The Detroit Lions played without Marcus Davenport in their 20-16 loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Sunday.
Davenport, a free agent signing who proved in his debut that he can play a role in the pass-rush aspect of the game, missed the Week 2 game with a groin injury. The veteran, when healthy, is a capable counterpart to Aidan Hutchinson on the edge of Detroit’s defense.
Although he missed Sunday’s game, the Lions are optimistic Davenport will be able to return to action next week when they travel to Arizona. Coach Dan Campbell said he plans to have the defensive lineman back at practice on Wednesday.
“We’re going to let him run around out there today, so we’re confident in him,” Campbell said.
Davenport managed half a sack and six total pressures against the Rams in Week 1. With this win, he clearly proved himself to be a viable option to help a defense that ranked in the bottom third of the league in sacks last year.
Detroit already has one of the league’s best young pass rushers in Hutchinson, who recorded a career-high 4.5 sacks in Week 2. After two games, Hutchinson leads the league in sacks with a total of 5.5.
The Lions’ defensive line used DJ Reader for the first time on Sunday. Reader, who was signed as a free agent in the offseason, recorded one tackle in 25 snaps.
Reader partnered with Alim McNeill in the middle of the defense, while Levi Onwuzurike got some play as a defensive end in Davenport’s offense. Although the experienced rookie had a modest workload after his injury, Campbell was impressed with his impact.
“That D-line, like Levi (Onwuzurike), played outstanding,” Campbell said Monday of film study of Sunday’s loss. “Levi played outstanding and having (DJ) Reader there made a big impact. He was in on 25 snaps, but they were impressive, valuable snaps. Those guys work in stunts because that’s one thing that takes care of that — if you want to nudge Hutch, then we can just move him back to the middle a little bit and move the line outside of Levi or Reader or (McNeill) Mac and then bring Hutch back again.”
