A couple days ago, things didn't look so good for T.J. Hockenson and Penei Sewell. They look much better now.
After injuries kept them out of practice to start the week, both are trending toward playing Sunday against the Vikings.
Hockenson sounds like a lock. He suffered a knee injury against the Bears and took a maintenance day Wednesday, but returned to practice Thursday and ramped things up on Friday. He was in good spirits following practice Friday afternoon.
"I'm sweating today a little bit, so I don't know if that says anything, but obviously a couple more days left and we'll see how it is on Sunday and just go from there," Hockenson said. "You never play in this game 100 percent."
Asked how the injury happened, Hockenson said, "You take hits out there every Sunday and I got clobbered low a couple times, just repetitive. So just taking the day Wednesday and being precautionary about it, then yesterday doing a little bit, and then today just running around and trying to get some things accomplished and get me ready to roll on Sunday."
'Clobbered low,' you don't say:
Jamie Sabau / Stringer
Hockenson is Detroit's leading receiver with 22 catches for 215 yards and two touchdowns, but he's been neutralized the past two games. He said he'll "recover this weekend, watch some football tomorrow with a bag of ice, and we'll be good." (Hockenson's No. 3 Iowa Hawkeyes host No. 4 Penn State Saturday afternoon.)
He said he's looking forward to the challenge on Sunday of blocking former teammate Everson Griffen, who returned to the Vikings this offseason and has two sacks through three games.
"That's a guy that I'm going to have to go against and I'm excited for that opportunity," he said.
As for Sewell, Dan Campbell said Friday that, like Hockenson, the seventh overall pick "has gotten better every day" this week.
Sewell missed practice Wednesday and Thursday with an ankle injury, but was back on the field Friday. That's an encouraging sign for his availability on Sunday against one of the best defensive fronts in the NFL.
If the rookie's good to go at left tackle, the Lions will likely line up with Jonah Jackson at left guard, backup Evan Brown at center in place of Frank Ragnow, Halapoulivaati Vaitai at right guard and Matt Nelson at right tackle.
