Lions make multiple roster moves, one big return and two debuts set to happen against the Rams

Giovanni Ricci and Jalen Mills are set to make their Lions debuts early with all the safety injuries Detroit has

Mike Payton — Detroit Lions Beat Writer
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The Detroit Lions are about to board a plane to head to Los Angeles for their hardest matchup of the season. Before they do that, they made a bunch of roster moves. Here’s what they did:

Activated TE Shane Zylstra

Some might think I’m overhyping this one a bit, and maybe I am, but Shane Zysltra is the closest thing the Lions have in the building to Sam LaPorta, which makes a difference.

He’s a pass-catching tight end, and that opens up the Lions’ playbook. If the Lions attack the Rams’ defense the way we think, Zylstra could be a big part of this game.

Placed S Brian Branch on injured reserve

Some were wondering why the Lions hadn’t done this yet, but with all the things they had to do roster-wise this week to get ready for this game, it makes sense that the Lions waited to do it all at once. Brian Branch had his surgery earlier in the week, and everything went well, according to head coach Dan Campbell. Now, we wait to see how long the recovery will take.

Elevated S Erick Hallet from the practice squad

Erick Hallet is essentially the defensive version of Tom Kennedy. He’s just a guy whom the Lions have a lot of trust in, and that’s why he keeps coming back.

He played well against the Buccaneers earlier in the year when the Lions were in a similar position at safety. Let’s see how he does again this time.

Elevated Giovanni Ricci from the practice squad

The Lions need an extra tight end on the roster because right now, it’s Zylstra and Anthony Firkser. I still can’t understand why they let Hayden Rucci go.

Giovanni Ricci just got here last week, but he’s been around the league since 2020 and has been in spots like this before. He’s a good blocking tight end who can help out when he gets some spots. In addition to Ricci, you should expect to see Jalen Mills make his debut in this one. Looks like Damonae Kazee will have to wait another week.

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