The Detroit Lions came out of their Week 7 win over the Green Bay Packers with a pair of minor injury concerns, but neither one appears serious enough to create much alarm.
Head coach Dan Campbell told local reporters that wide receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown and cornerback Ennis Rakestraw are dealing with small injuries. At the moment, both are not expected to miss the Vikings, though either one could sit out a single practice on Wednesday.
Rakestraw’s role mattered in the 20-17 home victory, where Detroit leaned on a secondary rotation that helped keep Green Bay from hitting explosive plays. He was on the field for 31 percent of the defensive snaps.
If Rakestraw does need time, the Lions have options ready to step in. Roger McCreary, Khalil Dorsey and Keith Abney would all be candidates to take on more work in his place.
One of the biggest takeaways from the game came from Detroit’s secondary, where the return of the former second-round pick added another layer to the defensive rotation. He was pushing Campbell to let him play even more in the first half in his first game back from a torn Achilles tendon.
"I asked for God just to have a clean game and we all had a clean game," said Branch. "We executed.
We still left a lot of plays out there again, that comes with it. But we all played a hell of a game and I'm just proud to be a part of the secondary.
We done been through a lot and now it's time to hit the ground running now."
He later explained the push-and-pull with the coaching staff around his workload: "Just telling him when I get out there, my adrenaline going, so I'm ready to go. The plan was to pitch count. I kind of didn't like it, but they were smart for doing it and I just thanked them because they were looking out for me.”
The payoff was immediate. Branch picked off his first pass of the 2026 season and said the moment felt special.
"Oh, it felt good. Just to grabbing the pick the first game out, that's nothing but God.”
Since the Bills loss, the defense has continued to build confidence with each outing.
"Shepp called a hell of a gameplan, put everybody in the right spot," said Branch. "And again, once we execute it's wraps and that's all we got to do moving forward is execute his game plan.”
In Other News...
Lions Suddenly Face A Bigger NFC Test Than The Standings Show
After seven weeks, the NFC picture has tightened into something that looks less like a division race and more like a weekly survival test. The Vikings are still unbeaten at the top of the North, while the Bears, Lions and Packers all sit in playoff position, and even Seattle is lurking just outside the bracket. For Detroit, the margin for error is already thin enough that every divisional result can change how the standings feel from one Sunday to the next.
What makes the next stretch especially tricky is how little room there is to separate contenders from pretenders. The Lions are in the mix, but the path ahead runs through a conference that keeps stacking competent teams on top of one another, with upcoming games set to shape not just the North but the broader NFC race. And when Detroit gets its next crack at Minnesota, it will be facing a team that has been suffocating opponents defensively, which only raises the stakes of every possession before that matchup even arrives. [Read more 🡒]
Lions Got A Huge Late-Game Break From An Unexpected Defender
Late in the fourth quarter, the Lions got a break from an unlikely place when defensive tackle DJ Wonnum got a hand on Green Bay kicker Trey Smacks 35-yard field-goal attempt. The deflection helped send the kick wide and kept the game tied in a tense finish that was hanging on every snap.
It was the kind of play that can disappear in the blur of a close game, and even some Lions teammates did not realize Wonnum had made the difference until after it was over. Detroit ultimately walked away with a 20-17 win, and the late stop loomed large because it prevented the Packers from taking the lead when the pressure was at its highest. [Read more 🡒]
Lions Loss To Packers Hid A Frustrating Reality For Detroit Fans
The loss to Green Bay left Detroit fans with the kind of familiar frustration that lingers long after the final whistle, because the box score did not tell the same story as the result. The Lions controlled plenty of the underlying numbers, moved the ball more efficiently for long stretches and generally looked like the better team in several key stretches, even as the Packers found a way to leave with the narrow win.
For Detroit, the sting is in how close the game felt to tilting the other way. Green Bay benefited from a few fortunate breaks and timely plays in critical moments, while a handful of officiating calls added another layer of irritation for both sides. The end result is a loss that can be hard to reconcile, especially when the Lions appeared to do enough in the underlying play to expect a different outcome. [Read more 🡒]