Following their preseason Week 3 victory over the Pittsburgh Steelers on Saturday, the Detroit Lions provided an injury update on safety Ifeatu Melifonwu, who has missed significant time due to an undisclosed injury.
After the game, head coach Dan Campbell revealed he doesn't think it's anything long term, but added that he isn't sure when Melifonwu will be back.
“Not sure," Campbell said of Melifonwu's status. "He’s been out for a little while. Nothing that we feel like is long term, yet it’s continuing to take a little while. So I’m not too sure on that one. I don’t know when we’ll have him back or if he’ll be back what that timeline is.”
After serving as one of the starting safeties in 2023, Melifonwu has been pushed to a lesser role now that the team is moving Brian Branch from the slot to safety, leaving Melifonwu as the top backup behind Branch and Kerby Joseph.
If Melifonwu is forced to miss time to start the season (if he lands on injured reserve, he'll have to miss the first four games), that will open up a roster spot for another one of the team's safeties if the Lions didn't plan on carrying five to begin with. C.J. Moore and Brandon Joseph are the favorites to grab the final two spots in that scenario.
With the preseason now in the books, the Lions will trim their roster down to 53 players by Tuesday, Aug. 27. After that, they'll have a week-plus to prepare for their regular-season opener against the Los Angeles Rams on Sunday, Sept. 8.
