As a crowd of reporters gathered around D.J. Reed Friday afternoon in the Lions' locker room, fellow cornerback Amik Robertson crashed the scrum and sang, "Guess who's back, and he's shining on them killas!"
Reed smiled and said, "The word is gratitude. Happy to be back out there with my teammates."
The Lions' No. 1 corner is slated to return Sunday against the Giants after missing the last six games with a hamstring injury. Reed originally feared his season was over when he was carted off the field in Detroit's Week 4 win over the Browns. Now he's ready for the stretch run.
"Looking forward to contributing and man, just getting my rhythm back," he said.
After a slow start to his first season in Detroit, Reed was "getting into a groove" at the time of his injury. He erased Zay Flowers in the Lions' Week 3 win over the Ravens, then blanketed Jerry Jeudy in Week 4 when he snagged his first pick of the year on a diving play in coverage. He was living up to his three-year, $48 million contract as a lockdown corner.
"I definitely feel like I was getting into my bag," he said, "but yeah, I’m gonna have to get it back. Probably be a little rusty, but I’m looking forward to going out there and still dominating."
Despite injuries elsewhere in the secondary during Reed's absence, Detroit's defense has continued to thrive. All-Pro safety Kerby Joseph has missed the last four games with a knee injury, while No. 2 corner Terrion Arnold (shoulder, concussion) has played in stops and starts. The Lions still have a top-10 passing defense, while allowing the fifth fewest yards per game overall.
Reed has been impressed watching from afar, especially last week when Robertson and Rock Ya-Sin teamed up to hold star receivers A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith to eight catches on 16 targets for 57 yards in the Lions' 16-9 loss to the Eagles.
"I just want to be a part of it," said Reed. "I told Amik and Rock, what they did against A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith, really I haven’t seen anybody do it on film because usually if you take one guy away, the other guy goes off. But they held them, I feel like, as best as anybody could, so shoutout to them. I feel like they’re starters in this league. Man, I’m just looking forward to going back out there and turning up with my boys."
Reed isn't yet sure how many snaps he'll play Sunday, but said that "if I have to play the whole game, I feel like I’m healthy enough to do that."
With Malik Nabers down for the season and quarterback Jaxson Dart out with a concussion, the Giants' top receiver is Wan'Dale Robinson, who operates mostly out of the slot, and their starting quarterback is Jameis Winston. Their passing game shouldn't pose much of a problem.
Detroit does have some big-time matchups looming with Dak Prescott, CeeDee Lamb and George Pickens of the Cowboys and Matthew Stafford, Puka Nacua and Davante Adams of the Rams. By the time they get to those games, the Lions will likely have their entire starting secondary back on the field.
"I'm excited for everybody to be healthy," said Reed, "especially as we go on this run."