Down the stretch, the Detroit Lions pass rush has been getting stronger. Prior to practice on Thursday, they will be able to take another stab at Baker Mayfield by activating James Houston from injured reserve. In line with that, veteran edge rusher Julian Okwara was discharged.
Man, you want to be a part of the winning when you see everyone else winning. You understand what I’m saying? Houston last week told MLive. “Yeah, I’m ready to go. Everyone wants to be a part of something amazing and successful. I was prepared at all times. I was attempting to maintain my focus. I anticipated that they would require my assistance in the latter part of the season, as that is often when things either go wrong or improve. I therefore kind of wanted to be that component to keep it going.
Houston, a former sixth-round selection, emerged as one of the season’s biggest surprises. After being cut after training camp, he was on the practice squad for the majority of the season before pushing his way into the starting lineup on Thanksgiving. After that, he just needed five defensive snaps to sack Josh Allen twice, and he never looked back.
Despite not making his debut until late November, he set an NFL record with eight sacks in his first seven games and ended second in the league among rookie sacks. Teammate Aidan Hutchinson is the only rookie on that list who is ahead of him.
Houston was expected to complement Hutchinson in the pass rush this season, but struggled to take an obvious step forward in training camp before breaking his fibula in the home opener against Seattle. He went on IR to recover from a surgery that inserted a plate and four screws in the ankle.
He returned to practice last month, along with fellow defenders like Ceedy Duce and Alim McNeill, but wound up requiring more time to rebuild his fitness and shake off the rust.
Go out and practice and see how effective you can be,” defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn said last week. “If you’re effective, then we’ll put you in there and let you play.”
For their playoff debut against the Los Angeles Rams, Houston stayed dressed like they were on the streets. A week later, though, and with his time on the clock running out, the Lions have reinstated their inexperienced pass rusher in front of their divisional round playoff matchup with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
He joins a pass rush that has been getting better over the past few weeks, but it still heavily depends on Hutchinson, who was responsible for both of Matthew Stafford’s sacks on Sunday night in addition to five of the quarterback hits in total. In his last three games, Hutchinson has racked up seven sacks.
The Lions, meanwhile, have struggled to generate pressure from the other edge spot. Charles Harris opened the season in the starting lineup, but has just 1.5 sacks and was a healthy scratch in recent weeks. Okwara also got some run at that spot, but was a healthy scratch against L.A. too and is now out of job.
