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Calvin Johnson, Suh return to practice; Ansah still out
Receiver Calvin Johnson and defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh returned to practice Tuesday for the Detroit Lions, who open the regular season in five days.
Rookie defensive end Ezekiel “Ziggy” Ansah, however, remains out. Ansah was on the field, wearing his No. 94 jersey, watching and assisting in the drills, but he didn’t have his helmet and didn’t participate even in warmup drills.
Ansah hasn’t practiced since Aug. 24, when he banged his head during a collision with a teammate. A day later, he left the field during warmups with a towel over his head, which triggered widespread speculation that he was suffering from concussion-like symptoms.
The Lions still haven’t commented on his status but must release an official daily injury report starting Wednesday.
Tuesday’s appearance was the first time Ansah had been seen during a practice, game or team function in more than a week.
“The injury report will come out tomorrow,” coach Jim Schwartz said. “I think we’ll be fairly healthy going into the first game, about the best we could expect coming out of training camp.”
Asked about Ansah missing all this practice time, Schwartz said, “He got a lot of reps early in camp.”
Johnson, meanwhile, practiced for the first time in a couple of weeks. He missed the final three preseason games because of a bruised knee.
Johnson was running routes and caching passes during Tuesday’s practice.
Suh, who missed practice last week and didn’t play in the exhibition finale, also was participating in practice drills. He reportedly had been hampered by an upper-body injury.
Three other players who missed the final preseason game – running back Reggie Bush, and safeties Louis Delmas and John Wendling – were also back on the practice field.
Besides Ansah, the only player on the 53-man roster who wasn’t available was running back Montell Owens, who will start the season on the short-term injured list because of a knee injury.
The Lions open Sunday against the Minnesota Vikings at Ford Field.
