Brad Holmes and the Lions are searching high and low for reinforcements on defense. After getting hit with another wave of injuries in their win over the Bears on Thanksgiving, the Lions signed two defensive linemen and a former Pro Bowl linebacker on Saturday.
And on Sunday, they signed former All-Pro safety Jamal Adams to their practice squad "with the idea that he’ll be elevated" to the active roster in the weeks ahead, per ESPN.
"Adams had been eyeing an opportunity with a playoff contender," per Adam Schefter.
Adams comes to the Lions after being released twice this year, first by the Seahawks in July and again by the Titans in October. He had requested his release from Tennessee after playing sparingly in three games with the team, with whom he had signed a vet minimum deal this offseason.
Injuries marred the end of Adams' tenure with the Seahawks and led to his release, which allowed the team to get out from under his contract. He was a starter as recently as last season, but a knee injury limited him to nine games after a torn quad tendon cost him all but one game the season prior. He hasn't been a top player at his position since his last Pro Bowl season in 2020.
Adams had 9.5 sacks that year and 21.5 over his first four NFL seasons after starting his career with the Jets, extremely impressive production for a safety. Asked Sunday if the Lions might deploy Adams as a linebacker, Dan Campbell had his tongue in his cheek when he said, "Could be D-end. We’ll put him at D-end.”
"But this will be good, getting Jamal here, we’ll see if there’s a place for him," Campbell said. "It just gives us options."
The Lions are without three of their top four linebackers for likely the rest of the regular season after Malcolm Rodriguez tore his ACL on Thanksgiving and joined Alex Anzalone (forearm) and Derrick Barnes (knee) on the shelf. They also lost rookie defensive lineman Mekhi Wingo to a season-ending knee injury on Thanksgiving, on top of less-significant injuries to defensive linemen Josh Paschal (knee) and Levi Onwuzurike (hamstring).
Detroit was missing more than half of its starting defense by the end of last week's win over the Bears and has plunged into the depth chart at certain positions in the front seven.
That prompted the signings on Saturday of former Pro Bowl linebacker Kwon Alexander from the Broncos' practice squad, defensive tackle Myles Adams from the Seahawks' practice squad and defensive end Jonah Williams from the Rams' practice squad. All three players joined the Lions' active roster.
Alexander, a Pro Bowler in 2017 with the Bucs, has seen the most live action this season, logging 65 defensive snaps in three games for the Broncos and producing eight tackles and a pass defended. His last full season came in 2022 with the Jets. He's in year 10 of his career.
Williams saw 40 defensive snaps in six games with the Rams this season and Myles Adams 36 snaps in three games with the Seahawks, with three tackles each. They are both in year four of their careers.
Campbell said Sunday that the Lions like "having the right balance" on the practice squad of vets who are "plug-and-play ready and then some of these young guys that you think have a chance to grow into something more than just a backup and give them time to develop if you can."
"I feel like we’ve done a pretty good job of that ... Kwon, we get him, we got Myles Adams, Jonah Williams, it just gives us options now, which is great," said Campbell. "And we’re going to play the best players. Whoever can help us is going.”