The Detroit Lions have filled the vacant spot on their active roster by signing another receiver from their practice squad.

A few days after Tim Patrick was promoted to the active roster, the Lions signed Allen Robinson after he made his Lions debut as a practice squad player against Arizona in Week 3. Robinson played one snap against the Cardinals.

Robinson, 31, is in his 11th NFL season after entering the league as a second-round pick of the Jacksonville Jaguars in 2014. He played at the collegiate level at Penn State and is originally from Detroit and attended St. Mary’s Prep.

In his career, Robinson has caught 562 passes for 7,028 yards and 43 touchdowns. He was selected to the Pro Bowl in 2015 and has played for the Jaguars, Chicago Bears, Los Angeles Rams and Pittsburgh Steelers throughout his career.

The signings of Robinson and Patrick are corresponding moves for Derrick Barnes and Marcus Davenport, who were placed on the injured list.

Linebacker Abraham Beauplan, who was with Detroit during the preseason, has returned to the practice squad.

Campbell cheers on Tigers

Coach Dan Campbell knows how to get a team going at the right time in the season. Two years ago, the Lions finished the season 8-2, marking their rise from minor league rival to contender.

Currently, the city is enjoying a similar rise thanks to the Detroit Tigers, who have been the hottest team in the MLB for the past month.

“It’s great, dude. The Tigers were written off, right? In July,” Campbell said. “Yeah, I heard it. It was like, ‘Dude, these guys are done.’ And now look at them. It’s great.”

Although Campbell was unable to witness the Tigers’ run, he supported the team from afar, unlike what one would expect from an NFL head coach.

“I obviously can’t watch a lot of it where I’m at right now,” Campbell explained. “I’m always up to date, I know what’s going on, and I hear, ‘Hey, man, they won again, they won again.’ And so, man, I’m rooting for these guys. I am, I love it, because I think when you’re sitting in those seats and doing what they do at the professional level, it doesn’t matter where you are, you just have to keep improving. And you just improve, improve, improve, work, work, work. And that’s what they’ve done.”

It also makes sense from a business perspective for Campbell, who has stressed the importance of staying true to the process and evolving since taking over as head coach. It’s been a similar growth trajectory for the Tigers, who were buoyed by the debut of several rookies over the course of the season.

It is unlikely that coach AJ Hinch and his team have found a rhythm that will allow them to secure a playoff spot as early as Friday.

“You just don’t know how many problems you’re trying to solve,” Campbell explained. “Find the best rotation and figure that out and work on that and work with that and what about that and the lineup. Pretty soon you find it and just keep getting better and better and better. That’s what they’ve done, they’re playing really well right now. So I’m fired up for them.”

Sam LaPorta’s slow start

After a historic rookie season, LaPorta has had a quieter start than some expected in 2024. He has eight catches for 94 yards through three games. He had two catches to start before spraining his ankle against Arizona.

Although the second-year product from Iowa’s numbers have been lower than expected, there is no reason to worry about how the talented pass receiver will contribute to the offense.

“Really, no reaction. I don’t think either of us needs to talk about it,” tight ends coach Steve Heiden said. “He knows he’s always involved. It’s just that sometimes the ball goes to Saint, sometimes it goes to him, sometimes it goes to Jamo. We get our touches, not worried. The good thing about Sam is he’s had some of his best games since I’ve been here and hasn’t caught a lot of balls. We do a lot at our position. It’s not just about catching the ball, it’s about blocking, pass protection and all that other stuff.”

Plan without Frank Ragnow

The Lions will be without center Frank Ragnow for Monday’s game, who was officially ruled out of Campbell on Thursday. While his physical presence will be missed, running backs coach Scottie Montgomery added that his ability to react mentally and stay ahead of the defense is crucial.

“No doubt about it. We love Frank. The greatest thing about Frank, or one of the greatest things about Frank, is his mind,” Montgomery said. “He’s two, three steps ahead. I’ll be working on pressure packages and everything, and he’s already calling the pressure packages before I can even try. So that’s the main point. The one thing we’ve been able to accomplish here with Brad and Dan is that they’ve built this thing with some depth.”

Although Ragnow will play a big role, Detroit has several players on its offensive line who are capable of stepping in. Among them, Graham Glasgow, Kayode Awosika and Michael Niese are potential candidates who could either step in at center or take over a guard position should Glasgow slide over from the left guard position.

“So now we have guys going in. And we can rotate and rotate from different positions that have actually had real playing time and that have been working in these protection meetings, that have been working in these protection meetings for two years now, some even three years,” Montgomery explained. “It presents a challenge, but this is one of those situations where you know at some point during the year someone is going to be missing, so Dan and Brad have done a good job of making sure we are set up to handle this thing for the long haul.”