The Lions will be without 27-year old cornerback Chris Houston and 24-year old safety Louis Delmas for a while as they both have MCL tears.  They are hopeful that both of them will be able to return later this year.  Houston has played in 11 games for the Lions so far this year and he has 46 tackles, 2 tackles for a loss, 10 passes defensed and 4 interceptions (2 of which he has returned for TDs).  Louis Delmas has played in 11 games for the Lions so far this year and he has 51 tackles, 2 tackles for a loss, 1 fumble recovery and 5 passes defensed.  The Lions are going to miss both of these guys, but especially Houston, who is one of the best corners in the NFL.

The Lions have placed 22-year old RB Jahvid Best on the Injured Reserve List, ending his season due to a nasty concussion.  Best played in 6 games for the Lions this year and he carried the ball 84 times for 390 yards (4.6 ypc) with 2 TD runs.  He also caught 27 passes for 287 yards (10.6 avg) with 1 TD grab for the Lions this year.  Best has now played in 22 games in his first 2 years with the Lions and he has carried the ball 255 times for 945 yards (3.7 ypc) with 6 TD runs.  He has also caught 85 passes for 774 yards (9.1 avg) with 3 TD grabs for the Lions.  This will hurt the Lions, but it looks like Kevin Smith might lessen the blow a little bit.

23-year old rookie punter Ryan Donahue sat out last week’s game with the Bears due to a quadriceps injury, and they hope he’s not out too much longer.  Donahue has played in 8 games for the Lions so far this year and he has punted the ball 49 times for 2,093 yards (42.7 avg).  He also has 4 touchbacks (8.2%) and he has pinned the opposition inside their own 20-yard line 13 times (26.5%).  His replacement is 23-year old Robert Malone.  Malone punted the ball 5 times for 245 yards (49.0 avg) against the Bears.  But he gave up an 80-yard TD return to Devin Hester and he also had a tackle on another punt.  The Lions need Malone to step up while Donahue is out.

UPDATE:  (11/28/2011) – The Lions have placed Ryan Donahue on the Injured Reserve List, ending his season.

The Lions have placed 23-year old OT Jason Fox on the Injured Reserve List, ending his season due to an undisclosed injury.  He didn’t get into any games for the Lions this year.  He has now played in 4 games (0 starts) in his first two years with the Lions.  This will hurt the depth on the O-Line a tad, but the Lions hadn’t played him at all this year and they have done o.k. offensively.

22-year old RB Jahvid Best has a very serious concussion, which is going to cause him to miss some serious time.  That is why the Lions tried to deal for a legit RB (Ronnie Brown) at the trade deadline.  Best has played in all six games for the Lions this year and he has carried the ball 84 times for 390 yards (4.6 ypc) with 2 TD runs.  He has also caught 27 passes for 287 yards (10.6 avg) with 1 TD grab so far this year.  Best has now played in 22 games in his first two years with the Lions and he has carried the ball 255 times for 945 yards (3.7 ypc) with 6 TD runs.  He also has caught 85 passes for 774 yards (9.1 avg) with 3 TD grabs for the Lions in his career.  The Lions need Best to get back soon, because he was giving the Lions’ balance offensively.

If 28-year old running back Jerome Harrison did not get dealt to the Eagles (which was eventually voided) this week, he might have died.  He was diagnosed with a brain tumor during his physical with the Eagles.  It’s treatable now and it might not even end his football career, but he is done for this year.  The Lions have placed Harrison on the Reserve Non-Football Illness List.  Harrison played in 4 games for the Lions this year and he carried the ball 14 times for 41 yards (2.9 ypc) and he also caught 1 pass for 3 yards.  Harrison has now played in 63 games in his first six years in the NFL and he has carried the ball 356 times for 1,681 yards (4.7 ypc) with 7 TD runs.  He has also caught 70 passes for 490 yards (7.0 avg) with 3 TD grabs in his career.  Here’s to hoping that Harrison has a full a speedy recovery.

UPDATE:  (10/24/2011) – The doctors have removed all of Jerome Harrison’s tumor in surgery last Friday!

The Lions have placed 29-year old safety Erik Coleman on the Injured Reserve List, ending his season due to a ankle injury.  Coleman played in 4 games for the Lions this year and he had 2 tackles.  Coleman has now played in 111 games in his NFL career so far and he has 606 tackles, 2 sacks, 4 forced fumbles, 1 fumble recovery, 11 tackles for a loss, 35 passes defensed and 10 interceptions.  This isn’t much of a loss for the Lions as Coleman wasn’t playing much.

The Lions have signed 29-year old safety Vincent Fuller.  Fuller played in 12 games last year with the Titans and he had 33 tackles, 1 tackle for a loss, 2 passes defensed and 1 interception.  He has now played in 73 games in his first five years in the NFL and he has 163 tackles, 16 passes defensed, 6 interceptions (4 returned for TDs), 2 sacks, 2 forced fumbles, 1 fumble recovery and 7 tackles for a loss.  This was a good signing for the Lions as Fuller should be able to help out with depth at safety while also helping out on special teams.

UPDATE:  (10/28/2011) – The Lions have placed Vincent Fuller on I.R., ending his season due to a elbow injury.  Fuller played in 1 game for the Lions and he didn’t make any tackles.

The Lions have placed 29-year old linebacker Isaiah Ekejiuba on the Injured Reserve list due to a severely injured shoulder.  Ekejiuba played in all 3 games for the Lions this year and he had 2 tackles.  Ekejiuba has now played in 12 games in his first two years with the Lions and he has 12 tackles and 2 forced fumbles.  The Lions might miss Ekejiuba a little bit on special teams, but that’s about it.

The Lions have lost rookie RB Mikel Leshoure for the rest of the season after tearing his Achilles tendon at practice today.  This is a huge blow to the Lions who were counting on Leshoure to split the workload carrying the ball with Jahvid Best in 2011.  He was going to be the big back that they lacked on the roster last year.  Now the Lions only have Jahvid Best, Maurice Morris and Aaron Brown on the roster at RB and that might not be enough.  Look for them to scour the free agent market for help.