Josh Paschal returns to practice, 21-day evaluation clock started

The Detroit Lions are heading towards returning Josh Paschal returning to the roster within the next three week, if things go as planned.

Earlier in the week, we noted that the Detroit Lions had two players eligible to return from injured reserve this week: defensive lineman Josh Paschal and cornerback Khalil Dorsey.

Dorsey returned to practice on Wednesday and has been practicing in full all week. While he is still technically on injured reserve and in the evaluation process, he remains eligible to be activated to the active roster at any time. With Dorsey apparently very close to returning to the active roster, along with fellow cornerback Emmanuel Moseley likely headed toward injured reserve after tearing his ACL last Sunday, Dorsey could be his replacement.

Paschal, started the week working with trainers, but on Friday, he joined his teammates on the practice field, thus starting his 21-day evaluation clock. Like Dorsey, Paschal is eligible to be activated at any time during the evaluation period, but with only one practice under his belt, it’s unclear if the Lions would make that decision ahead of Sunday’s game.

The Lions defensive line has performed well while Paschal has been injured, but his return to the roster would only boost the thriving line. Paschal had a tremendous training camp and arguably made one of the biggest defensive plays in the opening win over the Chiefs (video below), as he continues to develop during his second year in the league.

Prior to Paschal’s injury, Lions defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn praised the second-year defender for his performance in the season opener and said his role was about to grow within the defense.

“It doesn’t surprise me at all that he was effective in that manner, and I expect him to continue to grow in the positions that we have him in,” Glenn said. “So you will see him out there more. I think he had like maybe 30 plays. He’s continuing to grow so you’ll see him out there more.”

If either Paschal and/or Dorsey are activated for this weekend’s game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, expect that move to come on Saturday afternoon, as that tends to be the most common time the Lions announce pre-game transactions.