After not practicing for four weeks, the Detroit Lions finally decided to place Ifeatu Melifonwu on injured reserve. He will now miss the next four games, meaning he will be eligible to return for Week 9 against the Green Bay Packers.

The Lions’ veteran safety has been dealing with an ankle injury all season, and while it initially looked like he wouldn’t miss much time, he was listed as limited in practice throughout the first week, suggesting that he clearly suffered a setback and was unable to work his way back onto the field.

Just last week, coach Dan Campbell noted that they didn’t think they needed to place Melifonwu on IR.

“He’s making progress, he really is. He’s making progress. I would say no,” Campbell said. “That could change depending on if something happens here with everything else, the rest of the squad. But at the moment I don’t feel that way and he’s doing better.”

But when asked again about Melifonwu’s status this Saturday, Campbell was far less optimistic about clarifying Melifonwu’s move.

“No, there’s really no clarity,” Campbell said.

Without Melifonwu, the Lions will be pretty thin at the safety position. While their starters – Brian Branch and Kerby Joseph – are both healthy and playing at a very high level, the Lions only have Brandon Joseph and Loren Strickland as backups on the 53-man roster, and neither has ever started an NFL game before . They also have Erick Hallett and Morice Norris on their practice squad.