The Detroit Lions is in a state of flux at the moment. As the team prepares to face the Minnesota Vikings on Sunday, they were hoping for a dominating win against a much weaker team. However, the Lions might find that effort hard as they could be without two of their biggest offensive stars this week. After missing practice almost all week, both Calvin Johnson and Reggie Bush are listed as highly doubtful for Week 6.
For the first time all season, Johnson did not practice all week. The wide receiver has been nursing a high-ankle sprain that he re-aggravated in the game against the Green Bay Packers. Bush has not practiced all week either, also nursing an ankle injury. According to Dave Birkett of the Detroit Free Press reports that both players are calling themselves "game-time decisions" but playing seems very unlikely for both stars.
Johnson had already hinted earlier in the week that it was a definite possibility that he does not play on Sunday. The wide receiver is not interested in forcing the injury, aware that it could get much worse than it already is. He told the media he simply needs rest and treatment. In Johnson's absence, head coach Jim Caldwell is hopeful that Ryan Broyles can step up and play a bigger role in the offense. Matthew Stafford will target Golden Tate a majority of the time, but Broyles could see some extended playing time.
"Obviously, he's up and active, which has been different from previous weeks," Caldwell said, via MLive.com. "Obviously, I kind of think everybody probably was focused in on the fact that he had such a fine preseason. I would anticipate that he'll still be a factor for us one way or another. But, it just depends on how the game goes, the flow of the game, what personnel grouping we think is working better for us and sometimes you have to mid-stream adjust depending on maybe they're doing something you didn't anticipate. So, it requires you to use a little different type of attack, which may fall in line with him in terms of where we'd like to utilize him. It just depends."
In wake of Bush's injury, Joique Bell becomes a solid fantasy football option. Bell sat out Week 5 with a concussion, but practiced all week looking healthy and ready to start. While the backup running back has not seen the field much this season, he is a must-start for teams. Theo Riddick is expected to be active after suffering a hamstring injury, but he is not expected to get a big enough role to overtake Bell.
