The Detroit Lions got an unexpected twist in their Week 5 inactive report: Devin White is not on it.
White, who had been inactive since Week 3, will be available for Sunday’s game against the Arizona Cardinals. That’s a notable shift for a linebacker room that has already had plenty of issues, and it comes in a game that feels urgent for Detroit.
The veteran’s start to the season has been rough. In only 51 snaps, White has allowed a 93.8 passer rating and produced just four tackles. His impact has been limited mostly to run defense, and even there, he hasn’t consistently made the kind of difference the Lions were hoping for.
Still, the move to keep him active suggests Detroit is either trying to find something, anything, that works in its linebacker group, or maybe hoping White can at least show enough ahead of the bye week to improve his trade value.
That depth could matter on Sunday. Jack Campbell is expected to have a heavy load against Trey McBride, so the Lions could use every available body at linebacker for tackling support.
Arizona also isn’t exactly backing away from the run. Rookie running back Jeremiyah Love was not ruled out for the game despite ankle injuries early in the season, and he enters with 223 rushing yards and one touchdown on 55 carries. Tyler Allgeier and Bam Knight are there as well, giving the Cardinals multiple ways to test Detroit’s front.
The bigger problem for the Lions remains the same. Campbell, Malcolm Rodriguez, and Derrick Barnes have all been part of a linebacker unit that has been badly exposed in passing situations, with the group allowing an ugly passing efficiency against quarterbacks this season. That has forced the defensive line to do a lot of the cleanup work, and when the first wave misses, the defense has had trouble stopping the damage.
White probably won’t be the cure for that. But with Detroit’s linebacker play under heavy scrutiny and Arizona capable of breaking out against the NFL’s last-rated passing defense, the Lions are clearly hoping a few extra snaps from White can help steady things, even if only a little.
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