Detroit Lions place C.J. Gardner-Johnson, James Houston on injured reserve

On Tuesday afternoon, the Detroit Lions made official the news we all expected to see: C.J. Gardner-Johnson and James Houston have been placed on injured reserve following injuries that occurred in Week 2. Both players will be out a minimum of four weeks, though the early expectations are that both players will be out for an extended amount of time.

Gardner-Johnson injured his pectoral early in the Lions game against the Seahawks, and while he exited for two plays, he was able to return to the game and play the remaining snaps. Following the game, Gardner-Johnson had a more thorough examination that revealed a torn pectoral muscle and could potentially miss the rest of the season as a result.

“I hate it for (Gardner-Johnson). That’s tough, but we’ll see where this thing goes,” Campbell told 97.1 The Ticket Tuesday morning. “There’s a chance he comes back this season. Listen, we’ve got Tracy (Walker), man. That’s why Tracy Walker’s here. He’s somebody that there’s a reason why we wanted to re-sign him, he was coming off injury, and it’s next man up. Here we go.”

Walker, a former team captain who is coming off an Achilles injury that cost him the majority of the 2022 season, will step into the starting lineup, with Ifeatu Melifonwu the only other safety on the roster at the moment.

Houston injured his ankle on a special teams play (below) in the second half of the Lions-Seahawks game and was quickly ruled out. His injury is reportedly expected to keep him out for 6-8 weeks as he recovers. Romeo Okwara stepped in to fill in for Houston and will likely assume EDGE4 duties moving forward.

After putting Josh Paschal and Khalil Dorsey on injured reserve last Saturday, the Lions had four spots on their active roster open. They’ve filled three of those spots by signing cornerback Chase Lucas, running back Zonovan Knight, as well as guard Kayode Awosika to the 53-man roster, and still have one more spot remaining open at the time of publishing.