wednesday. Check out the highlights below:
OTHER NOTEWORTHY ITEMS:
- Where do the Lions need to improve to contend? Tim Twentyman answers that question & more in his latest 10 Questions column.
- Read why quarterback Matthew Stafford's start streak is so important to him.
- Watch guard T.J Lang sit down with wide receiver Marvin Jones Jr. for the eleventh episode of Talkin' With T.J.
- Catch up on all the news from Teryl Austin's and Jim Bob Cooter's Thursday press conferences.
- You asked. Now watch running back Theo Riddick answer your fan-submitted questions in this week's #AskALion episode.
