Malcolm Rodriguez’s hold on the Lions’ weakside linebacker job took a hit Tuesday when he exited practice with an ankle injury and headed to the locker room in Allen Park for evaluation.
Rodriguez left the field late in training camp practice under his own power, but the timing still matters. He has spent most of camp running with Detroit’s first-team weakside unit and had emerged as the top candidate to fill the third-linebacker role next to Jack Campbell and Derrick Barnes, who remain the team’s starters at the position.
Detroit has been searching for answers on the weak side, and the picture got murkier after rookie linebacker Jimmy Rolder, a fourth-round pick out of Michigan, suffered a severe hamstring strain in practice last week. Rolder could miss the start of the season, which prompted the Lions to sign veteran Devin White the next day.
White has already started working into the mix, taking a handful of first-team reps over the past two practices. Coach Dan Campbell said the spot "suits him very well."
"[In Monday's practice there were] a couple of wow plays in there," Campbell said. "I mean, one, he just came downhill and just, that's what we expect.
And he can still run, you can see that. So we just get his weight down a little bit and make sure that we continue to work him into practice, be smart with him.
And then see where he can go with it. But it's an opportunity.”
White, who made the Pro Bowl with Tampa Bay in 2021 and finished third in the NFL with 174 tackles for the Raiders last season, said he’s not focused on the depth chart yet.
"They control all the depth chart things and whenever Ham [linebackers coach Shaun Dion Hamilton] tells me to go in, I just run out there fast as I can so he won’t put anybody else in, so that’s all that I’m trying to do," White said. "And I feel like if I just keep doing that and just stay humble, I feel like my role will increase and I’ll get better and better within the defense and I’ll help these guys make plays."
The injury list didn’t stop there for Detroit. Defensive linemen Derrick Moore (groin) and Payton Turner (back) were also held out Tuesday, while veteran guard Ben Bartch stayed limited to individual work as he continues recovering from ankle surgery.
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