Infected tooth caused Lions safety to miss game

Sometimes infected tooth can cause enough discomfort to prevent you from doing important thing, like missing a game. The Detroit Lions starting free safety Louis Delmas was just held out of Sunday’s game against the Minnesota Vikings by such discomfort.

Delmas felt increasing discomfort during warmups before Sunday’s game, and the team had to replace him with Marquand Manuel, who did not finish the game and left in the third quarter with a shoulder injury and was replaced by Kalvin Pearson. And it was the first game Delmas missed since he put on Lions jersey after being drafted by the team in the second round out of Western Michigan. He had been the starter at free safety for all the first eight games of the season.

The Lions right guard Stephen Peterman and cornerback Jack Williams also left the game in the third quarter with injuries, and the injuries just made it even easier to the Vikings to beat the 1-7 Lions. The game ended with Vikings’ 27-10 victory.

Stafford practiced with Lions after bye week

As the Detroit Lions returned to practice Tuesday after their bye week, quarterback Matt Stafford also took part in some individual drills. Good signs for the Lions and the St. Louis Rams have to get ready for facing best weapon in Lions jersey in Sunday’s game.

Coach Jim Schwartz refused to reveal about Stafford’s participation in Tuesday’s practice. But he said “I do think the bye came at a good time for getting people healthier, and everyone was able to at least do something, but that’s as far as I will go.”

While taking part in the individual drills that are open to the media, Stafford acknowledged that he wasn’t fully involved in the full-team portion of the session. Backup Daunte Culpepper was also less than 100 percent, but is also hopefully to come back and play with third-stringer Drew Stanton.

Two Lions starters are questionable for Sunday game against Packers

The Detroit Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford and wide receiver Calvin Johnson are questionable for Sunday’s game against the Packers at Green Bay, after both missed the team’s practice on Friday.

Stafford has missed four of five practices this week. He suffered a right knee injury on Oct. 8 while playing against the Bears at Chicago. But it seemed that the Lions have not been ready to play without the No. 1 overall draft pick, and Coach Jim Schwartz has said he won’t decide until Sunday morning whether Stafford will be wearing his Lions jersey to play against the Packers.

As for receiver Johnson, he injured his right knee in Sunday’s loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers and skipped Friday’s practice because of the knee injury. As the Detroit’s leading receiver, Johnson is also listed questionable for Sunday’s game.