Allen Park — Dan Campbell made no promises Tuesday, but the Detroit Lions head coach gave a positive update regarding defensive tackle Alim McNeill, who returned to practice two weeks ago but has yet to appear in a game since injuring his knee last December.

“I’d love to believe so, I would. … We’re getting closer,” Campbell said, when asked if McNeill could play against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Monday. “I’m starting to feel pretty good.”

Campbell estimated, jokingly, McNeill had a 58% chance of being available versus the Bucs. He gave McNeill a 50% shot of playing against the Cincinnati Bengals in Week 5 and 51% odds against the Kansas City Chiefs in Week 6. McNeill’s practice window was opened Oct. 1.

The Lions have a bye week after the Bucs. Their following game is Nov. 2, when they host the Minnesota Vikings.

“He looked good last week. The last two weeks, he’s looked good,” Campbell said of McNeill. “He’s getting more comfortable, legs are under him, and he’s physically ready. I think we’re all hopeful.”

McNeill, 25, figures to provide a boost to the interior of Detroit’s defensive line. He turned in 45 pressures, 25 tackles (7 for loss) and 3½ sacks in 14 games last season. The Lions made McNeill one of the NFL’s highest-paid defensive tackles a year ago, inking him to a four-year extension worth $97 million, including $55 million guaranteed.

More injury updates

▶ S Kerby Joseph: Dealing with a nagging injury, Joseph (knee) has left two of the Lions’ last three games. The latest instance was in Kansas City on Sunday. Joseph, after taking no obvious contact, sat on the ground after a 6-yard catch by Chiefs tight end Noah Gray and was slow to get up with 12 minutes remaining in the second quarter. He was helped off the field before, in an extremely ginger manner, hobbling his way to the medical tent. He emerged after a few minutes and began jogging behind Detroit’s bench and using the sideline’s exercise bike. He checked back in after the first half’s two-minute warning, missing 10 defensive snaps in total.

Asked if giving Joseph some time off would be beneficial, similar to how the team has handled offensive tackle Taylor Decker’s shoulder injury, Campbell said a few things would be taken into consideration. Primarily, is playing now making the issue worse, thus risking his availability later in the season? And secondly, is the injury limiting his impact to the point the Lions would be better off with a reserve on the field? Joseph missed four tackles against the Chiefs.

“You have to weigh every one of those. We’ll do that with Kerby. We’ll reassess here,” Campbell said. “We saw the game the other day. He tried to gut through it, played most of the game. Look, it wasn’t his best performance. He’d tell you that, too. He’s giving us what he had. We’ll have to reassess.”

▶ CBs Terrion Arnold and Avonte Maddox: Another couple defensive backs who are battling injuries, Arnold (shoulder) and Maddox (hamstring), are not expected to play against the Bucs, Campbell said. Assuming Brian Branch’s suspension is upheld, the Lions are set to be without three starters in the secondary (Arnold, Branch and cornerback D.J. Reed, the last of whom isn’t able to come off injured reserve until after Week 9) and one of their top reserves (Maddox).

“I think they’re both (Arnold and Maddox) probably after the bye,” Campbell said.

▶ DE Marcus Davenport: Davenport (chest) was placed on injured reserve ahead of Week 3’s game at the Baltimore Ravens, meaning he’s now eligible to be activated back onto the 53-man roster. Campbell, however, doesn’t expect Davenport to be back until after the bye week.

▶ LB Malcolm Rodriguez: Another player who the Lions hope to get back after the bye week is Rodriguez (knee), who tore his ACL against the Chicago Bears in November 2024. Rodriguez played 318 defensive snaps and saw 140 reps on special teams last season before getting hurt. Rodriguez, similar to McNeill, will have his practice window opened before he can return to the field.

“We’re going to be looking pretty good at the end of November, December, which is awesome,” Campbell said, expressing optimism about getting a number of injured players back after the bye week.

rsilva@detroitnews.com

@rich_silva18