Thursday is the day when the Lions coordinators meet with the media instead of head coach Dan Campbell. Defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn was quite a bit more forthcoming in what’s going on with his injury-plagued unit than Campbell was a day earlier.
Glenn openly declared that linemen John Cominsky and Josh Paschal will play versus the Dallas Cowboys in Week 7.
“We’ll get some guys back. Cominsky will be back, Paschal will be ready,” Glenn said prior to Thursday’s practice. “Being able to use Aidan (Hutchinson) in other spots, allowing him to have some freedom to do some things also.”
Cominsky has missed the last three games with a wrist injury suffered in the team’s win over Washington. Paschal has been on the PUP list since training camp after undergoing core muscle surgery in late July.
It’s a big boon to the defensive front, which has struggled to generate pressure or contain the run all season. Both Paschal and Cominsky, as well as Hutchinson, can play multiple positions and techniques across the defensive line. Paschal would be making his NFL debut as a second-round rookie from Kentucky.
Paschal is still technically on the PUP list, so the team will need to make a roster move to activate him. The same is true with cornerback Jerry Jacobs, who is also expected to be ready either this week or for Week 8 against Miami.