By Blessing 
The Detroit Lions will have to keep waiting for one of their key defensive stars to make his season debut.
On Friday, the team announced that defensive tackle Alim McNeill will miss another week as he continues recovering from the torn ACL that sidelined him for the first month of the season. While McNeill has made strong progress in his rehab, Detroit’s coaching staff is choosing to play it safe with the standout lineman rather than rush him back.
Lions Rule Out Alim McNeill
Earlier in the week, head coach Dan Campbell had said McNeill was “50/50” to play against the Cincinnati Bengals, pending evaluation after Friday’s practice. However, the team ultimately decided to hold him out.
There was cautious optimism that McNeill might be ready to come off the physically unable to perform list. Defensive coordinator Kelvin Sheppard said he’s been encouraged by what he’s seen from the young tackle in workouts.
> “I saw all I needed to see. I see him helping in a major way. Now the biggest task for me is being patient,” Sheppard said, via SI.com. “And you know the collaborative effort with our training staff, strength staff, and obviously the head man giving me the green light for him and what that’s going to entail and look like.”
Sheppard added that both he and Campbell were impressed by McNeill’s sharpness in drills, saying the big man didn’t look like someone who’s been sidelined for weeks.
> “And that’s credit to him,” Sheppard continued. “I know all those bone density and all these guru terms they throw out, but all I know is I see a very, very high caliber defensive tackle when I turned on the tape yesterday. So, I’m very excited to have him back out there.”
Lions Also Down Three More Players
Detroit’s injury list doesn’t stop there. The team also ruled out running back Sione Vaki, linebacker Zach Cunningham, and cornerback Khalil Dorsey for Sunday’s matchup with Cincinnati.
According to Pride of Detroit’s Erik Schlitt, Vaki has now missed six consecutive practices while nursing a groin injury.
> “There’s hope he will be able to return in the next two weeks, which would give the Lions’ special teams a boost,” Schlitt wrote.
Dorsey remains in the league’s concussion protocol and, despite returning to practice Thursday, is still limited by a wrist issue.
Meanwhile, Detroit’s defense took another significant blow earlier in the week when starting cornerback D.J. Reed was placed on injured reserve. The move ensures he’ll be out for at least the next month, but Campbell shared that the prognosis could have been worse.
> “He’s going to be down for a while,” Campbell said, via The Athletic. “But the good news is this is not a season-ender. We will get him back, it looks like, so that’s the good news. He’s a stud.”